Category: Justice

Minnesota Parents Petition School Board for Improved Safety in Schools

Admin
Ashley Ashbeck

A petition was presented to the Hopkins School Board during a June 11 meeting, calling on the board to provide a safe environment for students in Hopkins Public Schools following a violent incident that occurred at the end of May.

“We, the undersigned members of the Hopkins Public Schools community, are deeply concerned about the violent assault last Thursday against a transgender student at Hopkins High School,” the petition reads. “Just two days prior, there were three fights at the high school and the police were called to prevent a fourth.”

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Pro-Life Group Sues to Strip Abortion Amendment Off South Dakota Ballot

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Pro-Choice Supporter

A pro-life group in South Dakota filed a lawsuit to block an amendment enshrining abortion in the state constitution from appearing on the November ballot, alleging the initiative contained fraudulent signatures, the Associated Press reported.

South Dakota Secretary of State Monae Johnson approved the measure in May after it received over the required number of signatures from supporters. Life Defense Fund filed a complaint on Thursday alleging a number of issues, including that Dakotans for Health, which sponsored the amendment, did not file an affidavit confirming petition circulators’ residency and that petitioners misled supporters about what they were signing, according to the AP.

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Audrey Hale Sought Forgiveness Before Covenant School Attack, Wrote Journal Entries About Religion

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale and Religion

Audrey Elizabeth Hale sought forgiveness from God in a journal entry dated March 27, 2023, the date she claimed the lives of three 9-year-old children and three adults during her devastating attack on the Covenant School.

The Tennessee Star confirmed on June 5 it obtained about 80 pages of Hale’s writings, recovered from her vehicle by police at the Covenant School, from a source familiar with the investigation.

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Audrey Hale Expressed Desire to ‘Be a Kid Again’ in Journal Recovered from Vehicle After Covenant Attack

Tom Pappert
Kid on Playground

Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale wrote entries in the journal police recovered from her vehicle that seems to corroborate media reports suggesting Hale had childlike interests and wanted to be a child prior to her devastating attack on March 27, 2023.

The Tennessee Star confirmed on June 5 it obtained about 80 pages of Hale’s writings from a source close to the Covenant investigation.

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FBI Knew Since 2016 Hunter Biden’s Team Nearly Scored $120 Million Ukrainian Deal While Joe Biden was VP

Just the News

The FBI learned as far back as 2016 that Hunter Biden and his partners had plotted to set up a new venture in tax-friendly Liechtenstein that would be capitalized by a whopping $120 million investment from the controversial owner of the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings, according to documents obtained by Just the News that have been kept from the American public for eight years.

The mega-deal was not referenced inside Hunter Biden’s now infamous laptop or during the 2019 impeachment proceedings involving Ukraine, but was instead chronicled in a trove of 3.39 million documents the FBI seized from Hunter Biden and his business partners during an investigation of securities fraud nearly a decade ago.

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Covenant Killer Audrey Hale Wrote About Resorting to ‘Cartoon Porn’ in Recovered Journal

Tom Pappert
Woman on laptop

Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale mentioned consuming pornography in the journal police recovered from her vehicle, and in one entry wrote she must “resort to cartoon porn” due to her inability to find a romantic partner.

The Tennessee Star confirmed on June 5 it obtained the journal police obtained from Hale’s vehicle after her devastating attack that claimed the lives of three 9-year-old children and three adult staff members at the Covenant School on March 27, 2023 from a source familiar with the investigation.

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Democratic Candidate and Biden Appointee Accused of Creating Fake Racist Attacks Against Himself

Just the News
Taral Patel

Taral Patel, a Democratic candidate for Fort Bend, Texas, precinct commissioner and a Biden administration appointee, is accused of using fake online accounts to post racist messages about himself and then publicly accusing Republicans of being responsible for it.

Patel was arrested last week for the third-degree felony of online impersonation and the misdemeanor of misrepresenting his identity, court records show. He posted $22,500 in total for two bonds – one on each of the charges – and he surrendered his passport.

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Covenant School Killer Audrey Hale Called Those She Disliked ‘Robots, ‘Clones’ or ‘Not Real’ in Recovered Journal

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

Audrey Elizabeth Hale referred to individuals or groups who she disliked as “robots,” “clones,” or “not real” in various entries found in the journal police recovered from her vehicle after she claimed the lives of three 9-year-old children and three adult staff members at the Covenant School on March 27, 2023.

