Women sue Texas over abortion ban, say it risked their lives
March 7, 2023 GMTAUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Five women who said they were denied abortions even when pregnancy endangered their lives are suing Texas over its abortion ban, the latest legal fight against state restrictions since the U.S.
In Selma, Biden says right to vote remains under assault
March 6, 2023 GMTSELMA, Ala. (AP) — President Joe Biden used the searing memories of Selma's “Bloody Sunday” to recommit to a cornerstone of democracy, lionizing a seminal moment from the civil rights movement at a time when he has been unable to push enhanced voting protections through Congress and a conservative Supreme Court has undermined a landmark voting law.
Missouri debates ban on LGBTQ education for all grades
March 1, 2023 GMTJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers argued Wednesday over a bill that would ban most LGBTQ education subjects for all grades in the state's public schools.
The proposal is modeled after a Florida education law passed last year, touted by supporters as protecting “parent's rights” and dubbed by opponents as a “ Don't Say Gay ” law.
Supreme Court student loan hearing: What you need to know
March 1, 2023 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — The fate of President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan is up in the air after Supreme Court justices questioned whether his administration has the authority to broadly cancel federal student loans.
Supreme Court student loan case: The arguments explained
February 28, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is about to hear arguments over President Joe Biden’s student debt relief plan, which impacts millions of borrowers who could see their loans wiped away or reduced.
Mississippi GOP governor now backs longer Medicaid for moms
February 26, 2023 GMTJACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves did an abrupt about-face Sunday on an issue for which Democrats have been sharply criticizing him this election year, saying for the first time that he wants the state to allow a full year of Medicaid coverage to women after they give birth.
New Mexico bills safeguard abortion, gender-affirming care
February 23, 2023 GMTSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico legislative panel advanced a bill to protect abortion providers and patients from out-of-state interference, prosecution or extradition attempts, as Democratic leaders seek to shore up existing rights to abortion access for residents as well as visitors from states with bans on the procedure.
Justices OK overtime pay for $200,000-a-year oil rig worker
February 22, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that an energy company employee who earned more than $200,000 a year still qualified for overtime pay under a New Deal-era federal law meant to protect blue-collar workers.
How Section 230 helped shape speech on the Internet
February 22, 2023 GMTTwenty-six words tucked into a 1996 law overhauling telecommunications have allowed companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google to grow into the giants they are today.
Virginia GOP panel kills proposed amendment on gay marriage
February 17, 2023 GMTRICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republicans in the Virginia House of Delegates on Friday rejected a proposal to let voters decide whether to remove outdated language prohibiting gay marriage from the state Constitution.
Supreme Court won’t hear arguments Title 42 case as planned
February 16, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says it will not hear arguments as planned March 1 in a case involving a Trump-era immigration policy used several millions of times over the past three years to quickly turn away migrants at the border.
Pence says he will fight subpoena as far as Supreme Court
February 16, 2023 GMTCEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday that he will challenge a subpoena by the special counsel overseeing Trump investigations to compel his testimony before a grand jury — pursuing it to the Supreme Court if necessary.
S. Carolina House passes abortion ban; no sign of budging
February 16, 2023 GMTCOLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — For the second time since the U.S. Supreme Court ended federal abortion protections, the South Carolina House has passed a near-total abortion ban — and shows no sign of budging.
Bill raising abortion to homicide draws Republican pushback
February 15, 2023 GMTFRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Newly filed legislation allowing illegal abortions to be prosecuted as homicides drew a quick pushback Wednesday from the state's anti-abortion attorney general, who warned it would wrongly subject Kentucky women to charges for terminating pregnancies.
Post-Roe, Native Americans face even more abortion hurdles
February 14, 2023 GMTA few months after South Dakota banned abortion last year, April Matson drove more than nine hours to take a friend to a Colorado clinic to get the procedure.
The trip brought back difficult memories of Matson’s own abortion at the same clinic in 2016.
