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New York attorney general sues NYPD over response to protests
NEW YORK — City police violated New Yorkers’ First Amendment rights by suppressing “overwhelmingly peaceful” protests over the death of George Floyd, New York State Attorney General Letitia James charged Thursday in a lawsuit. James’ 69-page suit seeks a court-appointed monitor to manage an overhaul of NYPD practices at large demonstrations, which she says have devolved into police abuse for decades. “From May 28, 2020, to Dec. 11, 2020, NYPD officers of various ranks . . . repeatedly and without justification used batons, fist strikes, pepper spray, and other physical force against New York r...
New York Daily News
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New York attorney general sues NYPD over response to protests
NEW YORK — The New York Police Department violated New Yorkers’ First Amendment rights by suppressing “overwhelmingly peaceful” protests over the death of George Floyd, New York State Attorney General Letitia James charged Thursday in a lawsuit against the country’s largest police force. The 69-page suit asks a judge to declare the NYPD’s practices at protests unlawful and features photos of protester injuries at the hands of police officers. James seeks a court-appointed monitor to manage an overhaul of NYPD practices at protests, which she says have devolved into police abuse for decades. “F...
New York Daily News
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Judge considers suppression claims in broad Georgia voting rights suit
ATLANTA — So much has changed in Georgia over the past two years, including new voting laws and the election of Democratic U.S. senators, that a federal judge should reject a lawsuit alleging rampant voter suppression, attorneys for the state said Tuesday. The lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Steve Jones to rule in their favor in the case that has been pending since Democrat Stacey Abrams lost the 2018 election for governor to Republican Brian Kemp. But attorneys for Fair Fight Action, the voting rights group founded by Abrams that filed the suit, told Jones that Georgia’s elections continue ...
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Nicki Minaj to pay Tracy Chapman $450K for sampling ‘Baby Can I Hold You’ without permission
Singers Nicki Minaj and Tracy Chapman have settled a bitter lawsuit over Minaj’s sampling of the 1988 hit song “Baby Can I Hold You.” Chapman decided to accept the rapper’s $450,000 offer to resolve the civil case, ending a two-year dispute and avoiding an even costlier trial, according to federal court records obtained by the Daily News. The lawsuit accused Minaj of copyright infringement for sampling Chapman’s song in her 2018 tune “Sorry,” which leaked on social media and almost made it into Minaj’s album “Queen.” Minaj’s version features rapper Nas and includes several verses from Chapman’...
New York Daily News
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Judge denies Trump lawsuit to decertify Georgia election results
ATLANTA — A federal judge on Tuesday rejected President Donald Trump's latest attempt to invalidate Democrat Joe Biden's victory in Georgia. U.S. District Judge Mark Cohen ruled against Trump's effort to decertify Georgia's election results before Congress meets Wednesday to count votes of the Electoral College. Biden won 306 electoral votes, including 16 from Georgia. The state's vote count was already certified by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Gov. Brian Kemp, leading Cohen to deny Trump's motion for a preliminary injunction. A recount confirmed that Biden won Georgia by ...
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Here's how much Texas spent trying to overturn presidential election results
FORT WORTH, Texas — Two attorneys who assisted Texas with its lawsuit challenging the presidential election results in four battleground states appear to have done the work free of charge. Washington, D.C., attorneys Lawrence Joseph and Kurt Olsen were appointed by the Attorney General's Office to help Texas with the case seeking to overturn the presidential election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in the U.S. Supreme Court, according to letters obtained by the Star-Telegram through an open records request. The court did not accept the case. Attorney General Ken Paxt...
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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Trump files another lawsuit seeking to overturn Georgia election
ATLANTA — President Donald Trump has filed another lawsuit seeking to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election in Georgia. In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta on New Year’s Eve, the president asks the court to decertify the Georgia election before Congress votes Wednesday to confirm Biden’s victory. A hearing is set for Tuesday. The president’s complaint repeats allegations and arguments that have gone nowhere in other lawsuits, including claims that out-of-state, dead and other ineligible voters cast ballots in the November election. Georgia official...
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Michigan Supreme Court won't hear lawsuit challenging absentee ballot applications
DETROIT — The Michigan Supreme Court said Tuesday it won't take up a case challenging Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's authority to mail unsolicited absentee ballot applications. Michigan courts have consistently found that Benson acted legally when she sent applications to every registered voter in Michigan to request an absentee ballot ahead of the August and November elections. The state Supreme Court justices denied the motion to intervene as moot in a 6-1 order with Justice David F. Viviano dissenting. "We are not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this Court,...
Detroit Free Press
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Federal judge rejects request to stop Georgia runoff election
ATLANTA — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to stop the Jan. 5 runoff election in Georgia. Attorney L. Lin Wood Jr. filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Atlanta earlier this month, saying Georgia’s processes for handling absentee ballots for the runoff violated state law. Wood took exception to the state’s process for verifying signatures on absentee ballots, as well as plans to begin processing those ballots before Election Day and the use of drop boxes for voters to return their ballots. State officials say those procedures are legal, and voting in the election - whi...
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Judge dismisses GOP lawsuit to limit Georgia ballot drop box hours
ATLANTA — A Fulton County judge dismissed a Republican Party lawsuit Thursday that tried to close absentee ballot drop boxes after normal business hours. Superior Court Judge Kimberly Esmond Adams’ ruling allows voters to continue using drop boxes 24 hours a day under video surveillance until polls close for the U.S. Senate runoffs Jan. 5. She rejected the case after an online court hearing. The decision is the latest defeat for Republicans who have filed a series of lawsuits in the wake of the presidential election seeking to invalidate its results or change election procedures in the runoffs...
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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