The Tennessee Star confirmed on June 5 it obtained approximately 80 pages of Hale’s writings from a source familiar with the Covenant investigation.

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Judge Switches Show Cause Hearing to ‘Landscaping’ Exercise as Lawyers Plead for Release of Ruling, Leahy Still in Legal Jeopardy

Tom Pappert
Judge I'Ashea Myles

The Show Cause Hearing scheduled Monday by Tennessee Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles concluded after the judge repeatedly referenced her prior order in which she explained the possibility of appointing an outside attorney to investigate and prosecute possible contempt charges against Michael Patrick Leahy, the editor-in-chief of The Tennessee Star and the CEO of Star News Digital Media, Inc. (SNDM).

Myles ordered on June 10 for Leahy to appear in court for the Show Cause Hearing after a source familiar with the Covenant investigation provided The Star with a journal written by Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale, as well as police documents related to the Covenant investigation, and The Star began reporting Hale’s own words and the contents of investigative documents.

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Media Outlets, Influencers Band Together to Show Support for Tennessee Star Editor-in-Chief

Peter D'Abrosca
Michael Patrick Leahy

On the day when The Star News Network’s Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy is scheduled to appear before a judge for publishing information from the journal of Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale, news networks across America and the world have picked up the story. 

Leahy was ordered to appear Tennessee Chancery Court Judge l’Ashea Myles for a show cause hearing on Monday, to determine whether publishing the information interfered with Tennessee lawsuit in which Leahy and Star News Digital Media, Inc. (SNDM) are seeking to compel the full release of Hale’s writings, including those that have been called a manifesto, by the Metro Nashville Police Department.

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Covenant School Killer Audrey Hale Wrote Her ‘Thoughts About Death’ Changed ‘Significantly’ After Middle School Classmate Died in Car Accident

Tom Pappert
Audrey Elizabeth Hale

Audrey Elizabeth Hale wrote in her journal, found in the killer’s vehicle by police after her March 27, 2023 attack on the Covenant School, that her “thoughts about death” changed “significantly” in the period after her middle school basketball teammate and classmate Sydney Sims died tragically following a 2022 car accident.

The Tennessee Star confirmed on June 5 it obtained about 80 pages from Hale’s journal from a source familiar with the Covenant investigation.

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GOP Goes on Election Integrity Offense Before November with Lawsuits, Congressional Probes and Laws

Just the News

Republicans have prioritized election integrity this year with new laws, lawsuits, and congressional investigative subpoenas ahead of the November general election. And they have already scored some wins against Democratic-led jurisdictions.

The multifaceted approach in 2024 contrasts with the GOP strategy four years ago that mostly focused on litigation only.

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Covenant Killer Audrey Hale Called Mother ‘Only Love I Have’ in Valentine’s Day Entry to Journal Recovered by Police

Tom Pappert
Audrey Elizabeth Hale, Averianna the Personality

Audrey Elizabeth Hale wrote a Valentine’s Day entry to the journal police recovered from her vehicle after she claimed the lives of three 9-year-old students and three adult staff members at the Covenant School on March 27, 2023.

The Tennessee Star confirmed on June 5 it obtained approximately 80 pages of Hale’s writings from a source familiar with the Covenant investigation.

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Illegal Immigrant Charged with Rape and Murder of Maryland Mother of Five

Just the News
Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez

An illegal immigrant from El Salvador was charged in connection to the murder of Maryland mother of five Rachel Morin, police announced.

The illegal immigrant, Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, 23, was arrested Friday evening in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for a crime spree that he started in El Salvador and continued in multiple cities across the United States, police said Saturday.

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ICE Nabs Five Illegal Immigrants Wanted for Murder in Statewide Sweep

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ICE Officer

Federal immigration authorities announced a slate of recent arrests that took five illegal immigrants wanted for murder out of American communities.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested three Mexican nationals and two Honduran nationals over a two-week time period in late May and early June in Texas, the agency announced. Among those apprehended by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations agents include: a 38-year-old Honduran wanted in Mexico for multiple murders; a 21-year-old Mexican wanted in Veracruz, Mexico, for homicide; a 42-year-old Honduran wanted in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina for homicide; a 41-year-old previously deported Mexican wanted in Durango, Mexico, for homicide; and a 40-year-old Mexican wanted in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, for homicide.

