Dozens of federal judges went to legal seminars at luxury resorts, getting free rooms, free meals and free money for travel, but failed to file required public disclosures, a new NPR investigative report has found. These trips to judicial education events are allowed but must be disclosed online within 30 days of the event and then again on annual financial disclosure reports. NPR journalists compared attendance lists at some of the bigger events — held in locations such as Yellowstone, Alaska, Maine and London — with disclosure reports. Learn more in an interview with the investigative correspondent who filed the story.

LARSEN, Circuit Judge. Thabet Mahdi Saleh was granted refugee status in the United States in 2010 after he fled his home country of Iraq. A few years later, however, Saleh was convicted of accosting children for immoral purposes and using a computer to commit a crime, in violation of Michigan law. So the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initiated removal proceedings against him. An immigration judge (IJ) ordered him removed in 2014. In 2018, Saleh sought to reopen his removal proceedings, seeking deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The IJ granted the motion to reopen, but later denied Saleh’s application for relief. Saleh petitions for review. For the reasons stated, we DENY the petition for review.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy met with surrounding county officials last week to discuss the sense of increasing violence in the region. “There was a palpable sense of urgency to the event, conducted in the immediate aftermath of the shooting death of MPD Officer Joseph McKinney and a lethal firefight at an Orange Mound block party,” the Memphis Flyer reports. During the meeting, Mulroy outlined various emergency crime-control procedures his office is taking and cited a new report from the Shelby County Crime Commission showing that crime statistics had actually receded during the last quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024. Local mayors reportedly expressed skepticism about those findings.

COLE, Circuit Judge. Thoroughbred racehorse Medina Spirit finished first in the 2021 Kentucky Derby. Nine months later, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission’s stewards disqualified Medina Spirit due to a failed post-race drug test. Anthony Mattera made wagers that would have won under the new order of finish after Medina Spirit’s disqualification. But under Kentucky law, only the first order of finish marked “official” counts for wagering purposes. Mattera and eighteen other bettors sued the racetrack, Churchill Downs, Inc., and Medina Spirit’s trainers, Robert Baffert, and Bob Baffert Racing, Inc. The district court granted the defendants’ motions to dismiss and denied the plaintiffs leave to amend the complaint. We affirm.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill Wednesday that seeks to crack down on antisemitism on college campuses, The Hill reports. The chamber approved the legislation in a bipartisan vote of 320-91. The bill would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism when enforcing antidiscrimination laws. That group defines antisemitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews” and that “rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism” can be directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

In 2021, the Defendant, Jayson Isiah Booker, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to sell and/or deliver marijuana, a Class E felony, and the trial court imposed an agreed upon sentence of three years suspended to supervised probation. In November 2022, the trial court issued a probation violation warrant, alleging that the Defendant had been arrested for new felony offenses. After a hearing, the trial court found that the Defendant had violated his probation based on these arrests. The trial court ordered the Defendant to serve one year in confinement before returning to supervised probation. On appeal, the Defendant asserts that the trial court erred by: (1) admitting unreliable hearsay during the revocation hearing; (2) revoking his probation sentence; and (3) ordering him to serve one year in confinement. After a thorough review, we affirm the trial court’s judgment.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has released a statement on the General Assembly’s approval of $8.6 million in additional funding for indigent representation. The court expressed appreciation for the funding, saying it would allow the judicial branch to “take an essential and significant step forward in addressing adequate compensation of appointed counsel.” Addressing the increase, Chief Justice Holly Kirby said: “I’m grateful for our judges who spoke forcefully about their struggle to find lawyers willing to take indigent cases — nearly half of which are in juvenile court and involve families and children in neglect or abuse cases. I’m grateful for the lawyers who explained how an extremely low rate of reimbursement impacted their ability to represent indigent parties. And I’m grateful for the elected leaders who listened with open hearts and minds and took action.” The additional funding will provide a $10 increase in the hourly rate of reimbursement for attorneys who accept appointments, along with a proportionate increase in the cap on the total amount a court-appointed attorney may recoup per case. Administrative Office of the Courts Director Michelle Long also thanked legislators, the governor’s office and the Tennessee Bar Association for their work bringing attention to this important issue. Read the TBA's previously released statement on the additional funding.

Former Shelby County Judge Melissa Boyd returned to jail for two days for allegedly violating her plea deal, Local Memphis reports. According to the Shelby County Jail, Boyd was booked May 1 on a misdemeanor harassment charge for continuing to contact a woman with whom she was ordered to have no contact. Between January and March of 2023, the woman said Boyd sent her unwanted messages, some including sexually explicit content.

The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands (LAS) recently held its annual fundraising event in Nashville. The “Breakfast of Champions” featured remarks by Mayor Freddie O'Connell and raised $180,000. The funding will go toward Campaign for Equal Justice, which supports the organization's free legal services for low-income individuals in Middle Tennessee. See photos from the event in the Nashville Post.

Eight prominent U.S. newspapers are suing OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement, Axios reports. They include: the New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida Sun Sentinel, San Jose Mercury News, Denver Post, Orange County Register and St. Paul Pioneer Press. The complaint centers on copyright infringement claims around the use of articles to train AI models and accusations of reputational damage when the AI platform makes up answers to users' queries. It comes on the heels of a similar case filed by the New York Times. Other news publishers have chosen not to sue, opting instead to negotiate paid deals with AI companies, which could be seen as undermining the argument that companies will be financially harmed by the AI platforms.