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REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Acquire Licensing RightsSept 8 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday ordered the White House, the FBI and top health officials to not "coerce or significantly encourage" social media companies to remove content that the Biden administration considers to be misinformation. Circuit Court of Appeals narrowed much of an injunction that restricted Biden administration contact with social media companies issued by a Louisiana judge. The agencies are barred from coercing, threatening or pressuring social media companies to remove content. The attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri, along with several individuals who say they were censored on social media, had sued Biden administration agencies and officials last year. The Biden administration has argued that it asked social media companies to take down posts it considered to be harmful misinformation, but never forced them to do so.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Biden, Andrew Bailey, Joe Biden's, Donald Trump ., Terry Doughty, Nate Raymond, Jonathan Stempel, Brendan Pierson, Bill Berkrot, Alexia Garamfalvi, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: REUTERS, White, FBI, Circuit, Facebook, YouTube, 5th, Republican, U.S . Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, Democratic, Supreme, U.S . Department of Justice, Biden, Twitter, Donald Trump . U.S, District, Thomson Locations: New Orleans, Louisiana, Missouri, U.S, Monroe , Louisiana, Boston, New York

The payout includes the approximately $8.4 billion of damages Burford sought plus about $7.6 billion of 8% prejudgment interest running from May 3, 2012, about 2-1/2 weeks after the seizure. Argentina, which is in dire financial straits including a scarcity of foreign exchange reserves, pledged an immediate appeal. Shareholders' $8.43 billion damages estimate was based on Argentina's seizure of the YPF shares on April 16, 2012, which they said transferred "control." But the judge found it "telling" that Argentine officials treated April 16 as the seizure date, which stripped Repsol of its power to run YPF and distribute capital. The judge also called 8% interest "appropriate and equitable," and "well within the range" imposed by Argentine courts.

Persons: Loretta Preska, Burford, Preska, Axel Kicillof, Gabriela Cerruti, Cerruti, Nate Raymond, Jonathan Stempel, Adam Jourdan, Rodrigo Campos, Mark Porter, Will Dunham, Richard Chang Organizations: YPF, U.S, District, Burford Capital, Petersen Energia Inversora, Eton Park Capital, Jefferies, Petersen, Eton Park, Argentina, International Monetary Fund, IMF, Argentine, Thomson Locations: Argentina, U.S, Manhattan, Burford, London, New York, Buenos Aires, Qatar, China, Boston

The paid fellowships were designed in part to help support the recruitment of people of color, which major law firms have struggled for years to add to their partnership ranks. The fellowship consists of a paid summer-associate position, which in law firms often lead to full-time jobs that pay in the six figures after graduation, and a $50,000 stipend. Legal challenges against corporate diversity programs have increased in the wake of the Supreme Court's affirmative action ruling. The other law firm in Blum's crosshairs is Seattle-founded Perkins Coie, a more than 1,200-lawyer global law firm. It has a similar fellowship and has said it plans to defend itself, saying its commitment to diversity is "steadfast."

Persons: Edward Blum, Perkins, Morrison, Foerster, Blum, Keith Wetmore, Blum's, Perkins Coie, Nate Raymond, Alexia Garamfalvi, Richard Chang Organizations: U.S, Supreme, Harvard University, University of North, San, American Alliance for Equal Rights, Excellence, Harvard, Thomson Locations: University of North Carolina, Washington , U.S, San Francisco, Miami, Blum's crosshairs, Seattle, Boston

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 5 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Tuesday allowed the state of Georgia to resume enforcing a new Republican-backed ban on hormone replacement therapy for transgender people under age 18, after a federal appeals court allowed a similar law in Alabama to go back into effect. The appeals court panel was entirely comprised of judges appointed by Republican presidents. The 11th Circuit hears appeals from Georgia as well, and after it ruled, the state's Republican attorney general, Chris Carr, urged Geraghty to vacate her injunction. Republican lawmakers in several states have passed laws restricting medical treatments for transgender minors. The law also prevents minors from receiving gender-affirming surgeries, though that provision was not at issue in the case before Geraghty.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Sarah Geraghty, Geraghty, Chris Carr, Joe Biden, Kara Richardson, Carr's, Brian Kemp, Nate Raymond, Christopher Cushing, Leslie Adler Organizations: Trump, City Hall, REUTERS, Republican, Circuit, Democratic, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Georgia, Alabama, Atlanta, Boston

