Courts

COMMENTARY
Activists at a June 2014 rally in Washington, DC, marking the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder which held a section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is unconstitutional. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Dismissal of Arkansas voting rights suit threatens democracy

BY: - December 4, 2023

On the Monday before Thanksgiving, a federal appeals court inflicted a likely fatal wound to the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. In a 2-1 ruling, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tossed aside decades of precedent and ruled that citizens can’t challenge racial gerrymandering through the VRA. Only the U.S. Attorney General can […]

GOP senators walk out of vote on subpoenas in U.S. Supreme Court ethics inquiry

BY: - November 30, 2023

WASHINGTON — South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham and Republican colleagues stormed out of a Democratic-led U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Thursday to authorize subpoenas for two high-profile GOP operatives as part of an ethics probe into undisclosed financial ties to U.S. Supreme Court justices. The panel voted 11-0 to subpoena billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow […]

Former Arkansas Medical Board chairman charged with felony health care fraud

BY: - November 29, 2023

UPDATE: This story was updated at 3:38 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, to include information about Dr. Brian Hyatt’s medical license. Prosecutors on Wednesday formally charged the former chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board with felony fraud. A special prosecutor from the Arkansas Attorney General’s office filed two counts of Medicaid fraud, a […]

Former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters in a campaign visit to Council Bluffs, Iowa, on July 7, 2023. He was back in Iowa on July 18 to participate in a cable TV interview. (Jared Strong/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Michigan judge says only Congress can keep Trump off of the 2024 ballot

BY: - November 15, 2023

A Michigan Court of Claims judge on Tuesday agreed with Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson that her office lacks the authority to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the ballot for the 2024 Republican primary election. The ruling by Judge James Robert Redford determined that arguments as to whether Trump should be barred based on […]