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Supreme Court Sides with Memphis Starbucks in Union Case

Just the News
Starbucks

The U.S. Supreme Court sided with Starbucks on Thursday in the company’s challenge to a judicial order that would have required them to rehire seven Memphis employees that were fired while they participated in union efforts.

The “Memphis Seven” publicly released a letter addressed to the Starbucks CEO and agreed to sit down in a store with a TV news crew to discuss the union efforts.

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Frustrated by String of Conservative Wins, Democrats Go All Out to Delegitimize U.S. Supreme Court

Just the News

After several decades of conservative control of the Supreme Court and a string of rulings against their legislative and social priorities, Democrats and left-leaning media appear to be mounting an all-out assault against the judicial branch, casting doubt on its legitimacy and impartiality, while working to undercut the reputations and credibility of its more conservative justices.

Ostensibly conservative since the appointment of Chief Justice William Rehnquist in 1986, the court has generally not attracted comparable partisan scrutiny to the extent that it has under the Biden administration. The Roberts court, however, currently boasts three justices appointed by former President Donald Trump, who have solidified the court’s conservative character and handed conservatives decades-sought wins on abortion, gun rights, and affirmative action.

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Reporter Tom Pappert: Weaponized Justice Department Targets Conservatives Down the Chain as President Trump Predicted

Kaitlin Housler
MPL Tom Pappert

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said the “weaponized” Department of Justice is going after everyday Americans just as former President Donald Trump predicted, pointing to the case of The Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy who is ordered to appear in court on Monday, June 17 after his publication reported on the journal entries of Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale.

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TBI Marks Three-Year Anniversary of Summer Wells’ Disappearance with Video Update

Peter D'Abrosca
Summer Wells

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) marked the three year anniversary of the disappearance of Summer Wells with a video update on the case. 

“We don’t have the evidence in this case to know for sure whether Summer was abducted or whether or not she walked away from her home and became lost,” said Josh Melton, the assistant director of TBI’s Criminal Investigation Division, in a video posted to X. “It’s really important for us to not focus all our attention on just one of those two.”

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Virginia Lawsuit Filed to Halt Prosecution of Speed Camera Violations by Citing Constitution

The Center Square
Speed Camera

A former Virginia delegate has filed an injunction against the city of Chesapeake for its prosecutions of speed camera violations in a case that could have implications for the whole state.

Virginia law allows the city to prosecute cases in a way that may violate the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution, according to attorney and former delegate for Hampton Roads District 83 Tim Anderson.

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Covenant School Killer Audrey Hale Declared Herself ‘Boy That Has No Penis’ in One of 17 Writings About Transgenderism in Recovered Journal

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale wrote at least 17 times about her gender, struggle with her gender identity, or transgenderism either directly or indirectly in the journal police recovered from her vehicle.

The Tennessee Star confirmed last week it obtained about 80 pages of Hale’s writings from the journal, as well as documents related to the police investigation, from a source familiar with the Covenant case.

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Supreme Court Strikes Down Bump Stock Ban for Firearms in Major Win for Second Amendment Advocates

Just the News
Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Friday struck down a federal rule put in place during former President Donald Trump’s administration that prohibited bump stocks for guns, handing a major victory to Second Amendment advocates.

In a 6-3, ruling, the court ruled the devices added to semiautomatic weapons to make them fire faster does not convert weapons into prohibited machine guns.

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Former Assistant Attorney General Jeff Clark Raises Three Concerns with Judge’s Order in Lawsuit to Release Covenant Killer Writings

Tom Pappert

Former acting Assistant Attorney General Jeff Clark raised three concerns on Thursday in response to news that Michael Patrick Leahy, the editor-in-chief of The Tennessee Star and CEO of its publisher Star News Digital Media, Inc. (SNDM), was compelled to appear in court on Monday.

Tennessee Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles first ordered Leahy to appear in court on June 10 after The Star published dozens of articles reporting the journal entries of Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale. The Star confirmed last week it obtained Hale’s journal and a portion of police documents from a source familiar with the Covenant investigation.

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Covenant Killer Audrey Hale Wrote She was ‘Trapped’ in ‘Adult Life’ Where ‘No One Seems to Notice’ Her in Recovered Journal

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale Lonely

Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale wrote in the journal police recovered from her vehicle about her social isolation and inability to live independently.

