Nightly Brief

Top CNS stories for today including President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency could face a high-profile legal challenge from the House of Representatives; The Kentucky Catholic school student who was filmed staring down a Native American activist at a March for Life rally last month filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the Washington Post; A retired U.S. marshal prevailed at the Supreme Court in alleging that West Virginia discriminates by taxing his pension but not those of certain state workers, and more.

Your Wednesday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Sign up for CNS Nightly Brief, a roundup of the day’s top stories delivered directly to your email Monday through Friday.

National

The Capitol is seen early morning in Washington, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

1.) President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency is already facing a storm of lawsuits, but perhaps the most high-profile legal challenge could come from people who denied Trump money for a border wall in the first place — the House of Representatives.

In this Friday, Jan. 18, 2019 image made from video provided by the Survival Media Agency, a teenager wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat, center left, stands in front of an elderly Native American singing and playing a drum in Washington. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington in Kentucky is looking into this and other videos that show youths, possibly from the diocese's all-male Covington Catholic High School, mocking Native Americans at a rally in Washington. (Survival Media Agency via AP)

2.) The Kentucky Catholic school student who was filmed staring down a Native American activist at a March for Life rally last month filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the Washington Post, claiming it rushed to assassinate his character.

Visitors wait to enter the Supreme Court as a winter snow storm hits the nation's capital making roads perilous and closing most Federal offices and all major public school districts, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. The Supreme Court is ruling unanimously that the Constitution's ban on excessive fines applies to the states. The outcome Wednesday could help an Indiana man recover the $40,000 Land Rover police seized when they arrested him for selling about $400 worth of heroin. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

3.) A retired U.S. marshal prevailed at the Supreme Court on Wednesday in alleging that West Virginia discriminates by taxing his pension but not those of certain state workers.

4.) A Pew research poll released Wednesday confirms what decades of angsty song lyrics have been telling us: Most teenagers worry about depression and anxiety, feeling the pressure to look good and perform well in school.

Regional

Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, right, holds a July 27, 2016, news conference after her office dropped the remaining charges against three Baltimore police officers awaiting trial in the death of Freddie Gray. Mosby will no longer prosecute any marijuana possession cases, regardless of the quantity of the drug or an individual’s prior criminal record, authorities announced on Jan. 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)

5.) Plaudits inundated the office of Baltimore’s top prosecutor last month when State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced she would right the wrong of jailing thousands of people, usually black, for pot possession. As the dust settles on the historic shift in criminal justice, however, experts question the implications of Mosby’s bid to erase 4,800 marijuana convictions.

6.) Sharks caught in U.S. waters are dressed in short order, fins are removed and carcasses are packed in trucks bound for Mexico. But an unconstitutional Texas law mandating sharks remain intact has cut off the Mexican market, shark-meat purveyors claim in a federal lawsuit.

International

Members of the Jewish community gather at the Jewish cemetery where tombs were tagged with swastikas in Quatzenheim, eastern France, Tuesday, Feb.19, 2019. Marches and gatherings against anti-Semitism are taking place across France following a series of anti-Semitic acts that shocked the country. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

7.) Europe’s political atmosphere, already toxic with violent protests and a resurgence of nationalism, has an old and dangerous element to contend with again: anti-Semitism.

Brussels, the seat of the European Union.

8.) Europe has become a laboratory for a new type of politics: The rise of the “digital party,” whose members choose candidates, vote on policy positions and offer ideas through online platforms.

Nightly Brief

Read the Top 8

Additional Reads