2018—By a 4-3 divide, the California supreme court holds (in People v. Contreras) that very long sentences imposed on two juvenile offenders for brutal rapes violate the Eighth Amendment of the federal…
The Department of Justice's (DOJ) latest disclosure under the Epstein Files Transparency Act — a long list of names as disparate as Janis Joplin, Julian Assange and former Vice President Dick Cheney — has sparked an outcry on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are accusing the DOJ of failing to comply with its final obligation under...
President Trump will deliver the first State of the Union address of his second term on Feb. 24, but several House and Senate Democrats plan to skip the high-profile address in favor of counter-rallies and other forms of protest. Trump’s speech comes as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is shut down amid a standoff...
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) warned Lone Star State Republicans against nominating state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) in the GOP primary. “If Ken Paxton is the nominee, we could well experience a massacre, and the first Democrat elected since 1994 in the state of Texas,” Cornyn told supporters in Fort Worth, Texas, according to NBC...
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) countered a threat from Iran’s supreme leader against American warships with a famous movie quote on Wednesday. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened to sink U.S. vessels amid nuclear talks between the two countries this week. “The Americans constantly say that they’ve sent a warship toward Iran,” Khamenei said. “Of...
The Hennepin County, Minn., Attorney's office on Wednesday demanded that the federal government hand over records and evidence related to the killing of U.S. citizen Alex Pretti by federal officers during a federal immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis last month. The office of Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty accused the Trump administration of hiding evidence...
Click in for more news from The Hill {beacon} Health Care Health Care The Big Story Trump’s surgeon general nominee to finally get hearing After months of delay, President Trump’s pick to be the next U.S. surgeon general will appear before the Senate for a confirmation hearing, where her credentials and special interests are likely...
A group of 13 states that did not support President Trump in the last election sued the administration on Wednesday over canceled federal climate funds. The lawsuit challenges the Trump administration’s cancellation of billions of dollars in funding for climate-friendly projects, primarily in Democrat-leaning states. It alleges that the moves were a violation of Congress’s right to...
Maryland and Virginia Democrats are pressing local utility DC Water over a recent wastewater spill that leaked into the Potomac River, an incident that has also sparked some political tension in the region. In a Wednesday letter to DC Water CEO David Gadis, the lawmakers said they were reaching out “to express our serious concern...
A new survey found that 1 in 4 Americans have a negative opinion of both major political parties ahead of midterm elections. Poll results from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 1 in 10 Americans feel good about both parties. The feelings follow the longest government shutdown in the country’s history last...
Director of the National Institutes of Health Jay Bhattacharya will serve as interim director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) following the reported exit of Jim O’Neill, a Trump administration official confirmed Wednesday. It was reported last week that O’Neill, who also served as deputy secretary of the Department of Health and...
U2 is releasing a musical tribute to Renee Good, the 37-year-old mother killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis, saying that "the power of the people is so much stronger than the people in power." The song, "American Obituary," is part of a six-track EP, "U2 Days of Ash," released Wednesday by...
An impending lawsuit led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) will challenge the Trump administration's changes to the federal childhood vaccine recommendations, Reuters first reported Tuesday. Bonta told the outlet that his team is "mobilized" to file the suit, which aims to overturn the decisions made by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory...
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has backtracked its initial decision last week of refusing to review Moderna's mRNA flu vaccine candidate after holding a high-priority meeting with the company. Last week, the FDA said it refused to file Moderna's application over regulatory issues. The company maintained that the refusal had nothing to do with...
