Nightly Brief

Your Friday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top CNS stories for today including President Donald Trump taking to Twitter to defend Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, question why the professor accusing the nominee of sexual assault didn't report the incident earlier; later, the president retreated from an order he signed earlier this week declassify documents on the Russia probe; a judge on Massachusetts’ highest court denied a bid to block federal immigration agents from making arrests at state courthouses; North Carolina is told it can't enforce a law making it illegal foragriculture producers to help workers participate in unions; lawyers for Sarah Palin struck a chord at the Second Circuit while fighting to restore claims the former Alaska governor brought against the New York Times; a new study suggests that a regular bedtime and wake time supports heart and metabolic health in older adults; an Italian judge convicts two men of being middlemen in a massive bribery scheme involving oil giants Shell and Eni and a lucrative offshore Nigerian oilfield, and more.

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National

1.) President Donald Trump took to Twitter Friday to defend Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, saying if the sexual assault a professor has accused the nominee of committing when they were both in high school “was as bad as she says,” she would have reported the incident to police.

2.) Retreating from his order earlier this week to declassify documents on the Russia probe, President Trump tweeted Friday that he now wants to sit on the information at the advice of Justice Department officials and allies.

3.) Police in Taipei, Taiwan, on Friday arrested Cody Wilson, the Texan who distributed online instructions for 3D-printable firearm parts, one day after the Austin Police Department issued an arrest warrant charging him with sexual assault for having sex with a 16-year-old girl.

4.) A judge on Massachusetts’ highest court denied a bid to block federal immigration agents from making arrests at state courthouses, though she expressed concern that the practice may be scaring off some witnesses and others needed in court.

5.) Kayakers and canoe enthusiasts brought a federal complaint Thursday to protest security measures that close off a stretch of the Potomac River whenever President Donald Trump is golfing nearby.

Regional

6.) A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked a new North Carolina law that would make it illegal for agriculture producers to help workers participate in unions, deciding the Farm Act of 2017 is unconstitutional.

7.) California Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday inked legislation aimed at breaking society’s “infatuation” with plastic straws. Beginning in 2019, California’s full-service or dine-in restaurants can only give plastic straws to customers upon request.

Science

11.) At a cozy watering hole in downtown Oakland, California, budding scientists wield an unconventional weapon to help fight misconceptions about their field of knowledge. Their battleground is a bar. Their ammunition: beer.

12.) A study published Friday in Scientific Reports suggests that a regular bedtime and wake time supports heart and metabolic health in older adults.

Research & Polls

13.) Spending on outdoor recreation outpaced Big Oil’s contribution to the U.S. economy according to federal statistics released Thursday, prompting critics to renew their attacks on Trump administration policies of ramping up oil and gas leases on or near public lands.

International

14.) An Italian judge on Thursday convicted two men of being middlemen in a massive bribery scheme involving oil giants Shell and Eni and a lucrative offshore Nigerian oilfield.

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