McCarrick, a former archbishop of Washington, D.C., is the only current or former U.S. Catholic cardinal to ever face child sex abuse charges, with prosecutors in Massachusetts and Wisconsin filing separate cases against him. The case in Dedham, Massachusetts, before Judge Paul McCallum was the first to be filed, with prosecutors in July 2021 charging McCarrick with three counts of indecent assault and battery. A legal quirk froze the statute of limitations in the Massachusetts case after McCarrick, a non-resident, left the state. McCarrick was expelled from the Roman Catholic priesthood in 2019 after a Vatican investigation found him guilty of sexual crimes against minors and adults. According to court records, the alleged victim in the Massachusetts case said McCarrick, a family friend, began molesting him when he was a boy.

Persons: Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, David L Ryan, Judge Paul McCallum, McCarrick, Pope John Paul II, McCarrick groped, Kerry Nelligan, Nelligan, ’, Nate Raymond, Chizu Nomiyama, Andy Sullivan, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Roman Catholic, Wellesley College, Washington , D.C, Catholic Church, Catholic, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Prosecutors, Thomson Locations: Dedham, Court, Dedham , Massachusetts, U.S, DEDHAM , Massachusetts, Massachusetts, Washington ,, Wisconsin, Missouri, Boston

Protesters react as they gather inside the South Carolina House as members debate a new near-total ban on abortion with no exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest at the state legislature in Columbia, South Carolina, U.S. August 30, 2022. The South Carolina Supreme Court on a 4-1 vote rejected a request by Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers to reconsider its Aug. 23 ruling, which they said left unanswered what constitutes a "fetal heartbeat" under the Republican-backed law. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, a Republican, in a statement welcomed the decision. The U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that had legalized abortion nationwide, prompting Republican-led states including South Carolina to ban or severely curtail the ability of women to obtain abortions. The new law came after the state Supreme Court in January struck down a similar abortion law, by a 3-2 vote.

Persons: Sam Wolfe, Alan Wilson, Roe, Wade, Kaye Hearn, Nate Raymond, Lincoln Organizations: Carolina House, REUTERS, South Carolina Supreme, Republican, Greenville Women's Clinic, Carolina, U.S, Supreme, Thomson Locations: Columbia , South Carolina, U.S, Greenville, South Carolina, Boston

The logo of Robinhood Markets, Inc. is seen at a pop-up event on Wall Street after the company's IPO in New York City, U.S., July 29, 2021. The Massachusetts Supreme Judiciary Court reversed a lower-court judge's decision in favor of Robinhood in a lawsuit it filed after Massachusetts Secretary of State Bill Galvin in 2020 accused it of encouraging inexperienced investors to place risky trades. Galvin is seeking to have Robinhood's state broker-dealer license revoked. She noted that Galvin deemed the rule necessary "to protect investors confused by the increasingly blurred line between broker-dealers providing investment advice and investment advisers." "The rule that has been upheld by the Supreme Judicial Court today will give the highest protections to Massachusetts investors when brokers provide investment advice," Galvin, a Democrat, said in a statement.

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Bill Galvin, Galvin, Lucas Moskowitz, Robinhood's, Robinhood, stockbrokers, Dalila Wendlandt, Galvin permissibly, Nate Raymond, Jonathan Oatis, Alexia Garamfalvi Organizations: Inc, REUTERS, BOSTON, Court, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Robinhood, Menlo, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Massachusetts, Menlo Park , California, Friday's, Boston

The American Alliance for Equal Rights sued Perkins Coie in Dallas and Morrison & Foerster in Miami two months after the Supreme Court sided with another group founded by activist Edward Blum and rejected affirmative action policies used by many colleges to increase enrollment of racial minorities. The federal lawsuits accused both law firms of unlawfully discriminating against white candidates by limiting which law students could be considered for paid fellowships designed in part to help support the recruitment of people of color. "Excluding students from these esteemed fellowships because they are the wrong race is unfair, polarizing and illegal," Blum, who is white, said in a statement. Perkins Coie, founded in Seattle, offers "diversity fellowships" that provide stipends of $15,000 to $25,000 and paid positions as summer associates, a position that at major law firms can lead to full-time jobs with six-figure salaries. Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Will Dunham, Alexia Garamfalvi and Alistair BellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Edward Blum, Perkins Coie, Morrison, Foerster, " Blum, Perkins, Nate Raymond, Will Dunham, Alexia Garamfalvi, Alistair Bell Organizations: U.S, Supreme, Harvard University, University of North, Activision, American Alliance for Equal Rights, Activision Blizzard, Kellogg, Gannett, Civil, American, American Alliance for Equal, Atlanta, Thomson Locations: University of North Carolina, Washington , U.S, Dallas, Miami, Seattle, United States, Asia, San Francisco, Blum's Texas, Boston

The U.S. Supreme Court building is seen prior to the start of the court's 2022-2023 term in Washington, U.S. September 30, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 21 (Reuters) - A parents group backed by a conservative legal organization asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to consider whether an admissions policy aimed at diversifying an elite Virginia high school is racially discriminatory. But unlike the higher education cases, the admissions policy adopted in 2020 by Virginia's Fairfax County School Board for the state-chartered magnet high school was on its face race neutral. In February 2022, U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton sided with the parents' group lawyers at the libertarian Pacific Legal Foundation. Last year the Supreme Court declined an emergency request to block its policy, though three conservative justices dissented.

Persons: Kevin Lamarque, Thomas, Claude Hilton, Appeals, Nate Raymond, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: U.S, Supreme, REUTERS, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, Fairfax, Fairfax County School Board, TJ, Coalition, District, Pacific Legal Foundation, Circuit, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Virginia, Fairfax County, Alexandria, Constitution's, U.S, Richmond, Boston

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 21 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge has blocked the state of Georgia from enforcing a new Republican-backed law that bars doctors from providing hormone replacement therapy to treat gender dysphoria in transgender children under age 18. The ruling marked the latest instance of a federal judge blocking a law banning medical procedures for transgender youth. The judge said that amounts to a form of unconstitutional sex discrimination because a minor's sex at birth determines whether that child can receive a given form of medical treatment. The state argued that banning hormone therapy was justified by the risk that an individual may later in life regret the physical changes brought on by hormone replacement therapy. By contrast, research showed mental health benefits from allowing the treatment of gender dysphoria, the judge said.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Sarah Geraghty, Christopher Carr, Kara Richardson, Brian Kemp, Geraghty, Joe Biden, Georgia, Nate Raymond, Will Dunham, Alexia Garamfalvi Organizations: Trump, City Hall, REUTERS, Republican, U.S, U.S . Constitution, Circuit, Appeals, Democratic, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Georgia, Atlanta, U.S ., Boston

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 17 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Thursday refused to allow Idaho to enforce a first-in-the-nation ban on transgender women and girls from participating in female sports leagues, saying the measure likely was unconstitutional. That argument was pursued by the ACLU's client, Lindsay Hecox, a transgender athlete who sought to join the women’s track team at Boise State University. Wardlaw said the law also discriminates against all Idaho female student athletes on the basis of sex by subjecting only them and not male athletes to the "invasive" sex dispute verification process. The Biden administration's Department of Education in April proposed a rule change that would prohibit schools from enacting outright bans on transgender athletes from teams that are consistent with their gender identities while offering flexibility on exceptions for the highest levels of competition. Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Chase Strangio, Brad Little, Christiana Kiefer, Circuit Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw, Bill Clinton, Lindsay Hecox, Wardlaw, Nate Raymond, Alexia Garamfalvi, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Trump, City Hall, REUTERS, Circuit, Republican, American Civil Liberties Union, Christian, Alliance Defending, Democratic, U.S, Boise State University, Idaho, Biden administration's Department of Education, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Idaho, North Carolina, Constitution's, Boston