The Tennessee Star confirmed last week it obtained about 80 pages of Hale’s writings from a source close to the Covenant investigation, including the lengthy entry titled “My Brain… This Life.”

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Transgender Covenant School Killer Audrey Hale Wrote About Drinking Bud Light After Company Paid for Dylan Mulvaney Ads

Tom Pappert
Dylan Mulvaney

Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a biological female who identified as a transgender male, wrote in her journal about consuming Bud Light just over one month after the Anheuser-Busch InBev brewing company paid Dylan Mulvaney, a biological male who identifies as a transgender woman, to promote its product.

The Tennessee Star confirmed last week it obtained about 80 pages of Hale’s writings, recovered from her vehicle by police, from a source familiar with the Covenant investigation.

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MNPD Confirms Authenticity of Covenant Killer Journal Obtained by The Tennessee Star

Tom Pappert
Audrey Elizabeth Hale

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) on Friday confirmed the authenticity of the 80 pages of writings from the journal of Covenant School killer Audrey Hale, which were obtained by The Tennessee Star last week.

A Friday morning legal filing by the police department involves a declaration by MNPD Lieutenant Alfredo Arevalo, who claimed to have information about the possible identity of the individual or group of people who provided the Covenant materials to The Star.

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Energy, Business Groups Sue Biden Admin over ‘EV Mandate’ Rule

Admin
API Senior Vice President Ryan Meyers

Three coalitions of business interests are suing the Biden administration over its recently-finalized emissions standards for light- and medium-duty vehicles.

The coalitions — which include the American Petroleum Institute (API), the American Farm Bureau, the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), numerous car dealers and more — filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Thursday morning to try to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rules, which critics have characterized as an electric vehicle (EV) “mandate.” The regulations will require manufacturers to ensure that up to 56 percent of all new light-duty vehicle sales are EVs by model year 2032, according to the EPA.

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Arizona Attorney Won’t Back Away from Hobbs Group Home Investigation

The Center Square
Rachel Mitchell and Katie Hobbs

Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell has no plans to stand down after Attorney General Kris Mayes requested that there only be one investigation into the Hobbs administration’s “pay to play” scheme allegations.

Sunshine Residential Homes gave nearly $400,000 to Hobbs and the state Democratic Party, and it was one of the group home operators with contracts with the state that received a substantial increase in its daily per child pay rate, roughly 60%, by the Department of Child Safety, the Arizona Republic reported. Mayes has already opened an investigation following a request by Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope, but Mitchell is also planning to assist the Auditor General’s office after they reached out to Mitchell.

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RNC Declares ‘Victory’ in Judge Ruling on Michigan Secretary of State’s Signature Verification Rule

Just the News
Jocelyn Benson

A Michigan judge partially ruled against Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s lenient guidance on signature verification, following a lawsuit brought by the Republican National Committee.

On Wednesday, Michigan Court of Claims Judge Christopher Yates ruled “that the ‘initial presumption’ of validity in signature verification of absentee-ballot applications and envelopes mandated by the December 2023 guidance manual” issued by Benson “is incompatible with the Constitution and laws of the State of Michigan.”

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Trump-Appointed Judge Halts Biden ATF Rule Changing Definition of ‘Firearms Dealer’

Admin
Gun Show

A Texas judge granted an injunction Tuesday against a new Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) rule that changes the definition of a “firearms dealer.”

The ATF rule broadens the definition of “engaged in business” to extend beyond merely a “gunsmith or pawnbroker.” Trump-appointed federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled that the plaintiffs had met the legal standards to be granted an injunction until the lawsuit is resolved.

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Commentary: Searching for the Truth About the Raid at Mar-a-Lago

RealClearWire
Mar-A-Lago

Top officials at the Department of Justice are downplaying recently disclosed documents showing FBI agents were authorized to use deadly force during their 2022 raid of Donald Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.

Responding to Trump’s claim that “Joe Biden was locked & loaded ready to take me out & put my family in danger,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said the bureau was following “standard operating procedure” as it executed a search warrant on Aug. 8, 2022, regarding classified material that the former president was holding at Mar-a-Lago.

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Hunter Biden’s Court-Verified Laptop Files Will Be at the Center of His Upcoming Tax Trial

Just the News
Hunter Biden

With the authenticity of Hunter Biden’s laptop having been verified again – this time in court – data extracted from it about the first son’s long-history of tax problems will likely be key to federal prosecutors in Biden’s upcoming tax evasion trial.