Bill Gates joins 26 newcomers on list of 50 biggest donors
February 14, 2023 GMTAs the ranks of America’s super wealthy grow, the roster of major philanthropists is expanding to include not-so-typical megadonors — among them, a professional clarinetist, a Ph.D. in meat science, and a lawyer who regularly argues before the U.S.
Judge: Banning guns for marijuana users unconstitutional
February 5, 2023 GMTOKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A federal judge in Oklahoma has ruled that a federal law prohibiting people who use marijuana from owning firearms is unconstitutional, the latest challenge to firearms regulations after the U.S.
N. Carolina Supreme Court to rehear voter ID, redistricting
February 4, 2023 GMTRALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The new Republican majority on North Carolina's Supreme Court agreed on Friday to rehear redistricting and voter identification cases less than two months after the court's previous edition, led by Democrats, issued major opinions going against GOP legislators who had been sued.
Federal appeals court strikes down domestic violence gun law
February 3, 2023 GMTA federal appeals court ruled Thursday that the government can't stop people who have domestic violence restraining orders against them from owning guns — the latest domino to fall after the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority set new standards for reviewing the nation's gun laws.
Interior: $580M headed to 15 tribes to fulfill water rights
February 3, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Fifteen Native American tribes will get a total of $580 million in federal money this year for water rights settlements, the Biden administration announced Thursday.
Justice Department: MLB antitrust exemption should be narrow
February 1, 2023 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department asked a federal appeals court to narrowly consider Major League Baseball’s antitrust exemption, a filing made in a case involving four eliminated minor league teams hoping to end the sport’s century-old legal protection.
South Korean court says stolen statue must return to Japan
February 1, 2023 GMTSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court ruled Wednesday that a 14th century Korean Buddhist statue should be sent back to a Japanese temple from where it was stolen in 2012.
The statue’s return had been put on hold for years after a South Korean temple claimed ownership of it, insisting that it was likely looted by medieval Japanese pirates before it ended up at a temple on Tsushima island, presumably in 1527.
Vermont lawmakers mull bills to protect abortion providers
January 31, 2023 GMTVermont lawmakers are taking testimony on a pair of bills that aim to protect health care workers who provide abortions and gender-affirming health care in Vermont from legal and disciplinary action from states that limit or ban those practices.
Dismissal of lawsuit over Columbus Day name change upheld
January 28, 2023 GMTPHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court's dismissal of a lawsuit alleging that the mayor of Philadelphia discriminated against Italian Americans in renaming the city's Columbus Day holiday to Indigenous Peoples' Day.
In mostly abortion-free Mississippi, court battle continues
January 28, 2023 GMTJACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A physicians' group based in the Midwest lacks legal standing to challenge a 25-year-old Mississippi Supreme Court ruling recognizing a right to abortion under the state constitution, lawyers for six women who support abortion rights argued in court papers filed Friday.
Minnesota Senate backs abortion rights after marathon debate
January 28, 2023 GMTST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Senate voted early Saturday after a marathon debate to write broad protections for abortion rights into state statutes, which would make it difficult for future courts to roll back.
SUPREME COURT NOTEBOOK: Warren is 5th justice with Navy ship
January 27, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren's name is on the U.S.
Colorado baker loses appeal over transgender birthday cake
January 26, 2023 GMTDENVER (AP) — The Colorado baker who won a partial U.S. Supreme Court victory after refusing to make a gay couple’s wedding cake because of his Christian faith lost an appeal Thursday in his latest legal fight, involving his rejection of a request for a birthday cake celebrating a gender transition.
NY pols OK vote on constitution change to protect abortion
January 24, 2023 GMTALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s legislature took a critical step Tuesday toward changing the state's constitution to bar discrimination based on “pregnancy outcomes” or “gender expression” — provisions intended to protect abortion rights and a person’s right to seek gender-affirming care.
Oregon launches abortion hotline offering free legal advice
January 24, 2023 GMTPORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon is launching a new abortion hotline offering free legal advice to callers, moving to further defend abortion access after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer and eliminated federal protections for the procedure.
Supreme Court has failed to find leaker of abortion opinion
January 19, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Thursday an eight-month investigation that included more than 120 interviews and revealed shortcomings in how sensitive documents are secured has failed to find who leaked a draft of the court's opinion overturning abortion rights.
