Top Eight

Your Tuesday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top eight stories for today including Los Angeles and San Francisco counties entered the least restrictive health tier under California’s coronavirus guidelines; President Joe Biden is pushing for more shots in arms across America as the White House rolls out initiatives to boost Covid-19 immunizations; New York’s highest court zapped an effort to build snowmobile routes through the Adirondacks, and more.

Sign up for the CNS Top Eight, a roundup of the day’s top stories delivered directly to your inbox Monday through Friday.

National

1.) The White House said Tuesday it would direct all pharmacies partnered with the federal government to offer walk-in vaccinations against the novel coronavirus, unveiling a new plan to shore up sagging immunizations.

2.) In his first public testimony since taking office, Attorney General Merrick Garland testified before a House Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday morning to request an increase in funding for the Justice Department.  

3.) In its last hearing of the term, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday over whether people jailed for possession of small amounts of crack cocaine are eligible for a sentencing reduction.

Regional

4.) The rate of new Covid-19 cases in Los Angeles and San Francisco counties dropped below an important threshold Tuesday, allowing them to enter the least restrictive health tier under the state’s guidelines.

5.) New York’s highest court zapped an effort to build snowmobile routes through the Adirondacks, finding Tuesday in a 3-2 decision that the plans would violate the “forever wild” provision of the state constitution. 

6.) The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office charged a 57-year-old man Tuesday with sparking a fire last summer that badly damaged the historic Mission San Gabriel church in Southern California.

7.) A Texas man known as the former leader of a neo-Nazi extremist group was sentenced Tuesday to 41 months in prison for making fake emergency calls targeting journalists, minorities and elected officials.

8.) A Texas county has agreed to pay a $4.75 million settlement to the parents of a man who died in 2010 after a deputy constable placed his boot over his mouth while he was lying unresponsive on the ground.

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit