Top 8 today

Top eight stories for today including the Supreme Court ruled a Michigan school that failed to provide one deaf student with a sign language interpreter must face a lawsuit for monetary compensation; President Biden announced the designation of two national monuments in Nevada and Texas; Greece has become the EU’s poster child for a troubling decline in press freedom across the bloc, and more.

National

Deaf student denied school interpreter prevails at high court

A Michigan school that failed to provide one deaf student with a sign language interpreter must face a lawsuit for monetary compensation, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, finding no bar to such relief in the Individuals with Disabilities in Education.

The Supreme Court building in Washington on Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

White House creates new national monuments in Nevada, Texas

President Joe Biden used a Conservation in Action Summit on Tuesday to announce the designation of two national monuments in Nevada and Texas and plans to establish a marine sanctuary near the Pacific Remote Islands southwest of Hawaii.

The Christmas Tree Pass Scenic Drive begins 2.3 miles south of Searchlight, Nevada and allows visitors to see the Newberry Mountains section of Avi Kwa Ame. About half of the drive is within the new monument area and the other half is within Lake Mead National Recreation Area. The drive through the pass consists of a 12-mile loop that connects U.S. Highway 95 with Nevada Route 163 near Laughlin. The road is gravel and in most places in good condition, but a high-clearance vehicle is recommended. (Bob Leal/Courthouse News)

House amps pressure to see docs on Afghanistan withdrawal

Congressional Republicans plan to use the bully pulpit of their new House majority to take the Biden administration to task this week over its decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken listens during a joint press availability at the Quad meeting of foreign ministers in Melbourne, Australia, on February 11, 2022. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP)

GoFundMe drive that netted Murdaugh trial witness $30K raises eyebrows

Legal experts say a GoFundMe campaign created to raise money for a state witness at the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial could signal a new prejudicial threat in highly publicized cases.

Mushelle “Shelly” Smith, caregiver for Libby Murdaugh in June of 2021, is questioned by prosecutor John Meadors in the double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool)

Crypto exchange fights to pause class actions that it would rather arbitrate

A lawyer for Coinbase faced skepticism Tuesday from the liberal wing of the Supreme Court as he claimed that the cryptocurrency exchange company should not have to litigate two class actions while it goes through an appeal that could send the matter to arbitration.

The Coinbase app is show on a phone in New York on April 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Regional

Trump appears poor prophet of his New York arrest date

On the day that Donald Trump appointed via social media as the date he would be arrested by New York prosecutors, the cadre of protesters proclaiming allegiance to the former president proved greatly outnumbered by the hundreds of photographers, reporters and law enforcement outside of the Manhattan criminal courthouse.

A demonstrator outside the Manhattan District Attorney's Office on March 21, 2023, holds a sign depicting former President Donald Trump behind bars. (Josh Russell/Courthouse News Service)

10th Circuit case pits female bears and grazing cattle in Upper Green River

Environmental groups on Tuesday asked the 10th Circuit to revive a lawsuit seeking to limit lethal takes of female grizzly bears along northwestern Wyoming grazing allotments in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.

A grizzly bear roams near Yellowstone National Park. (AP photo / Jim Urquhart)

International

Press freedom is under attack in Europe. Greece is Exhibit A

Greece is the European Union's poster child for a troubling decline in press freedom across the bloc. Journalists there describe being tailed by government agents, having their smartphones hacked and being sued for defamation.

Greek investigative journalist Eliza Triantafillou at a September 2022 European Parliament committee meeting investigating government use of spyware. (European Parliament via Courthouse News)

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