Police investigate Illinois Planned Parenthood fire as arson
January 17, 2023 GMTCHICAGO (AP) — A fire at a central Illinois Planned Parenthood clinic is being investigated as arson, Peoria police said Tuesday, just days after the state enacted sweeping abortion protections.
Officers responded to a report of an “unknown person throwing a Molotov cocktail” into the Peoria clinic building at about 11:30 p.m.
Supreme Court lets New York enforce gun law during lawsuit
January 11, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — New York can for now continue to enforce a sweeping new law that bans guns from “sensitive places” including schools, playgrounds and Times Square, the Supreme Court said Wednesday, allowing the law to be in force while a lawsuit over it plays out.
School lawsuits over social media harm face tough legal road
January 11, 2023 GMTSEATTLE (AP) — Like the tobacco, oil, gun, opioid and vaping industries before them, the big U.S. social media companies are now facing lawsuits brought by public entities that seek to hold them accountable for a huge societal problem — in their case, the mental health crisis among youth.
Illinois lawmakers greenlight enhanced abortion protections
January 11, 2023 GMTCHICAGO (AP) — Illinois lawmakers on Tuesday approved a measure protecting Illinois' access to abortion from out-of-state meddling, making the state the latest to pursue such protections since the U.S.
Texas executes ex-officer who hired 2 people to kill wife
January 11, 2023 GMTHUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A former suburban Houston police officer was executed Tuesday for hiring two people to kill his estranged wife nearly 30 years ago amid a contentious divorce and custody battle.
Bill over abortion court leak struck down in North Dakota
January 10, 2023 GMTMonths after the unprecedented leak of the U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion that overturned Roe v.
US Supreme Court won’t hear appeals from ‘Wichita massacre’
January 9, 2023 GMTTOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to hear the appeals of two brothers who were sentenced to death for four fatal shootings on a Kansas soccer field in December 2000 known as “the Wichita massacre.”
Judge halts New Jersey’s stricter gun carry law, for now
January 9, 2023 GMTTRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Suggesting that New Jersey's recent concealed carry law infringes on the public's Second Amendment rights, a federal judge on Monday put a temporary hold on the legislation drafted after the U.S.
ND considers legal sports betting outside of tribal casinos
January 9, 2023 GMTAmid ongoing efforts to legalize sports betting in North Dakota — and expand it beyond the tribal casinos, where it's already allowed — a House panel heard arguments Monday over a measure to let voters decide the issue next year.
Oklahoma prison officials: Pastor can’t be in death chamber
January 9, 2023 GMTOKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A death row inmate in Oklahoma who is scheduled to be executed on Thursday cannot have his spiritual advisor with him inside the execution chamber because of the minister's history of anti-death penalty activism, including an arrest, the Department of Corrections said Monday.
After court setback, migrants cling to hopes of reaching US
December 29, 2022 GMTCIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — A familiar mix of disappointment, patience and determination spread among migrants on Mexico's northern border waiting to enter the United States as they faced the reality that pandemic-era asylum limits would remain for now.
US Supreme Court keeps asylum limits in place for now
December 28, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is keeping pandemic-era limits on asylum in place for now, dashing hopes of migrants who have been fleeing violence and inequality in Latin America and elsewhere to reach the United States.
High court temporarily blocks lifting of asylum restrictions
December 20, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is temporarily blocking an order that would lift pandemic-era restrictions on asylum seekers but the brief order leaves open the prospect that the restrictions in place since the coronavirus pandemic began and have been used to turn back hundreds of thousands of prospective asylum seekers could still expire on Wednesday.
New Jersey lawmakers pass gun carry legislation after ruling
December 20, 2022 GMTTRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey lawmakers gave final approval Monday to legislation overhauling rules to get a firearm carry permit after this summer's U.S.
Congress acts to remove bust of Dred Scott decision author
December 15, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The House passed legislation Wednesday that calls for removing from the Capitol a bust of the U.S. Supreme Court justice who wrote the infamous 1857 Dred Scott decision that held African-Americans were not citizens.
