Top eight stories for today including a criminal trial in Paris is reopening the still-healing wounds of a horrific Islamic State terrorist attack; A woman who co-founded the cult-like self-help organization NXIVM was sentenced to three and a half years in prison; A Florida judge said public schools can now require students and staff to wear masks, and more.
Your Wednesday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News
National
1.) The former president of NXIVM will spend three and a half years in prison after more than two decades at the top of of the Albany area cult-like self-help organization that she co-founded with Keith Raniere.
2.) A Pennsylvania man who chartered buses to bring 200 people to former President Donald Trump’s Stop the Steal rally on Jan. 6 pleaded guilty Wednesday to a misdemeanor offense in the Capitol riot.
3.) Announcing nine appointments to the federal bench, the White House touted President Joe Biden on Wednesday for continuing to a judicial-nominating commitment that recognizes diverse professional and racial backgrounds.
Regional
4.) Attorneys for Elizabeth Holmes acknowledged the disgraced former CEO of the blood-testing company Theranos made mistakes in her role as the leader of the Silicon Valley company but did not commit fraud as accused by the federal government.
5.) The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court struggled Wednesday to figure out whether police can use trickery to conduct unlimited surveillance of social media accounts even if they have no reason to think that anyone did anything wrong.
6.) A Florida judge said on Wednesday that public schools in the Sunshine State can now require students and staff to wear masks to prevent Covid-19 transmission.
7.) Virginia Governor Ralph Northam wasted no time removing a 130-year-old statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from a prominent Richmond street Wednesday morning.
International
8.) The largest criminal trial in modern French history began on Wednesday when prosecutors opened their case against 20 men who were allegedly involved in the Islamic State's horrific November 2015 terrorist attacks in central Paris.
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