Nightly Brief

Your Wednesday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top CNS stories for today including a federal judge in San Francisco hinting he would block the Trump administration’s decision to yank temporary authorization from hundreds of thousands of immigrants; attorney Michael Avenatti releases the identity of his client accusing Brett Kavanaugh of being present for a gang rape and saying she later became a victim herself; the Fourth Circuit grapples with whether a politician has the right to block critics from their official social media pages; an expanded panel of Ninth Circuit judges reconsiders whether a San Francisco law requiring warning labels on billboard ads for soda passes constitutional muster; a Massachusetts zoo must face Endangered Species Act claims over its treatment of two Asian elephants in the collection; a new study suggests a newly discovered hummingbird found in the Andes mountain range in Ecuador is already critically endangered, and more.

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National

1.) A federal judge in San Francisco hinted Tuesday he would block the Trump administration’s decision to yank temporary authorization from hundreds of thousands of immigrants living in the United States to escape dangerous conditions in their home countries.

2.) Attorney Michael Avenatti on Wednesday released the identity of his client accusing Brett Kavanaugh of being present for a gang rape and saying she later became a victim herself.

3.) Does a politician have the right to block critics from their official social media pages? That question was asked of a U.S. appeals court for the first time Wednesday.

4.) Forecasting the likelihood that Trump’s commerce secretary won’t be able to duck testifying in New York court about his shakeup of the 2020 decennial census, the Second Circuit on Tuesday shot down the Department of Justice’s attempt to block another official’s deposition.

5.) President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence warned Tuesday that China is carrying out nefarious cyber activities on an “unprecedented scale” and targeting state, federal and local government entities.

Regional

6.) An expanded panel of Ninth Circuit judges on Tuesday reconsidered whether a San Francisco law requiring warning labels on billboard ads for soda passes constitutional muster, with the soda industry arguing that singling out sodas and other sugary drinks as the main contributor to health problems sends a misleading message to consumers.

7.) A Massachusetts zoo must face Endangered Species Act claims over its treatment of two Asian elephants in the collection, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

8.) A Third Circuit judge questioned the constitutionality Tuesday of a Delaware law that requires judges to align themselves with a major political party.

9.)  Uber has agreed to pay $148 million in a multistate settlement over its coverup of a 2016 data breach that resulted in the theft of personal information from 57 million riders and drivers, California’s attorney general said Wednesday.

10.) Contending that there is a secret dentistry cabal that monopolizes the certification of certain specialty practices, two groups dedicated to dental implants shot back Wednesday with a federal class action.

Science

11.) A newly discovered hummingbird found in the Andes mountain range in Ecuador is already critically endangered, a group of bird scientists conclude in a new study.

International

12.) Germany is reportedly seeing an $821 million influx of annual revenue after switching up how it collects fees supporting public-service broadcasters. As a challenge to the new scheme brews in Luxembourg, a magistrate recommended Wednesday that the European Court of Justice grant its seal of approval.

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