President Donald Trump invited the Dodgers to the White House. Many of their fans feared that the team, by accepting, would humiliate themselves and betray the team’s large Latino, Asian and African-American fan base. Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter, along with co-owner Magic Johnson, have proposed a solution. Trump has promised that if he can keep the championship trophy, the Commissioner’s Trophy, he will end all seizures and deportations of immigrants.   read more

“What this Court has seen along the way is a hopeful transformation of a school board which was initially tentative, recalcitrant, and partially uninformed regarding the depth of its responsibilities in the desegregation area,” wrote Judge Drell. “That board has now matured..." Officials must comply with adoption of a uniform admissions process and ensuring classrooms are desegregated. It must also change its policies resulting in blacks being suspended or expelled more than whites.   read more

The case involves the shooting of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, a Mexican teenager shot to death by a U.S. Border Patrol agent who opened fire on rock throwers on the other side of the border. An autopsy showed that Rodriguez had been shot about 10 times, mostly in the back. The boy’s family claims the agent, Lonnie Swartz, violated the Fourth and Fifth amendments by using “excessive and unjustified” force against the boy, whom they say was not involved in the rock throwing.   read more

Never before has a U.S. court considered granting legal protection to primates from being “unlawfully detained.” Plaintiff attorney Wise pointed out that detainees have won the right to use habeas corpus to challenge their indefinite detention at Guantanamo Bay—a move opposed by some in legal and government circles. He even compared the fates of the chimps to African Americans held under slavery. “It’s not to protect human beings,” Wise said, referring to the writ. “It’s to protect autonomy.”   read more

It appears that the days are over when most of America wagged a disapproving finger at anyone who dared to engage in sex outside of marriage. As of this decade, 55% of Americans approved of premarital sex, compared with 29% who felt this way in the early 1970s, according to a new study. Among those 18-29 in age, acceptance of premarital sex has only grown. In the ‘70s, 47% of Baby Boomers felt sex before marriage was “not wrong at all.” By the 2010, Millennials’ approval registered at 62%.   read more

The Justice Department has indicted 14 people so far on charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. Conspicuously not mentioned in the indictments was FIFA President Sepp Blatter, whom some call the most powerful person in sports. He might not be out of the woods yet though. One U.S. law enforcement official said that Blatter’s fate would “depend on where the investigation goes from here.” Said acting U.S. Atty. Currie: “I want to be very clear: This is the beginning.”   read more

The oil giants “are pressing ahead with investments despite...that two-thirds of proven fossil fuel reserves will need to remain in the ground to prevent the earth from warming above pre-industrial levels – a proposed temperature limit beyond which scientists warn of spiraling and irreversible climate change.” Shell's van Beurden received $32.2 million linked to delivering projects including oil platforms above deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of Guinea and South China Sea.   read more

The politicians "received hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of travel expenses, silk scarves, crystal tea sets and Azerbaijani rugs valued at $2,500 to $10,000. On his return from Azerbaijan, Bridenstine sponsored an amendment to the defense bill that would have required the Defense Department to issue reports on the strategic importance of natural gas interests in the Caspian Sea area and the value of building a pipeline out of the region.   read more

The judges, Jerry E. Smith and Jennifer Elrod, agreed with Texas’ claim that allowing immigrants to remain in the state would force the state to incur costs of issuing drivers’ licenses to the undocumented immigrants. The court said that Obama’s plan, which was to defer deportation proceedings for undocumented immigrants and grant them work permits, went beyond prosecutorial discretion. The administration says the government is within its rights to set priorities for their deportation.   read more

USPS officials were preparing to close 82 locations this year as part of its “network rationalization,” or consolidation effort that saw 141 facilities eliminated in 2012. The closures have come under attack from Republicans and Democrats in Congress whose states and districts faced job losses as a result. More than 7,000 jobs are expected to be lost.   read more

It took 900 pages to create Obamacare as law, but it may take only four words of that bill to cost millions of Americans their healthcare subsidies and raise their health costs. Those four words opened the door to this legal challenge to Obamacare, but it seems to be something of a mystery as to how they got into the law in the first place. Former Sen. Jeff Bingaman said the words appeared to be a “drafting error,” while Sen. Olympia Snowe called it "inadvertent language."   read more

“The decline reverses a historical pattern, researchers say, with public sector employees typically holding onto their jobs even during most economic downturns,” The New York Times wrote. “Roughly one in five black adults works for the government, teaching school, delivering mail, driving buses, processing criminal justice and managing large staffs. They are about 30 percent more likely to have a public sector job than non-Hispanic whites, and twice as likely as Hispanics.”   read more

Two-thirds of all the birds killed included brown-headed cowbirds and red-winged blackbirds. Some of the birds “are struggling to cope with habitat loss, climate change and other threats," reported Reveal. Birds are killed under the program to protect farm fields, vineyards, air traffic, golf courses, and other locations. Recently, a federal judge in Portland, Ore., denied a motion to try to stop the killing of more than 10,000 double-crested cormorants in the Columbia River estuary.   read more

The boom in luxury units has been great for the affluent, while “many middle-class and young workers are straining to rent the units, in part because they have few others choices,” wrote Wall Street Journal's Laura Kusisto. Now some cities and states are working to make rental housing more affordable not only for lower-income people, but those in the middle class. Atlanta, for instance, is considering a requirement that developers reserve some units that those of average incomes can afford.   read more

Described as a “quiet revolution in compensation,” bonuses are now a hot thing in the private sector, and not just for executives. More ordinary employees are getting bonuses at the expense of annual pay raises from companies to cut costs. “Employers like one-shots precisely because they are temporary,” wrote the Times' Patricia Cohen. “They save money over the long run because they don’t lock in raises, giving managers greater control over budgets, particularly during downturns.”   read more

Boasberg, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, appears to be the go-to judge if you don’t want something released to the public. Judicial Watch filed an FOIA request in 2011 to force the release of images of Osama Bin Laden’s death and burial, but Boasberg ruled against the group. In his latest ruling, Boasberg said letters sent to the CIA by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California), the former Senate intelligence chairman, revealed Congress has not relinquished control over the report   read more

Holder had six years to build cases against key people at banks like Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase. But the only charges filed have been against those at small and medium sized banks. "It is not for lack of trying,” said Holder. But former U.S. Asst. Attorney General Gurulé countered: “Nonsense. Charges for white-collar crimes are filed every single day by U.S. attorneys. Just because they’re more difficult with banks is not a legitimate excuse for bringing zero charges against individuals.”   read more