Nineteen Democratic state attorneys general are suing Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos over rescinded student loan regulations. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court, alleges that the Department of Education violated federal law by abruptly rolling back its Borrower Defense to Repayment rule, which was designed to hold abusive higher education institutions accountable for cheating students and taxpayers out of billions of dollars in federal loans. The Obama-era rule, finalized in November 2016, was meant to better protect student borrowers against misleading and predatory practices...…Nineteen Democratic state attorneys general are suing Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos over rescinded student loan regulations. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court, alleges that the Department of Education violated federal law by abruptly rolling back its Borrower Defense to Repayment rule, which was designed to hold abusive higher education institutions accountable for cheating students and taxpayers out of billions of dollars in federal loans. The Obama-era rule, finalized in November 2016, was meant to better protect student borrowers against misleading and predatory practices...WW…

The Supreme Court on Monday granted the Trump administration's request to reinstate part of the travel ban meant to temporarily block people from six predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. The court also agreed to hear the government’s appeal of lower court that had prevented the ban from going into place. Overall, the decisions represented a victory for Trump, who for months has fought to implement his executive order affecting travelers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The court will hear the case when it returns for the fall term,...…The Supreme Court on Monday granted the Trump administration's request to reinstate part of the travel ban meant to temporarily block people from six predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. The court also agreed to hear the government’s appeal of lower court that had prevented the ban from going into place. Overall, the decisions represented a victory for Trump, who for months has fought to implement his executive order affecting travelers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The court will hear the case when it returns for the fall term,...WW…

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement on Wednesday, handing President Trump and the GOP Senate an opportunity to shift the nation’s high court to the right for decades. Kennedy, whom President Reagan nominated to the court in 1987, has for years been the court’s swing vote in a series of landmark 5-4 decisions, siding with conservatives to protect religious liberty and settle the outcome of the 2000 presidential election but with Democrats on issues ranging from same-sex marriage to the right to an abortion. His retirement at the age of 81 immediately triggered a...…Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement on Wednesday, handing President Trump and the GOP Senate an opportunity to shift the nation’s high court to the right for decades. Kennedy, whom President Reagan nominated to the court in 1987, has for years been the court’s swing vote in a series of landmark 5-4 decisions, siding with conservatives to protect religious liberty and settle the outcome of the 2000 presidential election but with Democrats on issues ranging from same-sex marriage to the right to an abortion. His retirement at the age of 81 immediately triggered a...WW…

Hospitals and other health-care providers largely got what they wanted from the Trump administration in a long-sought plan to revise the physician self-referral rule, but one change could see some pushback. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services wants to narrow an existing exception for isolated financial transactions that attorneys say has been a safety net to catch mistakes that would otherwise result in costly violations under the Stark Law. Hospitals could find themselves having to repay Medicare and Medicaid for millions of dollars in claims all because they forgot to put a...…Hospitals and other health-care providers largely got what they wanted from the Trump administration in a long-sought plan to revise the physician self-referral rule, but one change could see some pushback. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services wants to narrow an existing exception for isolated financial transactions that attorneys say has been a safety net to catch mistakes that would otherwise result in costly violations under the Stark Law. Hospitals could find themselves having to repay Medicare and Medicaid for millions of dollars in claims all because they forgot to put a...WW…

Free Newsletter Sign Up Login Log in to access all of your BLAW products Single Sign-On Free Newsletter Sign Up Amy Coney Barrett Photographer: Robert Franklin/South Bend Tribune via AP Photo President Donald Trump’s reported front-runner to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg has reignited a long-running debate over whether religious judges can keep their faith separate from their rulings, and if that’s a valid litmus test for nominees. Judge Amy Coney Barrett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a proud Catholic who’s been outspoken in speeches and writings about her strongly...…Free Newsletter Sign Up Login Log in to access all of your BLAW products Single Sign-On Free Newsletter Sign Up Amy Coney Barrett Photographer: Robert Franklin/South Bend Tribune via AP Photo President Donald Trump’s reported front-runner to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg has reignited a long-running debate over whether religious judges can keep their faith separate from their rulings, and if that’s a valid litmus test for nominees. Judge Amy Coney Barrett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a proud Catholic who’s been outspoken in speeches and writings about her strongly...WW…

by - 02/15/19 7:27 PM ET✕Prosecutors working in special counsel Robert Mueller’s office say they agree with a pre-sentencing report that calls for Paul Manafort to spend anywhere from 19 to 24 years in prison.Manafort was convicted on eight counts of bank and tax fraud in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia last summer.Prosecutors in a Feb. 15 filing said that they take no position as to the specific sentence that should be imposed, but said they agree with the guidelines analysis in the Pre-sentence Investigation Report and its calculation of the defendant’s...…by - 02/15/19 7:27 PM ET✕Prosecutors working in special counsel Robert Mueller’s office say they agree with a pre-sentencing report that calls for Paul Manafort to spend anywhere from 19 to 24 years in prison.Manafort was convicted on eight counts of bank and tax fraud in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia last summer.Prosecutors in a Feb. 15 filing said that they take no position as to the specific sentence that should be imposed, but said they agree with the guidelines analysis in the Pre-sentence Investigation Report and its calculation of the defendant’s...WW…

Free Newsletter Sign Up Login Log in to access all of your BLAW products Single Sign-On Free Newsletter Sign Up Stefanie Miller keeps a spirometer handy to help expand her lung capacity. The 53 year-old second grade teacher from Plantation, Fla. is still recovering from Covid-19 after spending 21 days on a ventilator in April and May. Scott McIntyre/Bloomberg (First of two parts)Stefanie Miller sounds like she’s rushing every word to take another breath. Her voice is airy from vocal-cord damage, after 21 days on a ventilator that scarred her face. She’s battling extreme fatigue. Her joints...…Free Newsletter Sign Up Login Log in to access all of your BLAW products Single Sign-On Free Newsletter Sign Up Stefanie Miller keeps a spirometer handy to help expand her lung capacity. The 53 year-old second grade teacher from Plantation, Fla. is still recovering from Covid-19 after spending 21 days on a ventilator in April and May. Scott McIntyre/Bloomberg (First of two parts)Stefanie Miller sounds like she’s rushing every word to take another breath. Her voice is airy from vocal-cord damage, after 21 days on a ventilator that scarred her face. She’s battling extreme fatigue. Her joints...WW…