Thursday, June 11, 2026

Omaha Daily Record

Legal News

Pillen Celebrates Law Boosting Private Energy Help In Public Power State, Pushes For More AI Growth

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Fri, 06/05/2026 - 12:00am

LINCOLN — As demand for electricity grows across Nebraska, Gov. Jim Pillen expressed his preference for establishing public-private partnerships to shoulder some of the cost burdens of new infrastructure.

Pillen ceremonially signed Legislative Bill 1261 Tuesday alongside state lawmakers, public power representatives and other stakeholders. The bill alters the authority of public power districts to allow private companies to build energy infrastructure, like power plants, without the risk of having a public power board take them over using the power of eminent domain.

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Animal Welfare, Livestock Regulation Rules Might Be Rolled Back By Congress

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Fri, 06/05/2026 - 12:00am

Hens in battery cages at a processing plant in Atwater, California on September 10, 2008.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP Photo)

Congress is looking to roll back state animal welfare laws as it wrangles over reauthorization of the federal farm bill.

The farm bill, which Congress generally reworks every five years, includes money and federal rules for food assistance programs, farm subsidies, and other ag-related programs.

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Florida Sues OpenAI And CEO Sam Altman, Claiming Company Concealed Serious Risks Of ChatGPT

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Fri, 06/05/2026 - 12:00am

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier speaks during a news conference at Palm Beach State College in Lake Worth, Fla., Aug. 20, 2025.
(Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)

MIAMI (AP) — The state of Florida filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman on Monday, claiming the company knowingly released and aggressively marketed ChatGPT to the public while concealing serious risks, including offering instructions to children considering suicide and helping suspects plot crimes.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said during a news conference that the company suppressed internal safety warnings and deceived users about the true nature and dangers of the product. He said Florida was the first state to sue OpenAI.

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Senate Will Begin Voting On Funding Immigration Enforcement After Trump's Settlement Fund Is Dropped

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Fri, 06/05/2026 - 12:00am

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., heads to the chamber following a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 2, 2026.
(J. Scott Applewhite / AP Photo)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-led Senate will start voting Wednesday on legislation to fund immigration enforcement agencies after forcing the White House to drop its settlement fund for political allies and stripping a separate proposal for White House security from the bill.

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Former Nebraska Medical Cannabis Notary Appeals Criminal Convictions

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Fri, 05/29/2026 - 12:00am

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — A former notary for separate Nebraska petitions to legalize and regulate medical cannabis in 2024 is appealing his 24 criminal convictions related to improper notarizations.

A Hall County jury in February found Jacy C. Todd of York, 55, guilty of 23 counts of “official misconduct,” each a Class II misdemeanor, and one count of making a false statement under oath. Hall County Court Judge Alfred Corey sentenced Todd to a $3,866.44 fine, due by mid-April 2027, with no jail time.

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OPINION: New Nebraska Law Correctly Keeps Books

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Fri, 05/29/2026 - 12:00am

When author Alex Haley’s “Roots: The Saga of an American Family” became part of the American psyche in 1976, first as a best selling book, then as a beloved television miniseries, it sent scores of Black Americans in search of their own family’s genealogical history. “Roots” also changed the conversation about race in America, serving primarily as an entry to such discussions.

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U.S. Lawmakers Demand Reforms To Immigration Officers’ Use Of Tear Gas And Pepper Spray

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Fri, 05/29/2026 - 12:00am

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., departs following votes at the Capitol, Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Washington.
(Allison Robbert / AP Photo)

U.S. Lawmakers Demand Reforms to Immigration Officers’ Use of Tear Gas and Pepper Spray

Three U.S. senators have called for an overhaul of federal agents’ use of tear gas and pepper spray, citing a ProPublica investigation that found at least 79 children were left screaming, coughing or hurt by these chemicals during President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

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How States’ Moves To Call Abortion Drugs ‘Controlled Substances’ Can Make Childbirth More Dangerous And Interfere With Legal, Safe And Necessary Healthcare

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Fri, 05/29/2026 - 12:00am

The number of abortions in the U.S. rose by 21% between 2020 and 2025 – despite the fact that 20 states have passed laws banning or severely restricting abortion care, overturned the constitutional right to abortion.

The increase is largely due to the growing adoption of medication abortion and the use of telehealth. States that have banned or limited abortion are seeking to disrupt the trend.

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Woman Fired By Indiana University Over Charlie Kirk Post To Receive $225,000 Legal Settlement

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Fri, 05/29/2026 - 12:00am

A woman fired by an Indiana university over her Facebook post criticizing conservative activist Charlie Kirk after he was killed will receive $225,000 to settle a lawsuit that accused her former employer of violating her free-speech rights, the woman's attorneys said Tuesday.

The American Civil Liberties Union announced the settlement in a federal lawsuit it filed last year on behalf of Suzanne Swierc against Ball State University President Geoffrey Mearns.

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With A Chance At Freedom, They Faced An Unexpected Obstacle: Their Own Lawyers

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Fri, 05/22/2026 - 12:00am

With a Chance at Freedom, They Faced an Unexpected Obstacle: Their Own Lawyers

Milique Wagner always insisted that his 2013 murder conviction was built on an informant’s lie. But Wagner said he couldn’t persuade his trial lawyer to investigate that, even after the informant confessed to the murder and testified that Philadelphia police and prosecutors knew the truth.

In 2015, Wagner’s appeal failed, and he faced life in prison.

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