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

The DOJ asserts that in practice, the program allows students with disabilities to be taught in the basement of a school building with its own separate entrance. The students are also educated in "often old, poorly maintained buildings, some of which formerly served as schools for black students under Jim Crow laws," the complaint states. Moreover, the program denies students with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from educational services available to students throughout the state.   read more

Authorities who had been targeting prescription painkiller abuse say the problem has changed quickly in recent years as users turned to heroin, fentanyl and even stronger drugs. Ohio has been among the states hardest hit by the overdose epidemic. Fentanyl overdose deaths spiked so quickly last year that scientists with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention visited the state to study the problem.   read more

Health officials warn that e-cigarettes and other vaping devices are poisoning kids with nicotine. But the market has evolved, and a lot of vaping these days is done with devices that can be loaded with flavored "e-juice" that comes in both nicotine and nicotine-free versions. "Strawberry. Watermelon. Passion fruit. There's a churros — you know, like cinnamon toast?" said Brooklyn Vape's Hosam Essa. CDC officials question whether many teens know the exact content of what they're vaping.   read more

Michigan developed an automated program that compares the list of public-assistance recipients with a list of outstanding felony warrants maintained by the law enforcement information network. However, the system repeatedly wrongly identifies SNAP recipients as felons and cuts off their food stamps. A federal judge found the state's use of the database deprived plaintiffs of their right to food assistance because they were neither actively fleeing nor avoiding prosecution for a felony.   read more

The reduction among the 60 officers who wore cameras amounts to about 20 fewer incidents of physical force per year. The authors speculate that if the cameras were worn by the entire department, the same reduction would translate to about 250 fewer incidents per year. The study cautions that cameras alone are just one piece of the puzzle. It notes that community policing strategies and better officer training are also essential to preventing such encounters.   read more

The study is the first to assess soda drinking since the tax went into effect. And its results are consistent with research from Mexico, which passed a nationwide soda tax in 2014. When Berkeley passed its soda tax, it stood alone among cities in the U.S. for embracing the policy. But that has changed: Philadelphia passed a soda tax this year, and several other cities are putting similar taxes on the ballot this fall. Among them are two of Berkeley’s neighbors, Oakland and San Francisco.   read more

Last week, researchers studying maternal mortality in the U.S. reported an ominous trend: The rate of pregnancy-related deaths in Texas seemed to have doubled since 2010, making the state one of the most dangerous places in the developed world to have a baby. The bottom line: Maternal deaths have indeed been increasing in Texas, and black women are bearing the brunt of the crisis. For 2011 and 2012, black mothers accounted for 11.4% of Texas births but 28.8% of pregnancy-related deaths.   read more

Judge Logan dismissed the lawsuit, which claimed that the bill required doctors tell their patients the lie that medication abortion could be reversed. "The reversal of this unjustified restriction is good news for women, but it shouldn't have taken a year in court to convince Arizona politicians to keep junk science out of the exam room," said ACLU's Andrew Beck. "Lawmakers should recognize that Arizona women deserve high-quality medical care — not political ideology masquerading as medicine."   read more

Increase in fatalities since 2014 "is really getting to the crisis level," said GHSA's Jonathan Adkins. "While many factors likely contributed to the fatality increase, a stronger economy and lower unemployment rates are at the core of the trend," said the council. The council also predicts that 438 people will be killed on the nation's roads over the three-day Labor Day weekend that begins Sept. 2, which would make it the deadliest Labor Day weekend since 2008.   read more

The analysis identified at least 2,300 doctors who received industry payments between Aug. 2013 and Dec. 2015 despite histories of misconduct. Hundreds of doctors were disciplined for severe offenses, including providing poor care, inappropriately prescribing medications, bilking insurance programs, even sexual misconduct. At least 40 physicians had their licenses revoked, in most cases permanently. More than 180 had their licenses restricted. Almost 250 were placed on probation.   read more

The Texas RR Commission has been reluctant to acknowledge any connection between drilling and earthquakes, despite the conclusions of scientists in other states. But the EPA said: "In light of findings from several researchers, its own analysis of some cases, and the fact that earthquakes in some areas diminished following shut-in or reduced injection volume in targeted wells, EPA believes there is significant possibility that North Texas earthquake activity is associated with disposal wells."   read more

The report said NYPD's Intelligence Bureau regularly let deadlines pass before asking to extend investigations into political activity, and often failed to explain the roles of undercover officers, as required. ACLU's Lieberman said they stood by “allegations that there were often no valid reasons for the NYPD to open or extend investigations of American Muslims." She said the surveillance "was highly irregular [and] operated in a black box..."   read more

Texas college students will carry concealed guns into classes when the fall semester begins Wednesday, as a federal judge refused three professors' request to keep concealed handguns out of their classrooms. The professors claimed the law was unconstitutionally vague, violated their academic freedom and due process, and could endanger people in their classrooms. "We will continue to fight for lethal weapon-free learning environments at U.T. and in the state of Texas," said Prof. Carter.   read more

Dismissing the Democratic Party and minority voters' disenfranchisement claims, the court upheld Ohio's elimination of a week of early voting. Critics claimed Republicans placed an undue burden on black voters when they passed Senate Bill 238 and eliminated early voting in 2014. "Both the [evidence and testimony] and the substantial support found in the record stand in opposition to the majority opinion's blithe assertion 'that it's easy to vote in Ohio,'" Judge Stanch wrote in her dissent.   read more

A federal judge in Texas has blocked the Obama administration’s order that requires public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their chosen gender identity. In a temporary injunction signed Sunday, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled that the federal education law known as Title IX “is not ambiguous” about sex being defined as “the biological and anatomical differences between male and female students as determined at their birth.”   read more

A defiant Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Monday that he again restored the voting rights of about 13,000 felons who served their time after his previous attempt was thwarted by Republican lawmakers and the state Supreme Court. Virginia's highest court ruled in July that governors cannot restore rights en masse, but must consider each offender on a case-by-case basis.   read more