Members of law enforcement work at the scene of a weekend shooting at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, New York, U.S. May 19, 2022. Also sued were three retailers--Mean Arms, Vintage Firearms and RMA Armament--that allegedly sold firearm equipment and body armor that Gendron used. Alphabet (GOOGL.O) and Google, which own YouTube, are also defendants, as are Gendron's parents. Through the defendants' alleged negligence, Gendron "gained the racist motivation, tools and knowledge necessary for him to commit the mass shooting," the complaint said. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York and Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Payton Gendron, Harris Stanfield, DennisJanee Brown, Rose Marie Wysocki, Gendron, Jonathan Stempel, Nate Raymond, Aurora Ellis Organizations: REUTERS, Blacks, YouTube, Firearms, Google, Gun Safety, Tops, Thomson Locations: Buffalo , New York, U.S, Buffalo, . New York, New York, Boston

[1/2] Students and pedestrians walk through the Yard at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., March 10, 2020. Democratic President Joe Biden's administration had defended that long-standing practice in the court cases against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. The ruling left some questions unanswered, and more legal challenges by conservative activists are expected targeting diversity initiatives in education and corporate America. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said promoting campus diversity remained important even after the ruling. But the departments said universities may consider how race has affected an applicant's life, such as in an applicant's essay.

Persons: Brian Snyder, Biden, Joe Biden's, Miguel Cardona, ”, Nate Raymond, Jarrett Renshaw, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Harvard University in, REUTERS, U.S, Supreme, Education, Justice, Democratic, Harvard University, University of North, America, Justice Department, Department's, Civil, Harvard, Thomson Locations: Harvard University in Cambridge , Massachusetts, U.S, University of North Carolina, Boston, Washington

[1/2] William McGlashan Jr., a former Executive at TPG private equity firm facing charges in a nationwide college admissions cheating scheme, leaves the federal courthouse in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., March 29, 2019. REUTERS/Brian SnyderCompanies TPG Capital Management LP FollowBOSTON, Aug 14 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Monday upheld the conviction of a former senior executive at the private equity firm TPG Capital for participating in a vast U.S. college admissions fraud scheme by paying $50,000 to rig his son's college entrance exam results. Carter Phillips, McGlashan's lawyer, said his "deeply disappointed" client was evaluating next steps, adding it was clear that ACT test scores were not "property," a necessary element of the fraud statute. More than 50 people pleaded guilty, including the actors Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, who were among Singer's clients. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York and Nate Raymond in Boston Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: William McGlashan Jr, Brian Snyder, William McGlashan's, McGlashan, Jeffrey Howard, William, Rick, Singer, Carter Phillips, McGlashan's, Lori Loughlin, Felicity Huffman, John Wilson, Gamal Aziz, Wilson, Jonathan Stempel, Nate Raymond, Matthew Lewis Organizations: TPG, REUTERS, Brian Snyder Companies TPG Capital Management, BOSTON, TPG Capital, U.S, Circuit, ACT, Yale, University of Southern, University of Southern California . Singer, Varsity, Thomson Locations: Boston , Massachusetts, U.S, Boston, Georgetown, University of Southern California, California, New York

AR-10s for sale at the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds & Expo Center Gun Show, after the state of Illinois passed its "assault weapons" ban into law, in Belleville, Illinois, U.S., January 14, 2023. The state's high court in a 4-3 vote rejected arguments by a group of plaintiffs led by a Republican state Representative Dan Caulkins, that the ban violated the Illinois Constitution by not applying the law equally to all citizens. The plaintiffs also argued the law violated the right to keep and bear arms under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment. That Second Amendment argument is central to separate ongoing federal lawsuits also challenging Illinois' law. Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Alexia GaramfalviOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Kate Munsch, Dan Caulkins, Democratic Illinois Governor J.B, Pritzker, Elizabeth Rochford, Rochford, Lisa Holder White, David Overstreet, Mary Kay O’Brien, Nate Raymond, Jonathan Oatis, Alexia Garamfalvi Organizations: Belle, Clair Fairgrounds, REUTERS, Democratic, Republican, Democratic Illinois Governor, Protect, AK, U.S, Supreme, Thomson Locations: Illinois, Belleville , Illinois, U.S, Highland Park, Protect Illinois, New York, Boston

