The threat of litigation looms as Purdue Pharma returns to settlement talks

The threat of litigation looms as Purdue Pharma returns to settlement talks

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma is trying to chart the course for a new mass settlement of thousands of lawsuits over the toll of opioids after the U.S. Supreme Court last month rejected its previous deal, which was years in the making. State, local and tribal governments and individual victims want a sense of justice — … Read more

Brett Favre is asking an appeals court to reinstate his defamation lawsuit against Shannon Sharpe

Brett Favre is asking an appeals court to reinstate his defamation lawsuit against Shannon Sharpe

NEW ORLEANS — Lawyers for retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre asked a federal appeals court Tuesday to revive a defamation lawsuit Favre filed against a fellow Pro Football Hall of Fame member, former tight end Shannon Sharpe, amid the backdrop of a Mississippi welfare scandal that is one of the state’s largest public corruption cases. … Read more

Manhattan court hearing slated ahead of Harvey Weinstein’s retrial in New York

Manhattan court hearing slated ahead of Harvey Weinstein’s retrial in New York

NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein is set to appear in a New York court ahead of his scheduled retrial on rape and sexual assault charges. The disgraced Hollywood mogul is attending a pretrial status hearing in Manhattan criminal court Tuesday. His retrial is tentatively scheduled for some time after Labor Day. … Read more

Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet are officially divorced

Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet are officially divorced

LOS ANGELES — LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet are officially divorced. A Los Angeles County judge’s dissolution of the marriage of the two actors, who had already been separated for years, took effect Tuesday. Bonet and Momoa were married for more than seven years and were a couple for 12 years … Read more

The US Supreme Court Has Handed Big Tech a Big Gift

The US Supreme Court Has Handed Big Tech a Big Gift

SpaceX has adopted similar tactics in its battles against federal regulators. After the National Labor Relations Board in January accused the company of illegally firing eight workers for criticizing Musk in an internal letter, SpaceX filed a lawsuit alleging that the agency’s structure is unconstitutional. The overturning of Chevron in particular means “we’re clearly going … Read more

Support for legal abortion has risen since Supreme Court eliminated protections, AP-NORC poll finds

Support for legal abortion has risen since Supreme Court eliminated protections, AP-NORC poll finds

WASHINGTON — A solid majority of Americans oppose a federal abortion ban as a rising number support access to abortions for any reason, a new poll finds, highlighting a politically perilous situation for candidates who oppose abortion rights as the November election draws closer. Around 6 in 10 Americans think their state should generally allow … Read more

Pretrial hearing sets stage for Alec Baldwin’s arrival in court in fatal shooting of cinematographer

Pretrial hearing sets stage for Alec Baldwin’s arrival in court in fatal shooting of cinematographer

A New Mexico judge is setting the table for the involuntary manslaughter trial of actor Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer will consider an array of requests from prosecutors and defense attorneys that could restrict what evidence, testimony and court arguments … Read more

Wisconsin Supreme Court to consider whether 175-year-old law bans abortion

Wisconsin Supreme Court to consider whether 175-year-old law bans abortion

MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Supreme Court decided Tuesday to consider two challenges to a 175-year-old law that conservatives maintain bans abortion without letting the cases wind through lower courts. Abortion advocates stand an excellent chance of prevailing in both cases given the high court’s liberal tilt and remarks a liberal justice made on the … Read more

Alec Baldwin is about to go on trial in the death of a cinematographer. What to know

Alec Baldwin is about to go on trial in the death of a cinematographer. What to know

Nearly three years after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed on the New Mexico set of the film “Rust,” Alec Baldwin is going on trial over her death. Here are the essential things to know. The actor is about to enter a New Mexico courtroom for the first time since the Oct. 21, 2021 … Read more

Kansas’ top court bolsters a state right to abortion and strikes down 2 anti-abortion laws

Kansas’ top court bolsters a state right to abortion and strikes down 2 anti-abortion laws

TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas’ highest court strongly reaffirmed Friday that the state constitution protects abortion access, striking down a ban on a common second-trimester procedure and laws regulating abortion providers more strictly than other health care providers. The pair of 5-1 decisions suggests that other restrictions — even ones decades on the books — might … Read more