The contents of the hard drive, obtained and authenticated by the FBI as early as December 2019 will show the first son’s tax delinquency and unsuccessful efforts to settle his massive debts with the IRS while continuing to spend beyond his means, according to emails obtained from the laptop by Just the News.

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Commentary: Americans Must Criticize Our Corrupt Courts

RealClearWire

In the wake of his conviction in a New York court, President Trump has complained that the process was rigged against him, that the whole proceeding was a corrupt effort to persecute him with a view to influencing the 2024 presidential election. In response, many of his opponents have criticized him for undermining public confidence in our system of criminal justice and thus harming our democracy—a criticism that has been magnified by many in the media.

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Entries in Journal of Audrey Hale Suggest Date of Covenant Attack was Significant to Killer

Tom Pappert

A handful of entries in the journal recovered from the vehicle of Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale appear to suggest she might have assigned a numerological meaning to the date of her devastating attack which claimed the lives of three 9-year-old students and three adults. 

The Tennessee Star confirmed last week it obtained about 80 pages of Hale’s writings from a source close to the Covenant investigation. Among these entries are multiple pages that suggest Hale assigned special significance to the numbers 2 and 7.

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Covenant Killer Audrey Hale Drank Bud Light Prior to Social Media ‘Suicide Note’ Left for Friend, Journal Claims

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale Bud Light

Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale wrote about drinking Bud Light around the time she published a now-deleted “suicide note” on social media, according to a journal police recovered from her vehicle.

The Tennessee Star confirmed last week it obtained about 80 pages of Hale’s writings from a source close to the Covenant investigation, including an entry that mentioned consuming alcohol less than two weeks before her devastating attack that claimed the lives of three 9-year-old students and three adult staff members on March 27, 2023.

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Tennessee Judge Denies Motion by Star News CEO in Covenant Killer Writings Case, Raises Possibility of Prosecution as Leahy Files Emergency Appeal

Tom Pappert
Michael Patrick Leahy in Court

Michael Patrick Leahy, who is the editor-in-chief of The Tennessee Star and the CEO of  Star News Digital Media, Inc., on Thursday filed an emergency appeal with the Middle Tennessee Court of Appeals.

Leahy seeks to obtain a stay to would stop the Show Cause Hearing set in the June 10 order by Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles for Monday in the Tennessee case to unseal the writings of Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale.

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Supreme Court Tosses Doctors’ Challenge to Abortion Pill

Admin
Mifepristone boxes

The Supreme Court sided unanimously Thursday against several doctors and pro-life medical associations who brought a challenge to the abortion pill.

In FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, the Supreme Court held that the doctors do not have standing to challenge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to roll back safety regulations for the abortion pill. While recognizing the plaintiffs have “sincere legal, moral, ideological, and policy objections to elective abortion and to FDA’s relaxed regulation of mifepristone,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in the majority rulings that those kind of objections are not enough to show the doctors would be injured by the FDA’s actions, noting the federal courts are “the wrong forum” for addressing their concerns.

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Star News CEO Michael Patrick Leahy Files Emergency Motion to Set Aside Show Cause Hearing Order in Covenant Killer Documents Case

Tom Pappert
MPL Courtroom

An emergency motion filed on Wednesday requests Tennessee Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles set aside her June 10 court order which established a show cause hearing on Monday after dozens of articles including writings from a journal recovered from Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale were published by The Tennessee Star.

Michael Patrick Leahy, who is the CEO of Star News Digital Media, Inc. and the editor-in-chief of The Star, was ordered by Myles to appear in court on Monday after WSMV 4 reporter Stacey Cameron claimed he called the court to ask Myles “if she was considering holding the Star or anyone else in contempt” due to its reporting.

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Hunter Biden Still Has Legal Troubles Ahead as House Republicans Call for More Accountability

Just the News
Hunter Biden in courtroom (composite image)

Though Hunter Biden was found guilty Tuesday on federal gun charges – on crimes dating back to 2018 – the first son’s legal troubles are far from over, and House Republicans leading impeachment inquiry into his father, President Joe Biden, say this should be only the beginning of the accountability.

Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell said in a statement following the conviction that his client’s legal team “will continue to vigorously pursue all the legal challenges available to Hunter.”

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