Beating victim cleared as Louisiana trooper awaits trial
Louisiana has dropped its case against a Black man whose severe beating before his arrest in 2019 led to criminal charges and lawsuits against a state trooper. A traffic violation and charges of resisting an officer had been hanging over Aaron Bowman for two years. Court documents show the Louisiana Attorney General’s office moved to dismiss the charges against Bowman on Monday, citing “insufficient evidence to support prosecution” and “credibility issues” with the officers who arrested him.
news.yahoo.comSupreme Court frees Louisiana to use congressional map drawn by GOP
An appeals court backed the district court’s decision, but the state legislature refused to redraw the map. The Supreme Court majority on Tuesday did not supply a reason for granting the state’s request, as is common in emergency orders. In a separate case in February, the Supreme Court stopped a lower court’s order that Alabama redraw its congressional map to accommodate the growth of Black voters there. “But the Court’s case law in this area is notoriously unclear and confusing.”The Alabama case, Merrill v. Milligan, is one of the first the court will consider in October. Tuesday’s order said the Louisiana case would be held until the Alabama case is decided.
washingtonpost.comWhere is abortion legal? In red states, women navigate a chaotic abortion landscape
The logistics of accessing abortion care in the U.S. is about to get more complicated. At least 26 states are set to ban abortion after the fall of Roe v. Wade, cutting off or severely restricting abortion access for more than 35 million women of reproductive age in vast swaths of the Deep South, Southwest and Midwest.
latimes.comHouse Republicans say January 6 committee's TV ratings prove that Americans have 'moved on' from the deadly Capitol riot even though 20 million people tuned in
House GOP portrayed the 20 million viewers who watched the Jan. 6 committee's first public hearing as not that impressive, a jab that's pure Trump.
news.yahoo.com18-year-old dies in crash hours after graduation, Louisiana cops say. ‘No one like her’
“It is with the heaviest of hearts that we offer our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and all those who were fortunate enough to know and love Jesse Harmon,” her high school wrote in a Facebook post.
news.yahoo.comLa. Republicans advance abortion bill without homicide charge
The measure attracted national attention when it passed out of committee last Wednesday with a 7-to-2 vote, less than 48 hours after the leak of a draft opinion that showed the Supreme Court is potentially poised to overturn Roe v. Wade.
washingtonpost.comJudge halts preparations for end of US asylum limits
The Biden administration must stop what amounts to the phasing out a pandemic-related public health rule allowing the expulsion of migrants without giving them an opportunity to seek asylum, a federal judge in Louisiana ruled Wednesday. The administration plans to end the policy outright on May 23. U.S. District Judge Robert Summerhays, in Lafayette, issued a temporary restraining order Wednesday, saying the administration must stop the stepped-up processing for at least the next two weeks.
news.yahoo.comEnergy Dept OKs expanded LNG exports from Texas, Louisiana
The Energy Department on Wednesday authorized additional exports of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, from planned terminals in Texas and Louisiana. The orders allow Golden Pass LNG Terminal near Port Arthur, Texas, and Magnolia LNG Terminal in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to export additional natural gas as LNG to any country not prohibited by U.S. law or policy. The $10 billion Golden Pass LNG export project is expected be operational in 2024, with Magnolia coming online by 2026.
news.yahoo.comMom demands answers in Black man's deadly Louisiana arrest
Ronald Greene’s mother chastised Louisiana state lawmakers Monday for not acting quickly enough to hold state troopers accountable for her son’s deadly 2019 arrest, saying the Black motorist’s death at the end of a high-speed chase was a “murder” that's been covered up, sugarcoated and mired in bureaucracy.