Nightly Brief

Top CNS stories for today including three constitutional law scholars summoned before the House Judiciary Committee told lawmakers that President Donald Trump committed offenses that should lead to his impeachment; Hundreds of thousands of Americans are set to lose their food stamp benefits under tighter state requirements unveiled by the Trump administration; The International Criminal Court was packed as hearings began over whether prosecutors can investigate potential war crimes in Afghanistan, 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

Constitutional law experts, from left, Harvard Law School professor Noah Feldman, Stanford Law School professor Pamela Karlan and University of North Carolina Law School professor Michael Gerhardt arrive to testify during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on the constitutional grounds for the impeachment of President Donald Trump, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2019, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

1.) Unequivocal in their testimony, three constitutional law scholars summoned before the House Judiciary Committee told lawmakers Wednesday that President Donald Trump committed offenses that should lead to his impeachment.

FILE - In this Dec. 4, 2013, file photo Jessica Walton, of Guthrie, Okla., reaches for a container of milk at a grocery store in Edmond, Okla. On Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019, Dean Foods, the nation's largest milk processor, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and said it may sell the company off to the Dairy Farmers of America. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

2.) Hundreds of thousands of Americans are set to lose their food stamp benefits under tighter state requirements unveiled by the Trump administration Wednesday.

In this July 16, 2019 photo provided by the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System, George Barrett, 85, of Lakewood, Colo., is checked by nurse Renee Whitley as he recuperates from open-heart surgery at the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in Aurora, Colo. The hospital helped the American College of Surgeons test new standards to improve surgical care for older adults. (Shawn Fury/VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System via AP)

3.) Several hospital groups sued the Trump administration Wednesday in an effort to keep their procedure prices secret as health care costs – and profits – continue to rise.

Sybrina Fulton is running for a seat on the 13-member Miami-Dade County Commission. (AP file photo/Seth Wenig)

4.) George Zimmerman, the Florida man acquitted of murdering black teen Trayvon Martin in 2012, is suing Martin’s family as well as an attorney and prosecutors for malicious prosecution and defamation in an explosive $100 million lawsuit filed Wednesday.

Regional

5.) An Indiana judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a relative of famed 1930s gangster John Dillinger seeking to dig up his body to confirm it is actually him.

6.) The principal and vice principal of a Cincinnati elementary school argued before a Sixth Circuit panel Wednesday that they are entitled to immunity from claims brought by the parents of a third-grader who killed himself after being bullied repeatedly.

International

7.) The International Criminal Court was packed Wednesday as hearings began over whether prosecutors can investigate potential war crimes in Afghanistan.

8.) Vinegar from Modena, Italy, has a geographic designation recognizing its link to traditions in the area, but the EU’s top court ruled Wednesday that the protections do not extend to the Italian word for balsamic.

Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to our free newsletters

Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.