The New Civil Liberties Alliance filed the lawsuit Thursday on behalf of the Silver Spring Jewish Center and Rabbi J. Menashe Shapiro. The lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland to block the law while the case moves forward.
At issue is a proposal to build multiple 765kV ultra-high voltage transmission lines stretching from deep east Texas to far west Texas.
The top-line race is the Democratic Senate primary, which has seen Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., square off against progressive Abdul El-Sayed.
Michigan is set to hold House and Senate primaries Tuesday whose outcome could likely shape the larger battles for the November contests and tip the scales in the larger battle for both chambers, depending on their outcomes.
Bonta called the challenge to the “unlawful Warner Bros./Paramount merger” a clean-cut antitrust challenge through and through.
(The Center Square) - The coalition of state attorneys general suing over the Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance merger has requested a trial date of April 2027.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta is leading the coalition. In a statement to The Center Square, Bonta called the challenge to the “unlawful Warner Bros./Paramount merger” a clean-cut antitrust challenge through and through.
“It is about protecting the vibrancy of an industry, the pockets of consumers, and the quality of films and television programs that take center stage in many of our lives,” said Bonta.
Warner Bros. Discovery operates Warner Bros.' California movie studios in Burbank, and Paramount Skydance owns Paramount Pictures in nearby Hollywood. Both companies own streaming services, and Paramount Skydance owns CBS. Both companies own other TV networks.
The lawsuit from Bonta et al against Paramount-Skydance's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. was announced July 13 and is in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
On July 20, Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín granted a temporary restraining order requested by the state attorneys general. The TRO pauses the deal while the court considers a preliminary injunction that would block the merger for the duration of the lawsuit. However, on July 29, Paramount Skydance said it would delay the merger until June 2027.
In addition to Bonta, who is a Democrat, the plaintiffs are Democratic attorneys general from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington.
“This challenge deserves careful and thorough review, and today my office and attorneys general across the country asked the court for a trial date next spring,” said Bonta in Friday’s statement to The Center Square. “We are eager to continue to make our case and look forward to a final determination of the schedule by the court."
Writers Guild of America, the union representing TV and movie writers, is also suing over the merger. That lawsuit is also in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
“With fewer competitors, the merged Paramount-Warner Bros. entity would have both the incentive and the ability to lower costs by suppressing writers’ wages and reducing output,” the WGA complaint states. “Writers will be paid less and have fewer employment opportunities.”
When the WGA lawsuit was announced, the California Department of Justice, led by Bonta, told The Center Square in an email that it welcomes enforcement partners in fighting for fair competition and looks forward to litigating this alongside WGA.
Not everyone is a fan of the lawsuits. Michael Gates, a lawyer who is the Republican candidate for California attorney general, said Bonta is running for reelection and “jumping on this as an opportunity to make headlines” in an election year.
“He's trying to appear as though he’s taking on Big Business, but what he’s totally missing is that the federal government has already evaluated this merger, and the federal government under federal antitrust laws deems this merger as proper and nothing violative of antitrust law,” Gates told The Center Square during a phone interview.
The Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice gave its blessing on June 12. The European Commission signed off on the merger on July 21.
It is for these reasons that Wayne Winegarden of the Pasadena, Calif.-based Pacific Research Institute thinks the merger is fine.
Winegarden also told The Center Square that Bonta’s lawsuit relies on an outdated view of the media industry, which Winegarden described as rapidly evolving.
“There are good reasons to expect the evolution will continue for years,” said Winegarden, PRI’s senior fellow in business and economics, in an email to The Center Square. “Both Paramount and Warner Bros are struggling to compete in this environment. The merger is an attempt to fix that problem for both companies.”
The majority of the justices on Friday denied the request, but two - Kevin Dougherty and Sallie Updyke Mundy - disagreed with the majority.
(The Center Square) - The state Supreme Court on Friday afternoon denied the Allegheny County district attorney's request to extend a stay on a ruling that declared unconstitutional language in the state's second-degree murder sentencing framework, setting the stage for a legislative fight and many county murder case reviews.
The action came eight days after Allegheny DA Stephen Zappala filed a petition seeking an extension of the original 120-day stay on the ruling, issued four months earlier. The majority of the justices on Friday denied the request, but two - Kevin Dougherty and Sallie Updyke Mundy - disagreed with the majority.
The denial throws a cloud of uncertainty around the status of life sentences pertaining to second-degree murder being served by inmates around the state. More than 1,000 cases could be involved.
