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Wednesday's Mini-Report, 5.28.25

Wednesday's Mini-Report, 5.28.25

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Today's edition of quick hits.
* In the Middle East: 'Hamas' Gaza chief Mohammed Sinwar, the younger brother of the group's deceased leader Yahya Sinwar, has been killed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told lawmakers Wednesday.'
* Kseniia Petrova's case: 'A federal judge on Wednesday granted bail to Harvard scientist Kseniia Petrova, who has spent more than three months in custody after failing to declare frog embryos upon arriving in the United States. U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss in Vermont said Petrova's continued detention by immigration authorities was unjustified and raised serious legal concerns about the government's actions.'
* A disappointing ruling from a Trump-appointed judge: 'A federal judge refused Wednesday to temporarily block the Trump administration from removing and replacing the director of the U.S. Copyright Office. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled from the bench that the office director, Shira Perlmutter, hasn't met her legal burden to show how removing her from the position would cause her to suffer irreparable harm.'
* Given that a majority of Missouri voters last fall to approve a state constitutional amendment that guarantees the 'fundamental right to reproductive freedom,' developments like these probably shouldn't happen: 'Planned Parenthood officials say they have halted abortions in Missouri after the state Supreme Court ruled that a judge must reevaluate orders that had allowed the procedure to resume earlier this year.'
* All things considered, Musk isn't the only one 'disappointed' with Republicans' regressive bill: 'Elon Musk broke with President Donald Trump on the House-passed domestic policy bill, saying in an interview that he was 'disappointed' that it would increase the federal deficit.'
* The White House needs to dial down the inflammatory rhetoric: 'Threats against federal judges have risen drastically since President Trump took office, according to internal data compiled by the U.S. Marshals Service. In the five-month period leading up to March 1 of this year, 80 individual judges had received threats, the data shows. Then, over the next six weeks, an additional 162 judges received threats, a dramatic increase. That spike in threats coincided with a flood of harsh rhetoric — often from Mr. Trump himself — criticizing judges who have ruled against the administration and, in some cases, calling on Congress to impeach them.'
* Crypto scores another win: 'The Labor Department on Wednesday yanked Biden-era guidance that strongly discouraged employers against offering cryptocurrency in workers' 401(k) plan options.'
See you tomorrow.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com

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Opinion - More renters are getting lawyers during evictions, and that's a good thing
Opinion - More renters are getting lawyers during evictions, and that's a good thing

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Opinion - More renters are getting lawyers during evictions, and that's a good thing

Last year, landlords in Los Angeles filed almost 90,000 eviction cases. These cases are hard on tenants: Beyond just the immediate loss of housing, eviction leads to drops in income, higher rates of homelessness, serious health issues, and even increased risk of death. Yet the vast majority of Angelenos who navigate the complex eviction court process do so alone. That is about to change. Last month, Los Angeles joined 18 other cities, two counties, and five states across the nation where most or all tenants are guaranteed a lawyer when they go to court for an eviction. These 'right-to-counsel' programs improve outcomes for individual tenants, but their impact goes further: They can help to coordinate services, change the way the courts operate, and open up new possibilities for tenant organizing. As researchers who study eviction in the U.S., we urge more jurisdictions to push forward housing justice and stability for renters by extending the right to counsel. These programs are particularly important now. Over the last twenty years, rents have gone up much faster than incomes, leaving half of renters cost-burdened. Faced with these sorts of affordability challenges — and given evidence that homelessness is at an all-time high and rising — the federal government should be taking steps to protect renters. Instead, it is making the situation worse. The Trump administration is proposing shrinking the Department of Housing and Urban Development and gutting key benefits such as Housing Choice Vouchers. Right-to-counsel programs provide an example of what state and local governments can do to step into the leadership void created by federal retrenchment. Pop culture has sold us the myth that every defendant has the right to an attorney. But that's not true. Americans aren't necessarily guaranteed a government-funded lawyer when faced with a civil action such as debt collection, a child custody claim, or a landlord-tenant dispute. 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Eviction filings are less likely to result in a tenant being removed by court order, and even those that do result in evictions often leave the tenant owing less money. The benefits to health and well-being are also substantial. For example, the availability of right to counsel during pregnancy reduces adverse birth outcomes among newborns. At the end of the day, a lawyer cannot make up for missed rent. But in our work studying how jurisdictions have implemented right-to-counsel, we have seen how the presence of lawyers defending tenants can lead to wholesale culture shifts in civil courts — something that rental assistance and other one-time interventions don't achieve. We have seen courts where, rather than just rubber-stamping landlords' eviction cases, judges now inform tenants of their rights and postpone hearings to make sure that they are represented. 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Trump administration threat to end Harvard contracts puts research at risk
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Trump administration threat to end Harvard contracts puts research at risk

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Israel's actions in Gaza are genocide, says Ben & Jerry's
Israel's actions in Gaza are genocide, says Ben & Jerry's

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Israel's actions in Gaza are genocide, says Ben & Jerry's

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