Legal News

As Second Chance Pell Grant Program Grows, More Incarcerated People Can Get Degrees – But There’s A Difference Between Prison-Run And College-Run Education Behind Bars

Published by Nikki Palmer on Fri, 04/21/2023 - 4:00am

People in prison rarely get to go to college.

But an expansion in access to federal financial aid through Pell Grants for those who are incarcerated will soon make higher education a bit more available.

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Are You A Facebook User? You Could Get Some Settlement Cash

Published by Nikki Palmer on Fri, 04/21/2023 - 3:00am

Anyone in the U.S. who has had a Facebook account at any time since May 24, 2007, can now apply for their share of a $725 million privacy settlement that parent company Meta has agreed to pay.

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Billionaire Harlan Crow Bought Property From Clarence Thomas. The Justice Didn’t Disclose the Deal.

Published by Nikki Palmer on Thu, 04/20/2023 - 5:00am

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas spoke Sept. 16, 2021, at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. The transaction is the first known instance of money flowing from Crow to the Supreme Court justice. The sale netted the GOP megadonor two vacant lots and the house where Thomas’ mother was living. (Robert Franklin / South Bend Tribune via AP)

In 2014, one of Texas billionaire Harlan Crow’s companies purchased a string of properties on a quiet residential street in Savannah, Georgia. It wasn’t a marquee acquisition for the real estate magnate, just an old single-story home and two vacant lots down the road. What made it noteworthy were the people on the other side of the deal: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his relatives.

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High Mortality Rate Of Homeless Highlighted In New Report

Published by Nikki Palmer on Thu, 04/20/2023 - 3:00am

Barb Anderson, director of Haven House in Jeffersonville, Indiana, works with homeless people to place them into housing. It’s a job that has shown her firsthand the severe health issues facing unhoused people in southern Indiana, where many people live in tents in the woods and under bridges.

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Jury Selection Begins In Defamation Lawsuit Against Fox News

Published by Nikki Palmer on Mon, 04/17/2023 - 2:00am

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Jury selection began behind closed doors Thursday in a defamation lawsuit seeking to hold Fox News responsible for repeatedly airing false claims related to the 2020 presidential election.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis previously made clear that the selection would be done out of public view to ensure the privacy and safety of potential jurors.

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Authority On Wrongful Convictions Says U.S. Judicial System Is Weighted Against Claims Of Innocence

Published by Nikki Palmer on Fri, 04/14/2023 - 5:00am

LINCOLN — A national authority on wrongful convictions said he was immediately puzzled by the case of Earnest Jackson, an Omaha man found guilty of first-degree murder as an accomplice to two other men who were acquitted of the crime.

It’s exceedingly rare, said Northeastern University law professor Daniel Medwed, that an accomplice could be found guilty when the suspected main actors are not.

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Judges’ Salary Increase Clears First Round

Published by Nikki Palmer on Fri, 04/14/2023 - 4:00am

Senators amended and advanced a bill from general file April 11 that would increase salaries for Nebraska judges as part of the state’s two-year budgeting process.

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Judge Blocks Rules Intended To Protect Nation's Waterways

Published by Nikki Palmer on Fri, 04/14/2023 - 1:00am

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked a federal rule in 24 states that is intended to protect thousands of small streams, wetlands and other waterways throughout the nation.

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Property Tax Portion Of Nebraska’s Tax-Relief Package Advances 41-0

Published by Nikki Palmer on Thu, 04/06/2023 - 5:00am

LINCOLN — The property tax portion of the Nebraska Legislature’s push for a tax relief package took a major step Monday toward passage.

Senators passed Legislative Bill 243 on the first round of debate, 41-1.

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Home Sellers Can Sue As Class Action Against NAR & Brokerages, Federal Judge Says

Published by Nikki Palmer on Thu, 04/06/2023 - 2:00am

In late March, a federal judge in in Northern Illinois said home sellers accusing the National Association of Realtors (and a group of real estate brokerages) of conspiring to inflate commission rates can move forward as a class action lawsuit. According to a report from Reuters, U.S.