"We are disappointed, but on the other hand we are hoping this decision will force the Legislature to take action" and come up with new sentencing language, said Berks County District Attorney John Adams, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association. "The fact that the Legislature has not acted is a detriment to the safety of our communities."
Some elected leaders have raised alarms that hundreds of inmates convicted of felony murder could start seeking release. Others have said the process will take considerable time.
The original March ruling was stayed by the Supreme Court for 120 days in order to give the Legislature time to put in place a new approach. That created a deadline of July 24.
In late June and early July, the main focus of lawmakers appeared to be the state budget, which was approved on July 12. After its passage, they left Harrisburg.
The Democratic-controlled House returned for an unusual late July session day last week, but made major changes to a bill that had cleared the Republican-controlled Senate before once again heading home. Without passage of the same language by both chambers, a bill cannot be signed by the governor.
In the dissenting opinion issued Friday, Dougherty wrote that the court's March ruling "was a seismic event in criminal jurisprudence in Pennsylvania" and "upended decades of sentencing practice in this Commonwealth."
Dougherty said it appeared "the Legislature has made significant headway in responding to our opinion" and there does not appear to be "an irreconcilable legislative impasse." Lawmakers, he said, should "be afforded more time to complete their vital work" and get an additional 120 days.
Spokespersons for leaders in the House and Senate were not immediately available for comment late Friday afternoon.
Newly released personal notes contradict the former NIAID director's public testimony under oath about the virus' severity.
Dr. Anthony Fauci privately believed that the death rate of the COVID-19 was much lower than he told Congress just one month later, according to a record kept by the health official from February 2020.
According to a release, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company told the Louisiana Department of Insurance it expects to pay about $136 million to qualifying Louisiana policyholders. The average payment will be $138 per eligible vehicle.
The Louisiana Department of Health is developing new reimbursement rates for home- and community-based services, which help people with disabilities receive care outside institutions. The rates are intended to better reflect providers’ actual costs.
With Texas suffering from extreme weather events, including record flooding and hurricanes, home and auto insurance premiums have increased.
As Gov. Greg Abbott campaigns for his fourth term in office, he’s engaging in a statewide “affordability tour” to discuss his plan to reduce costs for Texans.
Police Chief Axel Henry sent a complaint to the city.
Just seven months into her term, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her is addressing accusations of sexual harassment from city employees, calling them “attempts at humor.”
The story first broke this week with the news that Police Chief Axel Henry sent a complaint to the city in April.
Her said she has been cooperating with an independent investigation since then.
“As Mayor, I take my responsibility to treat every employee with professionalism and respect very seriously. I recognize that some of my attempts at humor fell short of the standard I expect of myself,” the statement said. “We have fully cooperated with the independent investigation since it began in April and will continue to do so. I respect the investigative process and believe it is important to allow it to reach its conclusion.”
Her, a Democrat, took office just earlier this year. She is the first woman and the first person of Hmong ancestry to hold the position.
The city council was allegedly not made aware of the independent investigation, which is being conducted by a law firm.
“The lack of transparency related to this matter to date is unacceptable. The City Council learned about these allegations and the hiring of the external investigators from the media,” said City Council Member Molly Coleman in a statement this week. “Our partners in the Mayor’s administration should have informed the Council of this matter as soon as it was apparent that there were serious allegations against the Mayor, and before an external law firm was retained. Transparency moving forward is non-negotiable if we are going to restore trust and faith in City Hall.”
Attorney Chris Madel is representing Henry and said in a letter to City Attorney Irene Kao on April 1 that Her’s “unlawful” actions were “beyond isolated incidents.”
“The City is on notice that Mayor Her has engaged in illegal conduct towards City employees,” Madel wrote. “Mayor Her has used one of more mobile phones to communicate inappropriate, and indeed, unlawful text messages.”
Henry is a formal complainant against Her “for illegal employment practices against City employees.” Those city employees include allegations from members of the city’s police department.
“Recognizing both the seriousness of that misconduct and the vulnerability of those directly affected, he is concerned that, absent a formal complaint, the behavior will continue unchecked and may expose others to retaliation for speaking out,” Madel’s letter said.
So far, Her has given no indication that she plans to step down.
“I remain confident that the full facts will come to light, and I will continue to focus on serving the people of St. Paul with integrity and dedication,” she said.
Supreme Court of Australia's most populous province says Kirralie Smith and her women's rights group Binary committed "transgender vilification."
The 9:30 Club was home to the post-punk hardcore scene. Bands like the Ramones, Fugazi, REM, Tiny Desk Unit and more played there
Although Americans are flocking to the nation’s capital this summer for the country's 250th anniversary, many aren’t aware of the city's musical significance.
