legal battle

  • North Dakota Judge Overturns State Abortion Ban

    On Thursday, a North Dakota state court judge overturned the state’s near-total abortion ban, allowing abortion to become legal in the state for the first time in over a year. Judge Bruce Romanick in Bismarck ruled that the state constitution protects women’s right to abortion before fetal viability, supporting abortion providers who challenged the ban.…

  • Missouri Supreme Court Rules Abortion Rights Measure Will be on State Ballot

    Missouri’s top court ruled on Tuesday that voters will decide on a proposed abortion rights amendment in November, potentially restoring legal abortion in the state for the first time in over two years. The measure, which allows abortion rights in Missouri until fetal viability, will appear on the November ballot after organizers gathered more than…

  • Labor Department’s In-House Anti-Bias Cases Unconstitutional, Lawsuit Claims

    ABM Industry Groups has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Labor, claiming the agency’s administrative proceedings for enforcing anti-discrimination requirements on federal contractors are unconstitutional. The janitorial services company filed the complaint in Houston federal court on Monday, arguing that these in-house proceedings violate its constitutional right to a jury trial. ABM also…

  • Google Aimed to Control Web Ad Tech, Prosecutor Says as Trial Begins

    Alphabet’s Google sought to dominate all aspects of online advertising technology by controlling both competitors and customers, according to a Justice Department prosecutor as the tech giant’s latest antitrust trial began in Alexandria, Virginia, on Monday. Prosecutors argue that Google has maintained control over the infrastructure that finances the flow of news and information across…

  • California, Hawaii Can Ban Guns in Bars and Parks, Appeals Court Rules

    A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that California and Hawaii can enforce bans on carrying guns in certain public locations, including bars and parks, partially reversing lower court decisions that blocked the restrictions. A unanimous panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined that both states can implement gun bans in bars,…

  • Judge Unlikely to Block NLRB Case Pending Challenge to Agency’s Powers

    On Friday, a federal judge in Chicago expressed skepticism about a medical center’s argument that National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) members and administrative judges are improperly shielded from removal by the president. Alivio Medical Center, a nonprofit serving Chicago’s Hispanic community, sought to halt an NLRB administrative case against it, claiming that the agency’s structure…

  • Court Extends Suspension of 97-Year-Old Federal Judge

    A federal appeals court extended the suspension of U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman, the nation’s oldest active federal judge, for another year following concerns about her fitness to serve. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s Judicial Council unanimously agreed to extend the suspension, which started in September 2023, through September 2025. The…

  • Judge Delays Trump Hush Money Sentencing Until After Election

    A New York judge has delayed the sentencing of former U.S. President Donald Trump in his hush money criminal case until after the Nov. 5 election. Judge Juan Merchan, who originally scheduled the sentencing for Sept. 18, agreed to the delay, stating he wanted to avoid any perception of political motivation. Trump, the Republican presidential…

  • Judge Runs ‘Mini-Experiment’ With AI to Help Decide Case

    A federal judge revealed that he turned to artificial intelligence programs, including ChatGPT, to help interpret a key legal term in a man’s appeal of an 11-year prison sentence. U.S. Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom, who initially felt “spooked” by slight differences in the AI-generated responses, ultimately believes the technology can serve as a “valuable” tool.…

  • TikTok Turns to Supreme Court Vets in Case Over Potential US Ban

    TikTok and a group of creators have enlisted two prominent U.S. Supreme Court lawyers to challenge a U.S. law that forces China-based ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. assets or face a ban. Andrew Pincus from Mayer Brown will represent TikTok and ByteDance, while Jeffrey Fisher of Stanford Law School will advocate for content creators when…