The US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from three conservation groups challenging President Trump’s plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border over potential environmental concerns. The Center for Biological Diversity, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, and Defenders of Wildlife alleged in their lawsuits that Section 102(c) of the 1996 Illegal Immigration [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday remanded a dispute over mandatory state bar association fees to the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Fleck v. Wetch challenges mandatory fees attorneys pay to the State Bar Association of North Dakota. Arnold Fleck disputes the use a portion of his fees to support a political ballot measure [...]
George Higginbotham, a former Senior Congressional Affairs Specialist in the US Department of Justice (DOJ), pleaded guilty Friday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to conspiracy to make false statements to a bank. The former DOJ employee admitted to facilitating the transfer of millions of dollars meant as payments to lobbyists who [...]
Michigan’s Senate on Thursday voted to extend the ban on obtaining abortion medication via telemedicine. The bill aims to amend Michigan’s current abortion law in which the prohibition on prescribing is set to last only until December 31, 2018. Currently, Michigan physicians are not able to “diagnose and prescribe a medical abortion” without performing a [...]
The Arizona Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the Hopi Tribe does not have a claim against the Arizona Snowbowl Resort for the resort’s use of artificial snow on public land sacred to the tribe. “Today we hold, as a matter of law, that environmental damage to public land with religious, cultural, or emotional significance to the [...]
Judge Brian Morris of the US District Court for the District of Montana said in a hearing on Wednesday that pre-construction activities may continue for the Keystone XL Pipeline. Morris originally ruled this month that construction on Keystone XL must be halted to allow for further studies to ensure environmental safety. Construction of the Keystone [...]
Leaders of the Mexican, Canadian and US governments signed a new trade deal on Friday that affects more than $1.2 trillion in regional commerce and is set to replace the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). From the G20 Summit in Argentina, US President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Mexican President Enrique [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ended lawsuits brought by college athletes against fantasy sports websites FanDuel and DraftKings with a ruling on Thursday. The suit was originally brought by three former college football athletes alleging that fantasy sports sites like the defendants infringe on their right to publicity under the law of [...]
The Supreme Court Rhode Island ruled on Thursday that the parental rights of a convicted murderer serving two consecutive life sentences were correctly limited by the lower state courts. Tony Gonzalez was convicted of two counts of murder in July 2012 and sentenced to serve two consecutive life imprisonment terms. While serving his sentence, his [...]
US President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty on Thursday to making false representations to Congress about Trump’s business dealings in Russia. According to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s court filing, Cohen made several false statements in a letter to the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Both committees [...]
