Court rulings

A Pennsylvania woman accused of stealing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 's laptop during the Capitol riot with the intent of selling it to Russia wants out of her house arrest so she can attend a renaissance fair, according to court documents. Riley Williams, of Mechanicsburg, made a request to a federal court to allow her to visit the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire in Manheim this weekend, according to The Patriot-News, a Pennsylvania newspaper. The Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire is a longstanding event where hundreds of people dress up as figures from the 16th century and visitors can buy wares and food presented in the theme of the time period. Williams was charged with trespassing as well as violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021, both of which are misdemeanors. Other charges presented against Williams include theft of government property and obstruction of an official proceeding, which carry possible sentences of 20 years in jail. The … [Read more...] about Alleged Capitol rioter wants out of house arrest to visit renaissance faire

The Manhattan District Attorney’s attempts to flip former President Donald Trump’s loyal money man have officially failed, as the tax-dodging ex-chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg took a plea deal Thursday morning and won’t testify against his lifelong boss. Instead, he’ll get what some might consider a sweetheart deal for a 75-year-old man who kept his lips shut and wouldn’t implicate his old boss: six months or less behind bars. His legal team expects him to realistically spend three months in prison, and he will face five years of probation after serving his sentence. He will also have to pay back $1,994,321 in taxes he owed, prosecutors said in court. In return, Weisselberg has also agreed to openly testify about the way the Trump Organization rewarded him with untaxed corporate perks for years in the form of expensive tuition payments for his grandkids at a top-tier Manhattan private school, a luxury car to use anytime he wished, and a fully-paid swanky apartment … [Read more...] about Trump’s Money Man Allen Weisselberg Pleads Guilty

CLEVELAND — A federal judge in Cleveland awarded $650 million in damages Wednesday to two Ohio counties that sued CVS, Walgreens and Walmart over the way the national pharmacy chains distributed opioids to their communities. U.S. District Judge Dan Polster said in his ruling that the money will be used to the fight the opioid crisis in Lake and Trumbull counties outside Cleveland. Attorneys for the counties put the total price tag at $3.3 billion for the damage done. The judge admonished the three companies, saying they “squandered the opportunity to present a meaningful plan to abate the nuisance” after proceedings last spring to determine what the counties were owed. Lake County is to receive $306 million over 15 years. Trumbull County is to receive $344 million over the same period. Polster ordered the companies to immediately fork over nearly $87 million to cover the first two years of payments, but it was unclear whether they had to pay that money during their … [Read more...] about Walgreens, Walmart and CVS ordered to pay $650 million over opioid sales

She went home for a vacation. Now a Saudi woman is facing 34 years in prison for sharing her views on social media, human rights groups say, in a case they have condemned as the latest worrying sign of the kingdom's crackdown on dissent . Salma al-Shehab, a 34-year-old mother of two, was an active Twitter user while studying for a doctoral degree at the University of Leeds School of Medicine in the United Kingdom. She posted her own tweets about human rights issues as well as retweeting activists. Al-Shehab, who is a Saudi citizen, was arrested while visiting her home in January 2021, according to multiple human rights groups based in Europe and the United States. After initially being sentenced to six years in jail, the sentence was increased to a record 34 years earlier this month following her appeal, the rights groups said. Al-Shehab was also slapped with a 34-year travel ban that will take effect following her release, they said. The charges against her included … [Read more...] about Saudi woman sentenced to 34 years in prison for her Twitter activity

CLEVELAND — Three retail pharmacy chains recklessly distributed massive amounts of pain pills in two Ohio counties, a federal jury said Tuesday in a verdict that could set the tone for U.S. city and county governments that want to hold pharmacies accountable for their roles in the opioid crisis. The counties blamed pharmacies operated by CVS, Walgreens and Walmart for not stopping the flood of pills that caused hundreds of overdose deaths and cost each of the two counties about $1 billion, their attorney said. This was the first time pharmacy companies had completed a trial to defend themselves in a drug crisis that has killed a half-million Americans over the past two decades. How much the pharmacies must pay in damages will be decided in the spring by federal judge. CDC data shows overdose deaths hit record high in 2020 July 14, 2021 01:44 Lake and Trumbull counties were able to convince the jury that the pharmacies played an … [Read more...] about CVS, Walmart and Walgreens are responsible for roles in opioid crisis, jury finds

A three-judge federal panel has declared people who say they are members of the opposite sex can use a 1990 disability law to enforce their demands on other people and groups. “We have little trouble concluding that a law excluding from ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990] protection both ‘gender identity disorders’ and gender dysphoria would [unconstituionally] discriminate against transgender people as a class,” said the opinion by Judge Diana Gribbon Motz, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton. The 2:1 decision by the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit may be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. If the case survives, it will be used by advocacy groups to push the transgender ideology on state and local government, schools, companies, and civic groups. The ideology insists that each person’s male-or-female sex is determined by their inner feelings of “gender identity,” regardless of other people’s recognition of their male or female body. That demand … [Read more...] about Federal Judges Expand Disability Law to Enforce Transgender Demands