Top Eight

Your Thursday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

National

1.) President Joe Biden announced over $100 billion in expanded child tax credits will start flowing into parents' bank accounts Thursday as part of the American Rescue Plan passed in the spring.

2.) The Biden administration will restore full environmental protections to the Tongass National Forest, reversing the Trump administration’s efforts to allow logging and mining in one of the globe’s largest temperate rainforests. 

Regional

3.) A California winemaker cannot dodge a class action claiming it used deceptive labels to give consumers a false impression that its pinot noir was made in a renowned Oregon wine region, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

4.) A Texas appeals court ruled Thursday that a class action against the Houston Astros brought by fans upset over a signal-stealing scandal must be dismissed because they have no legal basis to recover damages.

5.) A Maryland jury on Thursday found Capital Gazette shooter Jarrod Ramos criminally responsible for the 2018 killing of five journalists, rejecting defense attorneys’ claims that mental illnesses preventing him from understanding the criminality of his actions.

International

6.) The EU’s top court ruled on Thursday that companies can ban their employees from wearing headscarves and other religious symbols while on the clock.

7.) In a significant ruling that binds the European Union closely together on matters related to energy and national security, the bloc's high court on Thursday dismissed as illegal an attempt by Germany and EU bureaucrats to give Russia a sweetheart pipeline deal that hurts the interests of Poland and its neighbors.

8.) The celebrated Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries died on Thursday after being shot in the head last week following a television interview.

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