Supreme Court will review conviction in murder-for-hire case
December 13, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear an appeal arising from a murder-for-hire ordered by the onetime leader of a violent international crime ring.
Justices spar in latest clash of religion and gay rights
December 6, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court 's conservative majority sounded sympathetic Monday to a Christian graphic artist who objects to designing wedding websites for gay couples, the latest collision of religion and gay rights to land at the high court.
Supreme Court weighs ‘most important case’ on democracy
December 4, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is about to confront a new elections case, a Republican-led challenge asking the justices for a novel ruling that could significantly increase the power of state lawmakers over elections for Congress and the presidency.
Both sides see high stakes in gay rights Supreme Court case
December 3, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is being warned about the potentially dire consequences of a case next week involving a Christian graphic artist who objects to designing wedding websites for same-sex couples.
Supreme Court wrestles with Biden’s deportation policy
November 29, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday wrestled with a politically tinged dispute over a Biden administration policy that would prioritize deportation of people in the country illegally who pose the greatest public safety risk.
High court opening its doors to public on non-argument days
November 28, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is making a fuller reopening to the public following more than two and a half years of closures related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Letter: ‘Nothing to suggest’ Alito violated ethics standards
November 28, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Monday in a letter to Congress that there is “nothing to suggest” that Justice Samuel Alito violated ethics standards following a report that a 2014 decision he wrote was leaked in advance of its announcement.
Supreme Court sympathetic to group convicted in NY scandal
November 28, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court seemed ready Monday to side with a onetime top aide to ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and others convicted of corruption related to an upstate economic development project dubbed the Buffalo Billion.
Biden to extend student loan pause as court battle drags on
November 23, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that his administration will extend a pause on federal student loan payments while the White House fights a legal battle to save his plan to cancel portions of the debt.
Justice Thurgood Marshall’s wife ‘Cissy’ Marshall dies at 94
November 22, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Cecilia “Cissy” Suyat Marshall, the wife of the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall who worked alongside the civil rights champion at the NAACP, died Tuesday at the age of 94, the Supreme Court announced.
Supreme Court turns away school’s appeal of sex-assault case
November 21, 2022 GMTFALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from a Virginia school board that says it shouldn't be held liable for the alleged sexual assault of a student by a classmate on a band trip.
Supreme Court takes Jack Daniel’s case against dog toy maker
November 21, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Monday it will hear a dispute over a dog toy that got whiskey maker Jack Daniel's barking mad.
Jack Daniel's had asked the justices to hear its case against the manufacturer of the plastic Bad Spaniels toy.
Lawmakers urge action after report of other high court leak
November 20, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said his panel is reviewing “serious allegations” in a report that a former anti-abortion leader knew in advance the outcome of a 2014 Supreme Court case involving health care coverage of contraception.
Justices asked to hear dog toy dispute. Will they bite?
November 20, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The company that makes Jack Daniel's is howling mad over a squeaking dog toy that parodies the whiskey's signature bottle. Now, the liquor company is barking at the door of the Supreme Court.
Biden admin to ask high court to take up student debt plan
November 17, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration plans to ask the Supreme Court to reinstate the president's student debt cancellation plan, according to a Thursday legal filing warning that Americans will face financial strain if the plan remains stalled in court when loan payments are scheduled to restart in January.
Mormon church voices support for same-sex marriage law
November 16, 2022 GMTSALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Tuesday it would back proposed federal legislation to safeguard same-sex marriages, marking the latest show of support for the measure from conservative-leaning groups.
Judge overturns Georgia’s ban on abortion around 6 weeks
November 15, 2022 GMTATLANTA (AP) — A judge overturned Georgia’s ban on abortion starting around six weeks into a pregnancy, ruling Tuesday that it violated the U.S. Constitution and U.S. Supreme Court precedent when it was enacted three years ago and was therefore void.
Biden facing pressure to extend student loan payment pause
November 15, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — In the days and weeks before the midterm election, President Joe Biden trumpeted his plan to cancel billions in student loans as he rallied young people to support Democrats.
