Nightly Brief

Your Tuesday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top CNS stories for today including President Donald Trump opening to unexpected comic relief in his second big speech at the General Assembly; the chief judge of the Fourth Circuit questions the validity of eminent domain laws; a federal judge on Monday restores Endangered Species Act protections to grizzly bears; a Ninth Circuit panel finds an arbitrator, not a judge, has authority to decide whether drivers’ beef over being classified as independent contractors should be arbitrated or resolved via class action; nearly two years into Donald Trump’s presidency, the partisan divide over the media and its role in the American democracy appears to have widened, a new study says; the Fourth Estate loses a court battle to learn what allowances members of European Parliament get for travel, subsistence and parliamentary assistance, and more.

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National

1.) In the same hall where he threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea last year, President Donald Trump opened to unexpected comic relief Tuesday in his second big speech at the General Assembly.

2.) The chief judge of the Fourth Circuit on Tuesday questioned to validity of eminent domain laws, describing them as a holdover from the days when Americans were royal subjects.

3.) A federal judge on Monday restored Endangered Species Act protections to grizzly bears near Yellowstone National Park, rescinding a 2017 Trump-administration rule that allowed hunting of the iconic species outside of the park.

4.) A new order forcing the secretary of commerce to testify about his shakeup of the 2020 census loomed large Tuesday as the Justice Department pushed the Second Circuit to block another official’s deposition.

Regional

6.) In a key legal victory for ride-hail giant Uber, a Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday found an arbitrator, not a judge, has authority to decide whether drivers’ beef over being classified as independent contractors should be arbitrated or resolved via class action.

7.) A 10th Circuit panel on Monday heard arguments on whether the Army Corps of Engineers incorrectly applied Clean Water Act standards only to mitigating environmental damages rather than to the entirety of a project to expand a Colorado reservoir.

8.) Gang violence forced Alexander Antonio Burgos Mejia and his family to flee Honduras. Now seeking asylum 2,300 miles north of his home village, he lives alone in a church recreation room converted into an apartment in Long Beach, California.

9.) After designating Bill Cosby a “sexually violent predator” this morning, a Pennsylvania judge ruled that the 81-year-old comedian must spend three to 10 years in prison for a sexual assault that occurred over a decade ago.

Research & Polls

10.) Nearly two years into Donald Trump’s presidency, the partisan divide over the media and its role in the American democracy appears to have widened, a new study from the Pew Research Center says.

International

11.) The Fourth Estate lost a court battle Tuesday to learn what allowances members of European Parliament get for travel, subsistence and parliamentary assistance.

**12.) ** The decision by a Ukrainian oversight committee to demote the president of a Kiev court violated rules on judicial impartiality and independence but not the man’s right to a private life, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday.

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