Top Eight

Your Monday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

National

1.) Judges and attorneys told House lawmakers Monday that the key to diversifying the federal bench is at the beginning: making law school admissions less homogenous, helping students from regional law schools get clerkships and making the nomination process accessible to nontraditional candidates. 

2.) Bob Baffert pushed a federal judge Monday to nix his suspension from New York racetracks, saying his horse-training business is unfairly suffering while officials decide whether his Kentucky Derby winning steed improperly benefitted from a banned substance. 

Regional

3.) Democratic lawmakers are planning to leave the Lone Star State after Republicans moved quickly to get their so-called election integrity bills out of committee and onto the floor of the Texas House and Senate.

4.) Nine Twitter users have dismissed their First Amendment lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton after he stopped blocking them and other critics from accessing his account on the social media platform.

5.) More manatees died in the first half of 2021 than in any other year in Florida’s recorded history, according to Sunshine State wildlife officials who say the unprecedented number of deaths stem from seagrass loss, pollution and boat strikes.

6.) The full Seventh Circuit ruled that the Chicago archdiocese cannot be sued by a former minister who claims he was discriminated against and fired because he is gay.    

7.) A psychologist appointed by the state of Maryland to evaluate Capital Gazette shooter Jarrod Ramos’ mental competence told jurors Monday the admitted killer hadn’t shown any signs of mental disorders asserted by his defense attorneys.

International

8.) Following wild and often ugly scenes surrounding Italy's defeat of England on Sunday night in the European soccer championships, fears are mounting about the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus across Europe as people across the continent let down their guard and mass gatherings return to force.

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