A US district judge Tuesday spared Igor Dvorskiy, a former test administrator involved in a large-scale college admissions and testing bribery scheme, a prison sentence because he helped prosecutors build cases against others involved in the scheme. Dvorskiy pled guilty to accepting nearly $200,000 in bribes from parents to inflate their children’s standardized exam scores [...]

US representatives Tuesday unveiled new legislation which would subject airlines to penalties for selling tickets or delaying or canceling flights when they know they do not have sufficient staff to safely conduct the flight. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and David Cicilline (D-RI) unveiled the Ensuring Friendly Skies for Passengers Act to empower the Federal Trade Commission [...]

Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts Monday announced he would not call a special session of the state legislature to pass a restrictive abortion ban. Without sufficient support in the state senate, Ricketts is unable to change Nebraska’s current 20-week abortion ban to a 12-week ban. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, Ricketts [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Wednesday rejected a UK family’s request to prevent the hospital from removing their son from life support. The hospital placed 12-year-old Archie Battersbee on life support in early April after he suffered a catastrophic brain injury. With the ruling, Battersbee’s family has exhausted all legal challenges. The hospital [...]

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld a law expanding the state’s vote-by-mail measures, finding the law does not violate the state constitution. The case was originally brought by state Republican representatives who voted in favor of the law back in 2019. At the center of the case is a 2019 law known as Act 77, which [...]

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey Monday announced cities and counties across the state agreed to a $400 million settlement with three opioid distributors. More than 100 local governments accused AmerisourceBergen Drug Co., Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp. of fueling the opioid crisis in West Virginia. West Virginia has a long history of litigation [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) Monday announced it settled an employment discrimination case against the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), a regional public transportation authority based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a result of the settlement, SEPTA committed to implementing anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation policies and providing training for its employees in addition to almost $500,000 [...]

Opioid manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Tuesday announced a $4.35 billion settlement with state and local governments to resolve lawsuits concerning Teva’s role in fueling the US opioid epidemic. The settlement is not yet finalized. Teva is an Israeli multinational pharmaceutical company which manufactures prescription medication including opioids. In recent years, US states, cities, counties and [...]

The US District Court for the District of Columbia Tuesday sentenced Mark Ponder to 63 months in prison for assaulting three police officers during the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Ponder is the second Capitol riot defendant to be sentenced to 63 months, the longest prison term handed down thus far. According to court [...]

The UK Tuesday announced new sanctions against Russian-installed officials in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine. UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the sanctions are designed to hold Kremlin-appointed officials accountable for their efforts to suppress the freedoms of Ukrainians and Russians. The latest addition to the UK’s sanction regime against Russia includes four [...]