Recent Updates

  • Former Georgia insurance commissioner John Oxendine pleads guilty

    Former Georgia insurance commissioner John Oxendine pleads guilty

    Civil Rights 03/26/2024

    A former Georgia insurance commissioner who made a failed Republican run for governor has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit health care fraud.John W. Oxendine of Johns Creek entered the guilty plea Friday in federal court in Atlanta. The 61-year...

  • Court rejects appeal from 3 GOP House members over $500 mask fines

    Court rejects appeal from 3 GOP House members over $500 mask fines

    Civil Rights 02/21/2024

    The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected appeals from three Republican U.S. House members who challenged fines for not wearing face coverings on the House floor in 2021.The justices did not comment on leaving in place $500 fines issued in May 2021 to U....

  • Supreme Court rules in favor of Black Alabama voters

    Supreme Court rules in favor of Black Alabama voters

    Civil Rights 06/12/2023

    The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a surprising 5-4 ruling in favor of Black voters in a congressional redistricting case from Alabama, with two conservative justices joining liberals in rejecting a Republican-led effort to weaken a landmark voting...

  • Islamic scholar acquitted of rape by Swiss court

    Islamic scholar acquitted of rape by Swiss court

    Civil Rights 05/21/2023

    A Swiss court on Wednesday acquitted noted Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan on charges of rape and “sexual constraint,” citing lack of material evidence more than a decade after the alleged actions, contradictory witness statements and what ...

  • Court denies request to lift gag order in Idaho killings

    Court denies request to lift gag order in Idaho killings

    Civil Rights 04/25/2023

    The Idaho Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request by 30 news organizations to lift a gag order in the criminal case of a man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death.The high court did not weigh in on whether the gag order, w...

  • German woman risks tougher sentence over Yazidi girl’s death

    German woman risks tougher sentence over Yazidi girl’s death

    Civil Rights 03/08/2023

    A German appeals court on Thursday ordered a new sentencing hearing for a German convert to Islam who was given 10 years in prison on charges that, as a member of the Islamic State group in Iraq, she allowed a 5-year-old Yazidi girl she and her husba...

  • Interior: $580M headed to 15 tribes to fulfill water rights

    Interior: $580M headed to 15 tribes to fulfill water rights

    Civil Rights 02/03/2023

    Fifteen Native American tribes will get a total of $580 million in federal money this year for water rights settlements, the Biden administration announced Thursday.The money will help carry out the agreements that define the tribes’ rights to ...

  • FTX founder could be sent to US after extradition hearing

    FTX founder could be sent to US after extradition hearing

    Civil Rights 12/21/2022

    Sam Bankman-Fried is back in a Bahamian court Wednesday for an extradition hearing that could clear the way for the one-time billionaire to be sent to the U.S. to face criminal charges related to the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.In a court...

  • Suit seeks to have mail-in votes lacking dates counted

    Suit seeks to have mail-in votes lacking dates counted

    Civil Rights 11/05/2022

    Several Pennsylvania groups represented by the American Civil Liberties Union have filed suit in federal court seeking to have votes from mail-in or absentee ballots counted even if they lack proper dates on their return envelopes.The suit filed Frid...

  • Taxpayer group asks high court to stop loan forgiveness plan

    Taxpayer group asks high court to stop loan forgiveness plan

    Civil Rights 10/23/2022

    A Wisconsin taxpayers group that unsuccessfully brought a lawsuit seeking to block President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene.The Brown County Taxpayers Association on Wednesday asked th...

  • Court rules for officer in Oklahoma teen’s death lawsuit

    Court rules for officer in Oklahoma teen’s death lawsuit

    Civil Rights 09/19/2022

    An appeals court ruling could mean the end of a federal lawsuit filed by the parents of a Black teenager who was naked and unarmed when he was shot and killed by suburban Oklahoma City police in 2019.Police said 17-year-old Isaiah Lewis was naked whe...

  • Texas clinics halt abortions after state high court ruling

    Texas clinics halt abortions after state high court ruling

    Civil Rights 07/02/2022

    Clinics were shutting down abortion services in the nation’s second-largest state Saturday after the Texas Supreme Court blocked an order briefly allowing the procedure to resume in some cases, the latest in legal scrambles taking place across ...