But now the entire initiative is in jeopardy because of legal challenges that could ensure no one receives a dollar of debt relief.
Man sentenced to death over jury’s wish seeks execution stay
November 15, 2022 GMTMONTGOMERY, Ala (AP) — Lawyers on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the upcoming execution of an Alabama man who was sentenced to death over the jury’s wishes — a punishment he could not receive today since states no longer allow judicial override.
High court rules against Arizona GOP leader in records fight
November 14, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has cleared the way for the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol to get phone records belonging to the leader of the Arizona Republican Party.
EXPLAINER: Where does student loan forgiveness stand?
November 14, 2022 GMTA federal appeals court in St. Louis has created another roadblock for President Joe Biden’s plan to provide millions of borrowers with up to $20,000 apiece in federal student-loan forgiveness.
Supreme Court rejects another bump stock ban case
November 14, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday again declined to hear a lawsuit involving a Trump-era ban on bump stocks, the gun attachments that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire rapidly like machine guns.
Abortion rights wins in Kentucky, elsewhere stoke supporters
November 13, 2022 GMTLOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Lexie Overstreet logged plenty of miles on foot, knocking on doors to try to persuade Kentuckians not to take away one of the last legal paths to restoring abortion rights in the state.
Democrats keep Senate majority as GOP push falters in Nevada
November 13, 2022 GMTState Supreme Court wins shaped by abortion, redistricting
November 12, 2022 GMTLITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Republicans have claimed key victories in state Supreme Court races that will give them an advantage in major redistricting fights, while Democrats notched similarly significant wins with help from groups focused on defending abortion access.
EXPLAINER: Where does the student loan debt plan stand?
November 12, 2022 GMTPresident Joe Biden’s plan to provide millions of borrowers with up to $20,000 apiece in federal student-loan forgiveness has been blocked by a second federal court, leaving millions of borrowers to wonder if they'll get debt relief at all.
Justices cheered at conservative group’s anniversary dinner
November 11, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Four of the five Supreme Court justices who overturned the constitutional right to abortion showed up at the conservative Federalist Society’s black-tie dinner marking its 40th anniversary.
Fishermen take case against paying for monitors to SCOTUS
November 10, 2022 GMTPORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A group of commercial fishermen is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the federal government from making them pay for workers who gather data aboard fishing boats.
The fishermen harvest Atlantic herring off the East Coast and are opposed to a 2020 rule implemented by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that requires the industry-funded monitoring.
Jane Fonda: Nonprofit’s work ‘far more important’ after Roe
November 10, 2022 GMTATLANTA (AP) — Jane Fonda says the work of the Georgia-based nonprofit organization she founded to prevent teenage pregnancies has become “far more important” in the months since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v.
Texas man executed for 2003 strangling death of his mother
November 10, 2022 GMTHUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A man who killed his mother and buried her body in her backyard was executed Wednesday in Texas despite his lawyers’ appeals that he should not be put to death because he had a history of mental illness.
Abortion supporters win in conservative, liberal states
November 9, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Abortion rights supporters won in the four states where access was on the ballot Tuesday, as voters enshrined it into the state constitution in battleground Michigan as well as blue California and Vermont and dealt a defeat to an anti-abortion measure in deep-red Kentucky.
Justices seem to favor most of Native child welfare law
November 9, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court appeared likely Wednesday to leave in place most of a federal law that gives preference to Native American families in foster care and adoption proceedings of Native children.
Abortion rights boosted with defeat of Kentucky amendment
November 9, 2022 GMTLOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky voters rejected a ballot measure aimed at denying any constitutional protections for abortion, handing a victory to abortion-rights supporters who have seen access to the procedure eroded by Republican lawmakers in the deeply red state.
Democrat Tim Walz wins 2nd term as Minnesota’s governor
November 9, 2022 GMTMINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Democrat Tim Walz won a second term as Minnesota’s governor on Tuesday, fending off a challenge by Republican Scott Jensen, a family practice physician who grabbed national attention with his vaccine skepticism.