NOTUS: “Long before he was indicted, Rep. Henry Cuellar was considered the “King of Laredo.” And as he rose to power and prominence in South Texas, he brought his sister Rosie and brother Martin with him. Along the way, his siblings have faced questions about self-dealing and political influence-peddling. NOTUS found that Rosie Cuellar was…
“Uvalde parents sue gunmaker, Call of Duty manufacturer and Meta”
WaPo: “The lawyer who won a record-setting settlement for Sandy Hook families announced two lawsuits Friday on behalf of the relatives of Uvalde school shooting victims against the manufacturer of the AR-15-style weapon used in the attack, as well as the publisher of Call of Duty video games and the social media giant Meta. The…
“How Florida’s abortion law is affecting East Coast abortion clinics”
WaPo: “Clinics up the East Coast have seen a surge in patient traffic since a law banning most abortions in Florida went into effect on May 1 — but so far they have not experienced the collapse in care that many providers had feared before the new restrictions began in the country’s third most populous state,…
“Trump’s V.P. Pageant Has an Unexpectedly Strong Contender: Tom Cotton”
NY Times: “Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas has unexpectedly emerged as a top contender to become Donald J. Trump’s running mate, a signal that the former president is heavily weighing experience and the ability to run a disciplined campaign over other factors. Mr. Cotton’s ascendance comes as Mr. Trump’s leading vice-presidential options have increasingly come…
“Texas House Speaker Survives Challenge From Hard Right”
NY Times: “The speaker of the Texas House, Dade Phelan, won renomination in a runoff on Tuesday, surviving a bruising Republican primary challenge from a party activist and first-time candidate who was backed by former President Donald J. Trump and his Texas supporters. The race, in a southeast Texas district that includes part of the…
“Supreme Court approves South Carolina congressional map previously found to dilute Black voting power”
CNN: “The Supreme Court upheld a pro-Republican South Carolina congressional map Thursday, rejecting the argument raised by civil rights groups that lawmakers impermissibly used race as a proxy to bolster the GOP’s chances. But the high court also said that the civil rights groups that challenged the maps could continue to pursue one part of their claim,…
“NC will pay $885K in attorneys’ fees after unsuccessfully defending “ag-gag” case”
NC Newsline: “Lawyers with the North Carolina Attorney General’s office tried three times to convince a federal court the state’s “ag-gag” law should stand. They lost in U.S. District Court, which ruled the law violated the constitution. They lost at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the lower court. They petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear…
“How a Southern Baptist minister came to lead an LGBTQ-affirming church”
WaPo: “If people didn’t want to be gay, he thought, God could transform them. Danny had read accounts of conversion therapy, and he believed that it could work. But by 2014 he’d begun to notice that it hadn’t worked for any of the gay people he actually knew. One afternoon he went out for coffee…
“Louisiana House passes bill making abortion pills controlled substances”
WaPo: “The Louisiana House on Tuesday passed a bill that classifies the two drugs used to induce an abortion as “controlled dangerous substances.” Abortion opponents hope the measure, now on its way to Gov. Jeff Landry, will be a template for conservative states trying to end the procedure. The bill passed 64-29 after more than an hour…
“Voters wrongly accused of fraud cannot sue for defamation, NC court says”
NC Newsline: “Individuals and law firms making false claims of fraudulent voting cannot be sued for defamation, the NC Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The state Supreme Court’s five Republican justices ruled unanimously that people and entities bringing election protests enjoy “absolute privilege” that protects them from defamation lawsuits. The case stems from false claims of…