Rumors are spreading that the U.S. Supreme Court will vote 5-4 to rule that a U.S. president cannot be prosecuted for anything he does while he is president. Some Democrats are suggesting that Joe Biden bring a gun to his first debate with Donald Trump. If he shoots Trump, he would be immune, but if Trump shoots Biden he would be prosecuted because he is not a sitting president.   read more

Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was removed from the bench Friday for defying the U.S. Supreme Court on gay marriage, more than a decade after he was ousted for disobeying a federal order to take down a 2 ½-ton monument to the Ten Commandments. The nine-member Alabama Court of the Judiciary suspended Moore without pay for the remainder of his term. While the court stopped short of outright removing him as they did in 2003, the punishment has the same effect.   read more

The U.S Court of Appeals for the First Circuit shot down a New Hampshire law banning voters from taking selfies with their ballots, finding its limits on free speech worse than the photos’ vote-buying potential. New Hampshire prohibited citizens from photographing and publicizing their marked ballots in 2014, by amending a statute intended to block vote-buying and voter intimidation.   read more

The Drug Enforcement Administration does a poor job overseeing the millions of dollars in payments it distributes to confidential sources, relies on tipsters who operate with minimal oversight or direction and has paid informants who are no longer meant to be used, according to a government watchdog report issued Thursday.   read more

Six scientists who were leaders in past international climate conferences joined with the Universal Ecological Fund in Argentina to release a brief report Thursday, saying that if even more cuts in heat-trapping gases aren’t agreed upon soon, the world will warm by another 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) by around 2050.   read more

A Cambridge University study of British and U.S. police shows a 93% decrease in the number of complaints made against officers when they are using body cameras — pivotal findings that suggest the simple devices could reduce conflicts between police and the public. The idea behind the study is simple: people who are being observed — and know it — change their behavior. Researchers suggested that cameras encourage best behavior on the part of both the officers and the public.   read more

An agency within the Health and Human Services Department issued a rule that bars any nursing home that receives federal funding from requiring that its residents resolve any disputes in arbitration instead of in court. The rule, which would affect nursing homes with 1.5 million residents, promises to deliver major new protections. The new rule came after officials in 16 states and the District of Columbia urged the government to cut off funding to nursing homes that use the clauses.   read more

The Supreme Court is taking up a First Amendment clash over the government’s refusal to register offensive trademarks, a case that could affect the Washington Redskins in their legal fight over the team name. The justices agreed Thursday to hear a dispute involving an Asian-American rock band called the Slants, but they did not act on a separate request to hear the higher-profile Redskins case at the same time.   read more

The U.S. is sending 615 more troops to Iraq as the stage is set for an Iraqi-led battle to reclaim Mosul, the northern city that has been the Islamic State group’s main stronghold for more than two years. The offensive, starting as soon as October, looms as a decisive moment for Iraq and for President Barack Obama’s much-criticized strategy to defeat IS.   read more

While the Department of Veterans Affairs claims its recent move to lease more of its facilities gives it added flexibility, a government accountability officer told Congress on Wednesday her agency would like to see evidence of that. Rebecca Shea, of the Government Accountability Office, told members of Congress that while VA has improved its decision-making process for determining when to lease rather than own a building, it has not proven the benefits it claims to receive from the decision.   read more

Tyson Reed and his mother, Linda Reed, sued Kern High School District, KHSD Officer Luis Pena, and teacher Brett Bonetti on Sept. 22 in Kern County Superior Court, alleging disability discrimination and civil rights violations that occurred when a school police officer Tasered Reed twice for being late to class after having an anxiety attack.   read more

A West Texas congressional district sprawls 58,000-plus square miles and two time zones, from San Antonio to just outside El Paso. Yet neither the Republican who represents it nor the Democrat trying to reclaim the seat actually lives there. The home of Republican Rep. Will Hurd, 39, is in Helotes, just outside the borders of a district that is larger in land area than 29 states. The challenger, former Rep. Pete Gallego, spends most of his time away from the district in Austin.   read more

New Orleans has the right to remove Confederate monuments that are the center of a heated debate, the city’s attorneys told an appeals court Wednesday, but opponents who want a delay said removing them could cause irreparable harm. Those pushing to keep the monuments got a skeptical reception from the judges, who raised harsh questions about their chances of prevailing.   read more

California doctors will be required to check a database of prescription narcotics before writing scripts for addictive drugs under legislation Gov. Jerry Brown signed Tuesday that aims to address the scourge of opioid abuse. The measure attempts to crack down on a practice known as “doctor-shopping,” in which addicts visit multiple providers to obtain prescriptions for addictive drugs.   read more

Airline pilots and air traffic controllers are on schedule to switch to text communications at most of the nation’s busiest airports by the end of the year, a milestone that holds the potential to reduce delays, prevent errors and save billions of dollars in fuel cost, says the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA estimates Data Comm will save airlines more than $10 billion over the next 30 years and the government another $1 billion.   read more

Texas police who found 8 kilos of cocaine during a random search of a Greyhound bus “created a checkpoint that trespassed on the Constitution” so the drugs cannot be used as evidence, a federal judge ruled. “Brief stops at checkpoints are reasonable if they are for a narrow particular law enforcement purpose directly connected to the use of the roads,” Hughes wrote, citing Supreme Court precedent.   read more

The U.S. Labor Department is investigating possible abuses of employees by Wells Fargo in connection with the bank’s alleged efforts to open millions of unauthorized accounts to meet sales goals. The scandal over millions of deposit and credit card accounts allegedly opened without customers’ permission has widened. The Labor Department review comes atop investigations by congressional committees and federal prosecutors.   read more