By Nigel Duara and Tomas Apodaca
In summary
President Donald Trump wants to deport undocumented immigrants arrested on suspicion of various crimes. That could put sheriffs overseeing California jails in conflict with the state’s sanctuary law.
They can enforce a state sanctuary law that some of them personally oppose, or they can roll out the welcome mat to federal immigration enforcement authorities whom Trump has promised will carry out the largest deportation program in American history.
By Nick Evans
Former Columbus, Ohio police officer Adam Coy shot and killed Andre Hill shortly before Christmas in 2020. Last November Coy was found guilty of murder, felonious assault and two counts of dereliction of duty. As it is in many police involved shootings, body camera footage was crucial evidence establishing the how the incident unfolded.
By Greg LaRose
NEW ORLEANS – Three judges on the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals considered arguments Thursday over a state law that requires displays of the Ten Commandments in every Louisiana public school classroom.
A group of nine parents, each on behalf of their children, sued to block the law shortly after the Louisiana Legislature and Gov. Jeff Landry approved it last spring. A lower court ruled in November the requirement violates the First Amendment’s prohibition against establishing a state-approved religion.
By Amanda Becker, The 19th News
SPRINGFIELD, OHIO — Several minutes into President Donald Trump’s inauguration speech on Monday, as he began talking about immigration, Yvena Jean François dug through a desk drawer for a notebook and pen.
“We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home … it fails to protect our magnificent law-abiding American citizens but provides sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions that have illegally entered our country from all over the world,” Trump said, repeating a frequent 2024 campaign claim for which he has not offered evidence.
By Jessica Corbett
"Trump isn't king, but if Congress capitulates, he could be," warned the leaders of Popular Democracy.
Since U.S. President Trump's return to office on Monday—at an inauguration ceremony full of American oligarchs—as the Republican has issued a flurry of executive orders and other actions, progressive leaders and organizers have expressed alarm and vowed to fight against his "authoritarian" agenda.
By Piper Hutchinson
An LSU law school professor has been removed from teaching classes for reportedly making political comments in the classroom, his attorney says.
LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center Dean Alena Allen told students in an online meeting Tuesday that tenured law professor Ken Levy is being replaced pending an investigation.
Baton Rouge attorney Jill Craft, who is representing Levy, said he intends to fight the reprimand.
By Jake Johnson
"Trump's White House is government by the billionaires, for the billionaires," said the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus."
While President-elect Donald Trump is expected to hail the "start of a thrilling new era of national success" during his inaugural speech on Monday, progressives said the presence of some of the nation's most powerful billionaires at the event signals that the incoming administration's agenda will prioritize the success the country's wealthiest.
By Sharon Zhang
The deal is slated to begin on Sunday, Qatar’s prime minister said, beginning with a 6-week cessation of hostilities.
Officials have finalized a long-awaited Gaza ceasefire deal, Qatar’s prime minister and other leaders announced on Wednesday, potentially bringing an end to the nearly 16 months of genocidal violence in Gaza in which Israeli forces have slaughtered, at a minimum, 46,000 Palestinians, and likely far more in their all-out extermination campaign.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet is slated to meet in coming days to vote on the deal. If it is passed, the deal would be implemented on Sunday, officials said, and would consist of three phrases.
By Amanda Hernandez
Rampant sexual abuse by guards at women’s prisons in California. An inmate suicide that went unnoticed for 18 hours in Washington state. Multiple jail breaks in Pennsylvania.
Prisons and jails across the United States are overcrowded and understaffed, jeopardizing the safety of incarcerated people, correctional officers and surrounding communities. As state legislatures convene in the coming weeks, many lawmakers are focusing on a key criminal justice issue for prisons and jails: more oversight.
By Emma Rose Brown
President-elect Donald Trump nominated Pamela J. Bondi to lead
the Department of Justice on Nov. 21, just hours after Trump’s original
pick, former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), withdrew his name from consideration over
alleged sex crimes and drug-related misconduct.
Who is she? Bondi, a corporate lobbyist and former two-term attorney general of Florida, is a longtime Trump loyalist who served on his first impeachment team. She falsely claimed he won Pennsylvania in 2020, and she stumped for Trump in late 2024.
