A legal dispute between a dog toy manufacturer and a major whiskey producer reached the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday, as attorneys debated whether a parody chew toy infringes on trademark protections. VIP Products, the company behind a rubber squeaky toy called “Bad Spaniels,” is appealing a permanent injunction that prevents them from...
A contentious legal dispute over oil and gas leasing in areas designated as critical habitat for sage grouse continued in federal court on Wednesday, as conservation organizations pressed their case against government agencies and energy companies regarding leasing decisions that affect more than one million acres across Montana and Wyoming. The coalition of environmental groups,...
Environmental conservation organizations have initiated legal proceedings in federal court seeking to overturn a 2022 land exchange agreement between the United States Forest Service and Mt. Hood Meadows ski resort in Oregon. The groups argue that the transaction violates federal environmental regulations and congressional protections designed to preserve the undeveloped character of Mount Hood’s northern...
The former director of Berkeley’s police accountability office has filed a lawsuit against the city and its mayor, alleging wrongful termination after attempts to investigate officer misconduct and enforce departmental obligations. Hansel Aguilar, who led the Office of Police Accountability until his dismissal earlier this year, filed the complaint in Alameda County Superior Court on...
The New York State Court of Appeals heard arguments Wednesday in a case that could reshape the state’s judicial retirement system, as three veteran judges challenge the constitutionality of mandatory retirement requirements following a recent expansion of civil rights protections. The case centers on whether New York’s 2024 Equal Rights Amendment, which added age as...
A former federal prosecutor has been indicted on charges of theft of government property and concealment of government records after allegedly transmitting a sealed special counsel report to her personal email account. Carmen Lineberger, who previously served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and managed its Fort Pierce branch, appeared...
A comprehensive national survey has revealed that American voters would prefer to see Democrats gain control of the United States House of Representatives in the upcoming midterm elections, despite expressing significant dissatisfaction with the current performance of Democratic lawmakers in Congress. The survey, conducted among 1,106 registered voters nationwide, found that 50 percent of respondents...
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on May 14, 2026, held that a freight broker can be subject to state-law negligent-hiring claims arising from a 2017 tractor-trailer crash that resulted in the amputation of a truck driver’s lower leg. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the unanimous opinion, finding that a safety exception to a federal statute...
Federal agents arrested a tourist accused of throwing a large rock at an endangered Hawaiian monk seal off a Maui beach, authorities said. Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 38, of Covington, Washington, was taken into custody Wednesday by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration special agents, the U.S. attorney’s office in Honolulu said. He is charged with harassing...
Four men were convicted and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in connection with the October 2019 kidnapping and murder of Santa Cruz tech executive Tushar Atre, according to court records and investigators. Atre, 50, a web design entrepreneur who had a cannabis business in the Santa Cruz Mountains, was the focus of...