Customers shop for handguns at the Des Moines Fairgrounds Gun Show at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S. March 11, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File PhotoAug 9 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that a decades-old law prohibiting users of illegal drugs from owning firearms was unconstitutional as applied to the case of a marijuana user, the latest fallout from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that expanded gun rights. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the federal law violated a Mississippi man's right to "keep and bear arms" under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration did not administer a drug test, though Daniels admitted he sometimes smoked marijuana, which federal law prohibits. While his case was pending, the conservative-majority Supreme Court in June 2022 declared for the first time that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense.

Persons: Jonathan Ernst, Patrick Daniels, Daniels, Jerry Smith, Ronald Reagan, Stephen Higginson, Barack Obama, Nate Raymond, Shri Navaratnam Organizations: Des Moines, Iowa State Fairgrounds, REUTERS, U.S, Supreme, Circuit, Appeals, U.S . Drug, Administration, New York, Thomson Locations: Des Moines , Iowa, U.S, New Orleans, Mississippi, Boston

Aug 9 (Reuters) - A federal judge has blocked the state of Hawaii from enforcing a recently enacted ban on firearms on its prized beaches and in other areas including banks, bars and parks, citing last year's landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling expanding gun rights. The measure was challenged by three Hawaii residents and the gun rights group Hawaii Firearms Coalition, who called the prohibitions unconstitutional. Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez's office argued the law was consistent with historical gun regulations and served a state interest in protecting public safety, including on crowded beaches where children and families congregate. But while Kobayashi acknowledged the important role beaches play in Hawaii's economy, "the state does not provide any evidence that this nation has a historical tradition of regulating or prohibiting the carrying of firearms on beaches." Alan Beck, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, hailed the judge's temporary restraining order, saying Kobayashi "faithfully applied Supreme Court precedent and came to the correct result."

Persons: Leslie Kobayashi, Bruen, Josh Green, Anne Lopez's, Kobayashi, Barack Obama, Alan Beck, Lopez, Nate Raymond, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Supreme, U.S, New York, Democratic, Hawaii Firearms Coalition, Thomson Locations: Hawaii, Honolulu, Boston

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about his plans for continued student debt relief after a U.S. Supreme Court decision blocking his plan to cancel $430 billion in student loan debt, at the White House in Washington, U.S. June 30, 2023. The rule is separate from Biden's more sweeping student debt relief plan. The Supreme Court in June blocked his administration from canceling $430 billion in student loan debt for 43 million borrowers. The Democratic president has since announced plans to provide relief for student loan borrowers using a different approach. CCST sued in February after the Education Department in October finalized a rule changing a "borrower defense to repayment" program that allows students to seek debt relief if their schools mislead them.

Persons: Joe Biden, Leah Millis, Biden, Edith Jones, Kyle Duncan, Cory Wilson, CCST, The Biden, Nate Raymond, Alistair Bell Organizations: U.S, Supreme, White, REUTERS, ITT Educational Services, Circuit, Colleges, Schools of Texas, Democratic, Republican, U.S . Department of Education, Education Department, Corinthian Colleges, ITT Technical Institute, The, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, New Orleans, Boston

REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman/File PhotoAug 4 (Reuters) - A divided federal appeals court on Friday ruled that Mississippi cannot strip the right to vote from thousands of convicts after they complete their sentences, calling that a "cruel and unusual punishment" that disproportionately affected Black people. Circuit Court of Appeals faulted a provision of Mississippi's state constitution that mandates lifetime disenfranchisement for people convicted of a set of crimes including murder, rape and theft. Siding with a group of convicts who sued in 2018 to regain their right to vote, U.S. Circuit Judge James Dennis wrote that the state's policy violated the U.S. Constitution's Eighth Amendment, which bars cruel and unusual punishments. Circuit Judge Carolyn Dineen King in reversing a lower-court judge's ruling.

