Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including A federal judge ruled a federal wage freeze for migrant farm laborers instituted by the Trump administration was unlawful.; The Republican-controlled Oklahoma House of Representatives approved a near-total ban on abortions Tuesday; The EU’s highest court dealt a blow to a missing persons case closed with dental records and incriminating texts, ruling Tuesday that a 2011 Irish law allowing the retention of traffic and location data violated European Union privacy regulations and more.

National

Proud Boys leader pleads not guilty to conspiracy in Capitol riot case

Henry “Enrique” Tarrio pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges that, as the leader of the Proud Boys right-wing extremist group, he orchestrated the plot to overthrow America’s government after the 2020 presidential election.

Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio wears a hat that says The War Boys and smokes a cigarette at a rally in Delta Park in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 26, 2020. (Allison Dinner/AP)

EPA may ban cancer-causing asbestos still used in US production

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed a new rule Tuesday that would ban the import and use of white asbestos, a carcinogen still used in brake pads, certain types of chlorine bleach and other car parts.

Asbestos Removal Technologies Inc. job superintendent Ryan Laitila, right, sprays amended water as job foreman Megan Eberhart holds a light during asbestos abatement in Howell, Michigan, on Oct. 18, 2017. (Paul Sancya/AP)

Trump-era ag wage freeze gutted by federal judge

Handing summary judgment to the nation’s largest farmworkers union Monday, a federal judge ruled a federal wage freeze for migrant farm laborers instituted by the Trump administration was unlawful.

In this 2018 photo, a group of farm workers pick broccoli in Salinas, California (Jae C. Hong/AP)

Regional

Florida street preacher challenges ban on ‘portable’ signs at 11th Circuit

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on Tuesday over whether or not a ban on portable signs in Fort Meyers Beach, Florida, unconstitutionally hinders freedom of speech.

The exterior of the U.S. Courthouse for the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia. (Mike Stewart/AP)

Republican-controlled Oklahoma House approves near-total abortion ban

The Republican-controlled Oklahoma House of Representatives approved a near-total ban on abortions Tuesday.

Abortion rights advocates gather outside the Oklahoma Capitol on April 5, 2022, in Oklahoma City to protest several anti-abortion bills being considered by the GOP-led Legislature. (Sean Murphy/AP)

International

International Criminal Court kicks off first trial over Sudan conflict

More than 15 years after the U.N. Security Council sent the situation in Darfur for investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC), the first trial over war crimes in Sudan has begun.

Karim Khan, International Criminal Court chief prosecutor, speaks during a presser at the Ministry of Justice in the Khartoum, Sudan, on Aug. 12, 2021. (Marwan Ali/AP)

Ukraine war brutality deepens as chemical tank explodes, more war crime evidence emerges

The war in Ukraine descended into greater barbarity Tuesday as reports of an explosion of a chemical plant during intense fighting in the eastern Donbas region and more evidence of Russian war crimes emerged even as the Kremlin accuses Ukraine of the same.

A dead civilian with his hands tied behind his back lies on the ground in Bucha near Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 4, 2022. Russia is facing a fresh wave of condemnation after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Ruling on phone data rattles Irish BDSM murder conviction

The EU’s highest court dealt a blow to a missing persons case closed with dental records and incriminating texts, ruling Tuesday that a 2011 Irish law allowing the retention of traffic and location data violated European Union privacy regulations.

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

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.