Federal Jury Awards $13M Over Wrongful Conviction

Spending years behind bars for a crime you didn’t commit would be a nightmare for anyone. Unfortunately for Deon Patrick, this is exactly what happened to him. Fortunately for him, after spending “21 years in prison after signing a murder confession allegedly manufactured by Chicago police and Cook County prosecutors,” a federal jury awarded him $13 million on Wednesday as a result of a lawsuit he filed against the city of Chicago.


Fresh Country Air: EPA loss is our win

Ever drive out in the country where livestock feedlots saturate the air with ammonia so thick that your nose hairs practically wither? Where I come from, that and the ever-present earthy smell of manure were euphemistically called “fresh country air.” These industrial feedlot exhalations aren’t just stinky, though: they are a potent source of pollution. Solving this problem seems like a good way for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make itself useful, but in 2008, the EPA decided that CAFOs didn’t have to report their pollutants. Last week, though, the D.C. Court of Appeals vacated that rule, saying that Congress had not given the EPA the authority to create CERCLA exemptions as they pleased. Now, CAFOs and other massively polluting livestock operations will be required, like everyone else, to answer to all of us for their pollution problems.




Yahoo Sued for Mismanaging Settlement Funds for Jailed Chinese Dissidents

Yet another company has been slapped with a lawsuit. Yahoo Inc is being sued by a group of Chinese dissidents on claims that the company “failed to safeguard more than $17 million it pledged to help jailed Chinese dissidents in a 2007 settlement.” According to the lawsuit, Yahoo “willfully turned a blind eye while Harry Wu, a high-profile political activist charged with administering the funds, used them for personal gain.”



Trump Organization Settles Lawsuits With Two Celebrity Chefs

At long last, settlements have been reached in separate lawsuits between the Trump Organization and two celebrity chefs, Geoffrey Zakarian and José Andrés. The settlement between the organization and Andrés was agreed upon last Friday, while Zakarian’s was announced on Monday. Both lawsuits arose when the chefs “abandoned plans to set up shop in the Trump International Hotel, in Washington’s Old Post Office building” after President Trump kicked off is campaign back in 2015. As a result, the president sued both chefs.