Persons: Jonathan Bachman, James Dennis, Dennis, Carolyn Dineen King, Mississippians, Jonathan Youngwood, Lynn Fitch, disenfranchisement, Edith Jones, Ronald Reagan, Jones, Nate Raymond, Deepa Babington Organizations: REUTERS, Circuit, U.S ., Washington , D.C, U.S, Democratic, Republican, Supreme, Thomson Locations: Ridgeland , Mississippi, U.S, Mississippi, New Orleans, U.S . Civil, Washington ,, Constitution's, Boston

An AI (Artificial Intelligence) sign is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China July 6, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File PhotoBOSTON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Massachusetts securities regulators have opened an investigation into the ways in which investment firms use artificial intelligence in their interactions with investors, citing concerns about the technology's potential unchecked use. Others who received letters included Tradier Brokerage, US Tiger Securities, E*Trade, Savvy Advisors and Hearsay Systems, according to a spokesperson for Galvin, a long-serving Democrat and prominent state securities regulator. "If deployed without the guardrails necessary to ensure proper disclosure and consideration of conflicts, I am concerned that this technology could result in harm to investors," Galvin said in a statement. The investigation came a week after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed requiring broker-dealers to eliminate possible conflicts of interest from the use of artificial intelligence on trading platforms.

Persons: Aly, Bill Galvin, Morgan Stanley, Galvin, Nate Raymond, Chris Prentice, Mark Porter, Andrea Ricci Organizations: Artificial Intelligence, REUTERS, BOSTON, JPMorgan Chase, US Tiger Securities, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, Massachusetts, Boston, Washington

[1/2] The entrance to the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial on the 10th anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, U.S., December 14, 2022. REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado/File PhotoAug 3 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday rejected a gun rights group's challenge to an assault weapons ban the state of Connecticut adopted after a gunman in 2012 killed 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. The National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) filed a lawsuit in September, arguing the 2013 ban violated the right to bear arms under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment, citing a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that expanded gun rights. But U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven in a 74-page ruling rejected those claims, saying the group failed to establish that assault weapons and large capacity magazines are commonly bought and used for self-defense. Arterton, an appointee of former Democratic President Bill Clinton, cited "persuasive" evidence by the state that assault weapons are instead more often sought out for their militaristic characteristics and are often used in crimes and mass shootings.

Persons: David, Dee, Delgado, NAGR, Janet Bond Arterton, Bill Clinton, William Tong, Hannah Hill, Nate Raymond, David Gregorio, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Sandy, Sandy Hook Elementary, REUTERS, National Association for Gun Rights, U.S, Supreme, New York, Democratic, National Foundation for Gun Rights, Thomson Locations: Newtown , Connecticut, U.S, Connecticut, Sandy, Newtown, New Haven, Bruen, Boston

Uber and Lyft drivers protest during a day-long strike outside Uber’s office in Saugus, Massachusetts, U.S., May 8, 2019. "The best antidote to unchecked corporate greed and rising inequality is building worker power through a union," Roxana Rivera, the head of the union in Massachusetts, said in a statement. The measures' proponents would then need to gather thousands of signatures to secure their placement on the ballot. The industry-backed proposal follows a similar 2020 measure in California, where the companies persuaded state voters to solidify ride-hail and food delivery workers’ status as independent contractors with some benefits. Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by David Gregorio and Jamie FreedOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Brian Snyder, Uber, Roxana Rivera, Andrea Campbell, Nate Raymond, David Gregorio, Jamie Freed Organizations: REUTERS, BOSTON, Uber Technologies, Massachusetts Drivers, Labor, SEIU, 32BJ, Thomson Locations: Saugus , Massachusetts, U.S, Massachusetts, California, Boston

