On October 20, 2020, the Department of Justice, abetted by eleven states’ attorneys general, filed suit against Google for violating section 2 of the Sherman Act and operating a monopoly. The result is probably the DOJ’s biggest antitrust case since it took on Microsoft in 1998. Nearly two months later, on... Read More »
A recent court decision finds that Senior Executive Service (SES) employees cannot appeal their dismissal within the federal courts. After the US Army demoted SES Employee Maria Esparraguera for unethical hiring practices, she sought to appeal the decision with the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. The Court decided on December... Read More »
A Miami family that was allegedly known locally for popular though illegal cockfights were all sentenced to jail time after being convicted of ID theft, creating counterfeit checks, and bank fraud in a national scheme built inside the hiding places of the Dark Web. When the Miami police raided the... Read More »
Popular wedding dress designer Hayley Paige Gutman has announced her resignation from JLM Couture after a year-and-a-half-long battle with the company regarding the terms of her new contract. Gutman addressed the controversy in an emotional Instagram video where she explains in the caption, "It is with a heavy heart that... Read More »
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a proposed revision on how federal agencies prioritize workers when implementing reduction-in-force (RIF) policies, or federal layoffs. The proposed amendment will “prioritize performance over length of services when determining which employees will be retained in a RIF.” OPM is the federal agency responsible... Read More »
The individual responsible for bombing downtown Nashville on Christmas morning has been identified as 63-year-old Anthony Quinn Warner of Antioch. Warner, who lived in a nearby suburb, was a self-employed IT services contractor who worked predominantly from home. The explosion happened around 6:30 am early Christmas morning and was accompanied... Read More »
The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has reached out to President-elect Biden and the world with an urgent plea to retract the new Trump Administration Executive Order on Federal Buildings. President Trump wants to “Make Federal Buildings Beautiful Again” and has issued a directive to allow no new designs... Read More »
On December 15, 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) concluded implementing the Asylum Cooperative Agreement (ACA) with El Salvador. Nicknamed the “Safe Third Country” program, the agreement will return certain migrants apprehended at the U.S. southern border to apply first in El Salvador for asylum or select other... Read More »
Texas U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen has not delivered a ruling on a hearing that will determine the fate of DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The case was brought on by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. His office is representing nine other states that are seeking... Read More »
The Department of Justice filed a civil complaint against Walmart Inc. on Tuesday, December 22, stating the company “unlawfully dispensed controlled substances from pharmacies it operated across the country,” resulting in “hundreds of thousands of violations of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)” during the peak of the opioid crisis in... Read More »
The disappearance of 9-year-old Michaela Garecht has run cold for over 32 years, but new evidence in the case has led to charges against David Misch, 59. Earlier this week, Alameda County’s District Attorney Nancy E. O'Malley announced charges against Misch, which included the kidnapping and murder of Garecht. According... Read More »
In the controversy swirling around COVID-19-related lockdowns, an early hotspot was the state of Michigan, where Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer took sweeping steps in March to mitigate the spread of the virus. Although numerous other states implemented similar measures, the Michigan stay-at-home orders sparked violent reactions, with anti-lockdown rallies held... Read More »
The family of a U.S. college student arrested in the Cayman Islands for breaking quarantine is appealing to the US government for help. Eighteen-year-old college student Skyler Mack has been sentenced to four months behind bars in the Cayman Islands after she broke the island's COVID-19 quarantine protocol. The teen’s... Read More »
A U.S.House Oversight Committee led by Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-SC, is investigating HHS officials, including the director of the CDC, over the handling of the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic. This week, the committee issued two subpoenas to U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar and CDC Director Robert Redfield. The... Read More »
A China-based employee of a US telecommunications company was charged in federal court in Brooklyn on December 18 with conspiracy to commit interstate harassment and unlawful conspiracy to transfer a means of identification. Xinjiang Jin, also known as Julien Jin, is charged with scheming to disrupt numerous meetings in May... Read More »
