Recent Updates

  • What to know about arguments over Donald Trump's immunity claims

    What to know about arguments over Donald Trump's immunity claims

    Court Watch 01/11/2024

    Appeals court judges signaled Tuesday that they will likely reject Donald Trump’s claims that he is immune from prosecution in his election interference case. The outcome seemed clear during arguments that touched on a range of political and le...

  • Democratic Sen. Menendez says cash found in home was not bribe proceeds

    Democratic Sen. Menendez says cash found in home was not bribe proceeds

    Court Watch 09/27/2023

    Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey defiantly pushed back against federal corruption charges on Monday, saying nearly half a million dollars in cash authorities found in his home was from his personal savings, not from bribes, and was on ...

  • Arizona judge delays trial in fight over education funding

    Arizona judge delays trial in fight over education funding

    Court Watch 01/04/2023

    A lawsuit over how much money Arizona’s lawmakers allocate for school maintenance, buses, textbooks and technology won’t go to trial next week, after a judge granted a request for a delay by the state’s incoming attorney general.Dem...

  • Man denies kidnapping charge in alleged murder-for-hire plot

    Man denies kidnapping charge in alleged murder-for-hire plot

    Court Watch 06/03/2022

    A Colorado man pleaded not guilty Thursday in federal court in Vermont to kidnapping a man who was later found shot to death in a snowbank in 2018 in what prosecutors allege is a murder-for-hire case stemming from a financial dispute. Federal prosecu...

  • Gangs control who eats at Mississippi jail, monitor says

    Gangs control who eats at Mississippi jail, monitor says

    Court Watch 02/23/2022

    Gangs inside a Mississippi jail often determine whether other inmates receive meals, a court-appointed monitor testified in a federal court hearing. Elizabeth Simpson testified Tuesday that staffing shortages are so severe at Hinds County’s Ray...

  • Temple prof seeks reinstatement of damage claims against FBI

    Temple prof seeks reinstatement of damage claims against FBI

    Court Watch 02/13/2022

    A Temple University physics professor who was charged with sharing scientific technology with China only for the case to collapse before trial and be dismissed by the Justice Department asked a federal appeals court on Monday to reinstate his clams f...

  • US sanctions Myanmar judiciary officials on coup anniversary

    US sanctions Myanmar judiciary officials on coup anniversary

    Court Watch 02/04/2022

    The Biden administration on Monday slapped sanctions on top members of Myanmar’s judiciary and one of its main revenue-producing ports over rights abuses since last year’s coup. The sanctions on the country’s attorney general, supre...

  • Court: Mask rule OK at Iowa schools with disabled students

    Court: Mask rule OK at Iowa schools with disabled students

    Court Watch 01/29/2022

    A federal appeals court on Tuesday allowed the state of Iowa to enforce a law that prevents local schools from imposing mask mandates, except for schools attended by students whose disabilities make them more vulnerable to severe illness if they get ...

  • Palin COVID-19 tests delay libel trial against NY Times

    Palin COVID-19 tests delay libel trial against NY Times

    Court Watch 01/26/2022

    An unvaccinated former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin tested positive for COVID-19 Monday, forcing a postponement of a trial in her libel lawsuit against The New York Times. The Republican’s positive test was announced in court just as jury selection ...

  • Judge sides with Alaska attorney who alleged wrongful firing

    Judge sides with Alaska attorney who alleged wrongful firing

    Court Watch 01/21/2022

    A U.S. judge sided Thursday with an attorney who alleged she was wrongly fired by the state of Alaska over political opinions expressed on a personal blog. U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick ruled that Elizabeth Bakalar’s December 2018 firi...

  • Some Michigan counties pause jury trials amid COVID surge

    Some Michigan counties pause jury trials amid COVID surge

    Court Watch 01/18/2022

    Jury trials have been paused in some western Michigan counties due to a surge in coronavirus cases, court officials said Monday. Chief Judge Mark Trusock said all jury trials in Kent County 17th Circuit Court, based in Grand Rapids, were on hold unti...

  • Appeals court: Illinois counties must end ICE contracts

    Appeals court: Illinois counties must end ICE contracts

    Court Watch 01/14/2022

    A federal appeals court has ruled two counties that hold immigrant detainees at local jails must terminate contracts with federal authorities starting Thursday. Leaders in Kankakee and McHenry counties sued over an Illinois law aimed at ending immigr...