Top 8 today

Top eight stories for today including the Supreme Court heard a case pitting Colorado's nondiscrimination law against a Christian website designer who refuses to create sites for same-sex couples; The Massachusetts high court struggled to decide if new owners of a church can dig up bodies in the cemetery and move them elsewhere; The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court pushed back against plans for a special tribunal to investigate Russian invasion’s of Ukraine, and more.

National

Justices signal support for designer who won’t help gay couples with weddings

A six-year crusade came to a head at the Supreme Court on Monday, pitting Colorado's nondiscrimination law against a Christian website designer who refuses to create wedding websites for same-sex couples.

Web designer Lorie Smith is shown in her office on Nov. 7, 2022, in the southwest part of Littleton, Colo. Smith, a Christian graphic artist, objects to designing wedding websites for gay couples. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Feds accused of cutting off migrant access to attorneys

In a major case filed in the nation’s capital, civil rights groups say they've struggled to stay connected with clients in immigration lockup.

A Border Patrol agent talks with a group suspected of having entered the U.S. illegally near McAllen, Texas, in 2019. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Regional

Company wins bid to unlock secrets of 1875 SS Pacific steamboat disaster

Court documents unsealed Friday revealed exploration company Rockfish has located the remains of the S.S. Pacific, a steamboat that sank off the Washington state coast nearly 150 years ago.

Artist's sketch of the S.S. Pacific, which sank off the coast of Washington state in 1875. (Wikipedia via Courthouse News)

Illinois rules for getting on ballot debated at Seventh Circuit

The Chicago-based Seventh Circuit heard oral arguments Monday in a lawsuit claiming Illinois election law imposes a bar for entry that is unconstitutionally high for candidates outside the Republican-Democrat duopoly.

The Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. (Photo by Daniel Schwen from Wikipedia Commons via Courthouse News)

Top Massachusetts court grapples with fate of a shuttered church’s cemetery

The Massachusetts Supreme Court struggled Monday to decide if a Coptic church that bought an Episcopal church can dig up the bodies in the cemetery and move them elsewhere.

(Image by Siggy Nowak from Pixabay via Courthouse News)

International

ICC prosecutor pushes back on special tribunal for war crimes in Ukraine

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court called Monday for reinforcing its mandate in prosecuting crimes in Ukraine, pushing back against a move by the European Union to establish a special tribunal to investigate the Russian invasion.

The exterior view of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, on March 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

Fight over Caribbean Sea territory returns to World Court

Nicaragua and Colombia returned to the U.N.’s top court on Monday for the latest round in what has been 20 years of litigation over the location of their maritime boundary.

Exterior view of the Peace Palace, which houses the International Court of Justice, or World Court, in The Hague, Netherlands. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Science

Mars might only be mostly dead (geologically speaking)

A new paper argues for the existence of an active mantle plume underneath the surface of Mars, leading to seismic and volcanic activity.

A fissure running through the Cerberus Fossae area of Mars, one sign that something active is going on underneath the surface of the red planet (European Space Agency)

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