[1/2] An American Airlines aircraft flies past JetBlue and United Express aircraft as it lands at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., January 24, 2022. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File PhotoBOSTON/WASHINGTON, July 26 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday rejected the Justice Department's bid to restrict JetBlue Airways (JBLU.O) and American Airlines (AAL.O) from entering into any partnerships with other carriers akin to their now-scrapped Northeast Alliance. JetBlue and American Airlines are winding down their arrangement announced in 2020, in which they joined forces for flights in and out of New York City and Boston. While the Northeast Alliance is set to be fully wound down by January, the Justice Department has been pushing for further restrictions on the two airlines. Daniel Wall, a lawyer for American Airlines, called the appointment of monitor highly unusual and said restrictions on deals with other airlines was a step too far.

Persons: Joshua Roberts, Department's, Judge Leo Sorokin, William Jones, Sorokin, Jones, Daniel Wall, Nate Raymond, David Shepardson, Richard Chang, Diane Craft Organizations: American Airlines, JetBlue, United Express, Reagan National Airport, REUTERS, BOSTON, JetBlue Airways, Alliance, Massachusetts, Justice Department, Spirit Airlines, Department, Northeast Alliance, Airlines, Thomson Locations: Arlington , Virginia, U.S, WASHINGTON, New York City, Boston ., Boston, Washington

BOSTON, July 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday urged a judge to restrict JetBlue Airways (JBLU.O) and American Airlines (AAL.O) from entering into any partnerships with other carriers akin to their now-scrapped Northeast Alliance, which the judge deemed anticompetitive. JetBlue and American Airlines are winding down their arrangement announced in 2020, in which they joined forces for flights in and out of New York City and Boston. JetBlue subsequently decided to terminate the alliance, while preparing to defend a planned $3.8 billion purchase of Spirit Airlines (SAVE.N) in court in a separate Justice Department antitrust case seeking to block that deal. While the Northeast Alliance is set to be fully wound down by January, the Justice Department has been pushing for further restrictions on the companies. Daniel Wall, a lawyer for American Airlines, called the appointment of monitor highly unusual and said restrictions on deals with other airlines was a step too far.

Persons: Leo Sorokin, William Jones, Sorokin, Jones, Daniel Wall, Wall, Department's, Nate Raymond, Richard Chang Organizations: BOSTON, U.S . Department of Justice, Wednesday, JetBlue Airways, American Airlines, Alliance, JetBlue, Boston . U.S, District, Justice Department, Spirit Airlines, Department, Northeast Alliance, Thomson Locations: New York City, Boston ., Boston

The department's Office for Civil Rights opened the probe following a complaint filed earlier this month by three civil rights groups, who argued that Harvard's preference for "legacy" undergraduate applicants overwhelmingly benefits white students, in violation of a federal civil rights law. Those statistics were calculated from Harvard admissions data that became public as a result of the case that the Supreme Court decided in June. The Education Department through a spokesperson confirmed it had an open investigation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars race discrimination for programs receiving federal funds. "Simply put, Harvard is on the wrong side of history," said Oren Sellstrom, the litigation director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, the Boston-based group representing the civil rights groups who prompted the Education Department investigation. Sellstrom spoke at a Tuesday press conference regarding the federal probe, along with representatives for two of the Boston-area civil rights groups represented in the complaint.

Persons: Nicole Rura, Oren Sellstrom, Sellstrom, Zaida Ismatul Oliva, Edward Blum, Julia Harte, Nick Macfie, Daniel Wallis Organizations: U.S . Department of Education, Harvard, Civil Rights, Harvard College, University of North, Harvard University, Supreme, Education Department, Ivy League, Department, Civil, Wesleyan University, University of Minnesota's, University of Minnesota's Twin Cities, Fair Admissions, NAACP, Mexican American Legal Defense, Thomson Locations: University of North Carolina, Cambridge , Massachusetts, University of Minnesota's Twin, Boston

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