The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Monday ruled the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) can keep its revised regulations on how stock market data is collected, consolidated, and disseminated. In 2020 the SEC introduced the new Market Data Infrastructure Rule. The rule “modernize the national market system for the collection, [...]
Oklahoma’s Governor Kevin Stitt Wednesday signed the United States’ strictest abortion ban into law. The ban, HB 4327 makes Oklahoma the first state to ban abortion from fertilization until birth. Under the law, abortion is prohibited at “any stage of pregnancy.” The law includes an exception for medical emergencies and rape or incest. However, rape [...]
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey Wednesday announced a $161.5 million settlement with drug manufacturers Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (Teva) and Allergan over their involvement in the state’s opioid epidemic. The cash value of this settlement alone is “the highest per capita settlement in the nation” according to the announcement. A civil trial between the Attorney Generals office [...]
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller Tuesday announced a $19.2 million settlement with Ford Motor Co. over false advertising claims. The settlement resolves allegations that Ford falsely advertised the real-world fuel economy of model year 2013–2014 C-Max hybrids and the payload capacity of model year 2011–2014 Super Duty pickup trucks. Miller claimed Ford misrepresented the distance [...]
US federal prosecutors in Brooklyn Tuesday indicted a fundraiser for the Donald Trump campaign on multiple charges amidst allegations that he illegally lobbied on behalf of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Thomas Barrack, the owner of a private equity firm, DigitalBridge Group has been charged with receiving funds from the UAE amounting to $374 million [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Tuesday ruled that post-Civil War amnesty laws do not protect members of Congress who voiced support for the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Voters brought a case against Representative Madison Cawthorn, claiming that Cawthorn was ineligible to run for re-election because of his [...]
A congressionally mandated commission Tuesday announced recommended name changes for nine US Army bases currently named to commemorate the Confederacy and its leaders. The Naming Commission was formed via the William Mac Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 and consists of eight volunteers selected by Congress and the Secretary of Defense. The [...]
The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force Tuesday arrested an Iraqi national charged with an alleged plot to assassinate former President George W. Bush. According to a statement from the US Department of Justice, 52-year-old Shihab Ahmed Shihab Shihab entered the US on a visitor visa in September 2020. Shihab then filed for asylum and US [...]
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) Monday denied ExxonMobil Corp.’s (ExxonMobil) motion to dismiss a climate deception lawsuit on “anti-SLAPP” grounds. The Office of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey released a statement following the SJC’s decision affirming the rejection of ExxonMobil’s “anti-SLAPP” motion to dismiss by the Suffolk Superior Court. Strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP) [...]
A California court Monday allowed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Tesla to move forward instead of being sent to private arbitration. Judge Stephen Kraus of the Alameda County Superior Court denied Tesla, Inc.’s (Tesla) motion to compel arbitration in a brief one-sentence order without providing explanation. Judge Kraus allowed the lawsuit to move forward in [...]
