Salvadoran Immigrants Lose Protections, Bundy Case Thrown Out over Federal Misconduct, Supreme Court Reopens Death Penalty Case: P.M. Links

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  • Cliven Bundy
    David Becker/ZUMA Press/Newscom

    The Trump administration is ending the protected status of an estimated 200,000 immigrants from El Salvador. The termination comes with an 18-month delay for those affected to try to figure out ways to remain in the country legally after the protection ends.

  • A federal judge threw out the cases against members of the Bundy family with prejudice due to "flagrant misconduct" by prosecutors and the FBI in not disclosing evidence. This was the conspiracy case connected to the Bundy's ranch in Nevada, not the take-over of the federal property in Oregon. The judge had ordered a mistrial in December after discovering the evidence had been withheld.
  • The Supreme Court ordered a death penalty case to be reopened in the wake of racist comments by one of the jurors who had wondered if black people had souls.
  • The Supreme Court also declined to consider a lawsuit to block a Mississippi law that protects people from discrimination claims (and from being discriminated against) for having religious opposition to same-sex marriage, pre-marital sex, or recognizing transgender folks. Of note: This doesn't mean the court is okay with Mississippi choosing which religious beliefs get state protection, but rather the people suing haven't proven any harms, and their case has been rejected due to lack of standing.
  • The cost of damages caused by natural disasters in the United States set a new record for 2017.
  • More than $175,000 has been raised to support one of the woman who accused Roy Moore of sexual harassment after her house burned down. The fire is under investigation as arson, but officials aren't linking it to her claims against Moore.
  • "James Damore just filed a class-action lawsuit against Google, saying it discriminates against white male conservatives."

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Scott Shackford is a policy research editor at Reason Foundation.