'Click-to-cancel' rule, intended to make canceling subscriptions easier, is blocked
A “click-to-cancel” rule, which would have required businesses to make it easy for consumers to cancel unwanted subscriptions and memberships, has been blocked by a court days before it was set to go into effect. The Federal Trade Commission’s changes required businesses to disclose when free trials or other promotional offers will end and let customers cancel recurring subscriptions as easily as they started them. The rule was set to go into effect on Monday, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said the FTC made a procedural error in its related cost analysis.
Firsthand account of what a firing squad execution looked like
An Associated Press journalist has served as a media eyewitness to the execution of Brad Sigmon by firing squad Friday in South Carolina. He reports that the firing squad is both faster and more violent than lethal injection. A hood was put over Sigmon’s head, and an employee opened the pull shade shielding where three prison system volunteer shooters were. About two minutes later they fired. There was no warning or countdown, and the abrupt crack of the rifles startled those in the room. A white target with a red bullseye that had been on his chest disappeared instantly as Sigmon’s whole body flinched. Soon a doctor came out to examine Sigmon, and he was declared dead at 6:08 p.m.
Florida prosecutor seeks to clear records of people charged with buying police-made crack in 1980s
A Florida prosecutor says he will seek to vacate as many as 2,600 convictions of people who bought crack cocaine manufactured by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office between 1988 and 1990. The Florida Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that people couldn’t be charged in cases where the sheriff’s office had made the crack cocaine and undercover deputies then sold it to buyers who were arrested and charged. Broward County State Attorney Harold F. Pryor says that while his office was reviewing old records, prosecutors realized many of people may still have criminal charges or convictions on their records because of the sting operation.
Federal judge blocks Louisiana law that requires classrooms to display Ten Commandments
Louisiana Attorney General Elizabeth Murrill says the state will ask a federal appeals court to quickly stay a lower court's order declaring unconstitutional a law requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public classroom by Jan. 1. U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles on Tuesday said the law had an unconstitutional “overtly religious” purpose. He ordered state education officials to notify all 72 local school boards of his finding. Murrill contends that his ruling only applies to five local school boards named as defendants in the case. However, she acknowledged that deGravelles’ order could have a “chilling effect” on any local board’s decision to enforce the law.
Multibillion-dollar class action may proceed against Meta, Supreme Court says
The Supreme Court is allowing a multibillion-dollar class action investors’ lawsuit to proceed against Facebook parent Meta stemming from the privacy scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm.The justices heard arguments in November in Meta’s bid to shut down the lawsuit. On Friday, they decided that they were wrong to take up the case in the first place. The high court dismissed the company’s appeal, leaving in place an appellate ruling allowing the case to go forward. Investors allege that Meta did not fully disclose the risks that Facebook users’ personal information would be misused by Cambridge Analytica, a firm that supported Donald Trump’s first successful Republican presidential campaign in 2016.
Former Las Vegas-area Democrat, Robert Telles, sentenced for killing reporter
A former Las Vegas-area Democratic elected official was sentenced Wednesday to serve at least 28 years in Nevada state prison for killing an investigative journalist who wrote articles critical of his conduct in office two years ago. A judge invoked a sentencing enhancement for Robert Telles’ use of a deadly weapon to add eight years to the minimum 20-year sentence that a jury set in August after finding Telles guilty of murder. Telles was convicted of stabbing Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German to death in September 2022. Telles denied killing German, but evidence against him was strong — including his DNA beneath German’s fingernails. Telles’ attorney has said Telles intends to appeal his conviction.
NYPD officer lands $175K settlement over 'courtesy cards' that help drivers get out of traffic stops
A New York City police officer has reached a $175,000 settlement with the city in his lawsuit that illuminated the use of the “courtesy cards” that officers dole out to friends and relatives to get out of traffic stops and other minor infractions. The deal brings an end to a lawsuit brought last year by Officer Mathew Bianchi that claimed he was punished by his superiors for failing to honor the cards, though the settlement itself makes no substantive changes to how the cards are used by NYPD officers. The Staten Island-based officer said he was ousted from his job in the traffic unit and moved to a night patrol shift after he issued a ticket to a friend of the NYPD’s highest-ranking uniformed officer.
NFL is liable for $4,707,259,944.64 in 'Sunday Ticket' case
The damages a federal jury has ordered the NFL to pay for violating antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service is $4,707,259,944.64. The figure from the June 27 judgement against the NFL was listed on the verdict form, which was posted on the case docket Tuesday. The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States who paid for the package on DirecTV of out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons. The lawsuit claimed the league broke antitrust laws by selling its package of Sunday games at an inflated price. The subscribers also say the league restricted competition by offering “Sunday Ticket” only on a satellite provider.
Lawsuit against Meta asks if Facebook users have right to control their feeds using external tools
Do social media users have the right to control what they see — or don’t see — on their feeds? A lawsuit filed against Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. is arguing that a federal law often used to shield internet companies from liability also allows people to use external tools to take control of their feed — even if that means shutting it off entirely. The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Meta Platforms on behalf of an Amherst professor who wants to release a tool to let users unfollow all the content fed to them by Facebook’s algorithm.
Journalist Catherine Herridge held in civil contempt for refusing to divulge source
A federal judge has held veteran investigative reporter Catherine Herridge in civil contempt for refusing to divulge her source for a series of Fox News stories about a Chinese American scientist who was investigated by the FBI but never charged. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington on Thursday imposed a fine of $800 per day until Herridge complies, but the fine will not go into effect immediately to give her time to appeal. A lawyer for Herridge, Patrick Philbin, declined to comment.
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