law and legal system

Brittany Higgins: Rape case that shook Australian politics abandoned over mental health fears

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Brittany Higgins: Rape case that shook Australian politics abandoned over mental health fears

Sydney, Australia CNN — Prosecutors in Australia have ended high-profile legal action against a former government staffer accused of raping a colleague inside Parliament House, saying a retrial would pose a “significant and unacceptable risk” to the woman’s life. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) director of public prosecutions, Shane Drumgold, told reporters Friday that the … Read more

Kevin Johnson: Missouri executes man who murdered police officer in 2005 after Supreme Court denies request for a stay

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Kevin Johnson: Missouri executes man who murdered police officer

CNN — Kevin Johnson – who murdered a Kirkwood, Missouri, police officer in 2005 but claimed racial bias in his prosecution – was executed Tuesday night by lethal injection. Johnson, 37, was pronounced dead at 7:40 p.m. CT. He didn’t give a final statement, according to Missouri Department of Corrections spokesperson Karen Pojmann. The execution … Read more

Kevin Johnson: Missouri executes man who murdered police officer

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Kevin Johnson: Missouri executes man who murdered police officer

CNN — [Breaking news update, published at 9:25 p.m. ET] Kevin Johnson – who murdered a Kirkwood, Missouri, police officer in 2005, but claimed racial bias in his prosecution – was executed Tuesday night by lethal injection. Johnson, 37, was pronounced dead at 7:40 p.m. CT. He didn’t give a final statement, according to Department … Read more

Kroger and Albertsons want to create a grocery empire. The last supermarket mega-merger backfired

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Kroger and Albertsons want to create a grocery empire. The last supermarket mega-merger backfired

New York CNN Business — When Christine Martinez found out last month that Kroger and Albertsons planned to merge in a deal worth nearly $25 billion, she thought, “here we go again.” Martinez lost her job as a pharmacy technician in the aftermath of a prior supermarket mega-merger: Albertsons’ $9 billion tie-up with Safeway in … Read more

Senate passes bill to protect same-sex and interracial marriage in landmark vote

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Senate passes bill to protect same-sex and interracial marriage in landmark vote

Washington CNN — The Senate on Tuesday passed legislation to protect same-sex and interracial marriage, called the Respect for Marriage Act, in a landmark bipartisan vote. The final vote was 61-36. The bill was supported by all members of the Democratic caucus and 12 Republicans, the same dozen GOP members who backed the bill for … Read more

Supreme Court hears Texas’ challenge to Biden immigration and deportation policies

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Supreme Court hears Texas' challenge to Biden immigration and deportation policies

CNN — Tea Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the Biden administration’s authority to prioritize which non-citizens to deport when hearing a challenge brought by two Republican state attorneys general who say the Department of Homeland Security is skirting federal immigration law. The justices were considering three distinct issues in the case, which opens the door … Read more

Tony Ornato, former White House deputy chief of staff, meeting with the House January 6 committee

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Tony Ornato, former White House deputy chief of staff, meeting with the House January 6 committee

CNN — The House select committee investigating the capitol riot is interviewing former White House deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato on Tuesday, a potentially key witness whose testimony could shed new light on former President Donald Trump’s movements leading up to and on January 6, 2021, according to two sources familiar with the panel’s … Read more

Rural Arizona county delays certifying midterm results as election disputes persist

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Rural Arizona county delays certifying midterm results as election disputes persist

CNN — Officials in a rural Arizona county Monday delayed the certification of November’s midterm elections, missing the legal deadline and leading the Arizona secretary of state’s office to sue over the county’s failure to sign off on the results. By a 2-1 vote Monday morning, the Republican majority on the Cochise County Board of … Read more

Florida woman sues Kraft Heinz over 3.5 minute Velveeta mac and cheese

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Florida woman sues Kraft Heinz over 3.5 minute Velveeta mac and cheese

CNN — The label on a cup of Velveeta’s microwaveable mac and cheese says the meal only takes three and a half minutes to prepare. But a Florida woman says this is false – and she’s suing the manufacturer for $5 million. Amanda Ramirez, of Hialeah, has filed a proposed $5 million class action lawsuit … Read more

Buffalo grocery store mass shooter pleads guilty to terrorism and murder charges in racist attack

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Buffalo grocery store mass shooter pleads guilty to terrorism and murder charges in racist attack

CNN — The gunman who killed 10 people and wounded three in May in a racist attack at a grocery store in a efficiently Black neighborhood of Buffalo, New York, pleaded guilty Monday to state charges of domestic terrorism as a hate crime, murder and attempted murder. Payton Gendron, a 19-year-old White man, pleaded guilty … Read more