Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including House lawmakers heard testimony about making immigration courts independent of the Department of Justice; Europe's high court found Austria unlawfully canceled a Kazakh man's residency simply because he spent most of the year outside the Alpine country; Jury selection began in a federal civil rights trial over the deadly arrest of George Floyd, and more.

National

Lawmakers consider immigration court overhaul to crack backlog of 1.6 million cases

Members of the House Judiciary Committee met Thursday to hear testimony about making immigration courts independent of the Department of Justice as the system faces a historic backlog of nearly 1.6 million cases.

Representative Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat from California, speaks during a committee meeting about reorganizing the immigration courts system on Jan. 20, 2022. (Screenshot via Courthouse News)

‘Stormy’ skies ahead for Avenatti in trial on book-advance theft

Already sentenced to federal prison for attempted extortion in New York, Michael Avenatti kicked off jury selection Thursday for a separate indictment charging him with stealing from the adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Michael Avenatti, left, stands with his lawyer Danya Perry, right, during a news conference after he departs a scheduled sentencing at Manhattan federal court on July 8, 2021. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Senate confirms civil rights attorney Holly Thomas to 9th Circuit

The Senate confirmed Holly Thomas as a judge for the Ninth Circuit on Thursday, only hours after the committee that narrowly advanced her nomination put another nine court appointees on the path to a full Senate vote.

Ninth Circuit nominee Holly Thomas speaks at an Oct. 20, 2021, hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Screenshot via Courthouse News)

Regional

Seneca back at Second Circuit to renegotiate thruway easement

The Second Circuit heard arguments, not for the first time Thursday, on an easement granted back in 1954 that allowed a 3-mile stretch of the nearly 570-mile New York State Thruway to run through the Seneca Nation.

Section of I-90, also known as the New York State Thruway, on the Seneca Nation's Cattaraugus Reservation just north of the Erie-Chautauqua county line. (Wikipedia image via Courthouse News)

Jury selection starts in federal trial over George Floyd arrest

Jury selection began Thursday in the federal civil rights case against three former Minneapolis police officers who participated in the deadly arrest of George Floyd alongside Derek Chauvin.

This image from video shows Minneapolis police officers Thomas Lane, left, and J. Alexander Kueng, right, escorting George Floyd, center, to a police vehicle outside Cup Foods in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. (Court TV via AP, Pool, File)

International

Rights court splits on Norwegian child custody cases

Europe’s top rights court has split on Norway's liability in a pair of child welfare cases, finding the Nordic country guilty of violations in one case where it removed a child from her home, but not in another.

A summer sunset in Bergen, Norway. (Kelsey Jukam/Courthouse News)

EU court slaps down Austria’s tough residency rule for foreigners

In knocking down a piece of Austria's tough immigration regime, the European Union's highest court on Thursday said Viennese officials were wrong to not renew a Kazakh man's long-term residency permit simply because he didn't spend much time in the Alpine nation.

The European Court of Justice, based in Luxembourg, is the European Union’s supreme court in matters concerning EU law. (Molly Quell/Courthouse News)

Top EU court backs citizen initiative to protect minority languages

The European Union’s highest court on Thursday rejected a bid from Romania to block a citizen’s initiative aimed at protecting national and linguistic minorities and their cultural heritage.