Brazilian Supreme Court justice Teori Zavascki died in a small plane crash Thursday. Also aboard the plane were Alberto Filgueiras, a longtime friend of Zavascki and owner of the aircraft, as well as the pilot, a personal massage therapist for Filgueiras and her mother. As of Thursday night the cause of the crash was unknown. [...]
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on Thursday that Uber Technologies agreed to pay $20 million to settle a claim that the ride-hailing company had engaged in misleading tactics to recruit new drivers. According to the FTC’s complaint , Uber exaggerated the potential earnings a driver could make, as well as the lease rates [...]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is suing Navient , the largest servicer of US student loans. The CFPB alleged that Navient “fail borrowers at every stage of repayment” in a press release on Wednesday. CFPB went on to allege that Navient, among other harms, convinced many students to take out larger loans than necessary, concealed [...]
The US Department of Defense announced the transfer of four Guantanamo prisoners Thursday. Jabran al Qahtani will be sent to Saudi Arabia , while Ravil Mingazov, Haji Wali Muhammed, and Yassim Qasim Mohammed Ismail Qasim will be sent to the United Arab Emirates . The prisoners had been recommended for transfer by the Guantanamo Review [...]
The Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was extradited to the US on Thursday night after his appeal to prevent extradition was denied by a Mexican court. Guzmán , who ran the largest drug cartel in Mexico, previously escaped two times from a Mexican federal prison. In the US, he is charged with six [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act for “records pertaining to financial and other ethical conflicts of interest in connection with the presidential transition of President-Elect Donald J. Trump” on Friday. The ACLU is asking for legal opinions, policy advisories, communications and a wide variety of additional [...]
Outgoing US President Barack Obama commuted the prison sentences of 330 federal inmates on Thursday. A majority of the sentences commuted were for non-violent drug offenses. These most recent commutations were the most ever granted in one day. They also bring Obama’s total number of reduced sentences to 1,715, the most by any US President, [...]
The US Supreme Court granted certiorari in two cases Thursday. The court granted the petition for a writ of certiorari in District of Columbia, et al. v. Wesby, Theodore, et al. and granted a motion of International Municipal Lawyers Association, Inc. for leave to file a brief as amicus curiae. The qualified immunity case comes [...]
Western Union Co. on Thursday agreed to pay $586 million after admitting to turning a blind eye to criminals who used their service for fraud and money laundering. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) stated that Western Union has admitted “to aiding and abetting wire fraud.” Western Union was found to have allowed criminals to [...]
UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Michel Forst on Thursday condemned the execution of Raramuri indigenous activist Isidro Baldenegro Lopez. Lopez was an environmental activist in Mexico who fought to for indigenous land rights and protections from looters. He was murdered on Sunday by an unknown assailant. His death prompted Fors [...]
