Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including the Supreme Court appeared to tee up the expansion of prayer at public schools; A judge ordered Donald Trump to pay $10,000 per day for failing to comply with the New York attorney general’s records requests; A state judge struck down Kansas’ congressional map, and more.

National

School coach who wants game-time prayer time makes Supreme Court inroads

The Supreme Court appeared to tee up the expansion of prayer at public schools on Monday while hearing about a Christian football coach who says his on-campus expressions of faith have constitutional protection.

Joe Kennedy, a former assistant football coach at Bremerton High School in Bremerton, Wash., poses for a photo March 9, 2022, at the school's football field. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Trump held in contempt, must pay $10,000 per day in civil probe

A judge ordered former President Donald Trump to pay $10,000 per day for failing to comply with the New York attorney general’s records requests in connection with a state investigation of the Trump real estate empire.

Protesters gathered outside of Manhattan Supreme Court on April 25, 2022, where lawyers for former president Donald Trump argued against a contempt motion from the New York attorney general for failing to produce documents in the state's civil probe of Trump's real estate business practices. (Josh Russell/Courthouse News Service)

Untested DNA is central to death-row appeal taken up by high court

The Supreme Court took up two cases Monday, including an appeal from a Black man who says he was having a consensual affair with a police officer’s white fiancée before she was killed.

(Image by Colin Behrens from Pixabay via Courthouse News)

Regional

Kansas GOP congressional map tossed as unconstitutional

A judge in Wyandotte County struck down Kansas’ congressional map Monday, finding it would unconstitutionally dilute the voting power of minority voters.

Kansas Capitol building in Topeka. (Pixabay image via Courthouse News)

Texas appeals court halts execution of woman on death row

Texas’ highest criminal court on Monday halted the execution of Melissa Lucio two days before she was scheduled to die by lethal injection for the death of her 2-year-old daughter in a case plagued by questions of her innocence and the reliability of her confession.

Texas death row inmate Melissa Lucio, dressed in white, leads a group of seven state lawmakers in prayer at the Mountain View Unit prison in Gatesville, Texas, on April 6, 2022. (Texas state Rep. Jeff Leach via AP)

International

US says Ukraine is winning war, fuel depots hit in Russia

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin traveled by train to Kyiv on Sunday and pledged more military aid to help Ukraine defeat Russia.

Russian military vehicles move in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol, Ukraine, on April 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)

Macron reelected, vows to unite a divided France

Emmanuel Macron became the first French president to win reelection in 20 years by easily defeating Marine Le Pen, his far-right challenger, on Sunday.

French President Emmanuel Macron celebrates with his supporters in Paris, France, on April 24, 2022, after winning another five years in the French presidential palace. Macron intends to go back to work straightaway on domestic and foreign policy — but he will soon face crucial parliamentary elections where he may struggle to keep his majority. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)

Trial of former Gambian death squad member begins in Germany

The trial of a Gambian man accused of murdering political opponents of the West African country’s former president began on Monday in the northern German city of Celle.

Gambian defendant Bai Lowe holds a folder in front of his face at the Celle Higher Regional Court in Celle, Germany, on Monday, April 25, 2022. (Ronny Hartmann/Pool Photo via AP)

Categories / Closing Arguments

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.