SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " ruling " 100 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
Sign in to save shuffle history.
Justices grant Trump administration’s request to pause lower court ruling in political ad rate dispute
The Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the way for political parties and joint fundraising committees to continue to receive favorable advertising rates in the run-up to the 2026 election. In a five-…
After Callais ruling, plaintiffs now raise questions over Louisiana's 2nd District
The winners of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that led Louisiana to eliminate one of its two majority-Black congressional districts now have their eyes on the state’s remaining seat held by a Black lawmaker.
Serb nationalist Milorad Dodik credits 'vast majority' to Trump, Putin
Pro-Russia Serb nationalist politician Milorad Dodik – who is serving a six-year ban from holding public office for defying rulings of Bosnia’s international envoy and Constitutional Court, claimed victory on Sunday, saying his party would hold a “vast majority”.
US Supreme Court rejects music labels' challenge to copyright termination ruling
By Blake Brittain WASHINGTON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The US Supreme Court rejected on Monday a challenge by a group of music labels to a judicial decision that said a
Health Tech Keeps Choosing Violence
Last week was an absolute dump of health tech litigation mayhem, with enough new filings to make my wife seriously question my bedtime reading. Here’s what’s inside: OpenEvidence v. Doximity: Doximity didn’t wait for the deadline. It wants OpenEvidence’s case thrown out entirely, and its motion adds some awkward details about vanished Slack data and borrowed NPIs. Plus, Epic v. Apple offers a look at what a normal discovery fight looks like. Texas v. Epic: Epic took another shot at the State’s antitrust pleadings, asking the court to make Texas spell out how its employment restrictions harm competition and why Texas law reaches a Wisconsin company’s noncompetes. Veeva v. Epic: The two Wisconsin law professors finally weighed in on whether a would-be employer can challenge someone else’s noncompete. Audacious Inquiry v. CRISP: Our sleepy patent case just evolved into a much more interesting form, with CRISP firing back with attempted monopolization and information blocking counterclaims. Cognizant v. Infosys: After weeks of emails and phone calls, I finally have Judge Starr’s sealed ruling on Infosys’s antitrust counterclaims. Some survived, offering clues about where the Epic (and other system of record) antitrust cases stand their best chance OpenEvidence v. Doximity
Politics increasingly shape students' college choices, survey finds
A new report finds politics is increasingly shaping college searches, with one-third of prospective students ruling out schools for political reasons and many making those decisions before applying.
After court ruling, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to hold Kalshi accountable for operating illegally
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is promising to hold prediction market platform Kalshi accountable for skirting state gambling regulations for years after a federal court ruling.
Meta denies accusation of anti-Lula political bias in Brazil after electoral court ruling
SAO PAULO (AP) — Tech giant Meta denied accusations Friday that it acted with political bias during Brazil’s presidential campaign, less than a day after the country’s electoral court ruled the platform must give equal treatment to incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and opposition candidate Fláv...
Davids Urges Federal Action as Kansas Small Businesses Squeezed Out of Tariff Refunds While Large Corporations Cash In
Today, Representative Sharice Davids demanded immediate action to ensure Kansas small businesses receive the tariff refunds they are owed. Following this year’s Supreme Court ruling overturning the president’s reckless tariffs, the federal government began processing billions of dollars in refunds.
BYU basketball preparing for Jaxon Kohler TRO ruling next week
Kevin Young navigates a volatile legal landscape as the Cougars await a crucial court decision regarding the eligibility of the Michigan State transfer.
Justice Kagan warns Supreme Court rulings are fueling polarization and undermining democracy
WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Elena Kagan on Tuesday said voting and elections decisions from her conservative Supreme Court colleagues have helped make the country
Across the South, Black voters weigh a new political reality
New voting maps in the South have sparked a wave of grassroots activism following a major Supreme Court ruling.
SCOTUS smacks down Missouri's MAGA map
In a final ruling, the Supreme Court has blocked Missouri Republicans' gerrymander.
Trump administration appeals ruling blocking limits on international student visas
DHS has appealed a court ruling blocking it from restricting how long international students and postdoctoral researchers can remain in the U.S.
Republicans sue, claim it’s a crime for stations to air Democrats’ Hope Florida ad
The Florida GOP’s lawsuit leans on an appeals court ruling that a leaked grand jury report should be expunged from the record.
Supreme Court allows Trump’s ‘third country’ deportation policy
This is the second time the court has rejected lower court rulings that immigrants must be able to object before being sent to countries to which they have no previous connection.
Pep Guardiola gives backing to Man City after guilty verdict: ‘We will get through this’
Pep Guardiola has broken his silence after Manchester City were found guilty of the majority of the 115 charges against them, reiterating his backing of the owners and the chairman. An independent commission, which was appointed following a four-year investigation to rule over the charges which stretch between 2009 and 2018, ruled that the current Premier League leaders had "sham contracts" arranged for a number of its commercial partners, finding that their income over eight seasons was “hugely overstated by over £830m”. The club vehemently deny the breaches with chief executive Ferran Soriano branding the process a “Premier League conspiracy theory” in a message to players and staff, while City have confirmed they will appeal against the ruling.
Hoopaholic’s Gazette: Will Something Wicked This Way Come?
In a week, live from Lawrence, Kansas, Louisville basketball fans will get a sense of what’s to come in the ’26-’27 campaign, without it counting as a W or L. Maybe. Depending on whether Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Brian Edwards issues a ruling, which will tell us — at least for a moment if not […]
SCOTUS rules in Trump's favor, allowing an expanded online screening tool to purge some voters
What does this ruling mean for voters in Illinois ahead of the midterms? What does this mean for voting in the future?
Meta denies political bias in Brazil after court ruling
Company rejects allegations of favoring Flavio Bolsonaro over President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva | Anadolu
Ruling makes Hope Florida an even bigger political issue a month before election
DeSantis’ inner circle and state Democrats are both seizing on the Hope Florida saga.
Judge orders DFA to maintain health insurance for St. Albans Creamery workers
St. Albans Creamery workers will continue to receive employer-provided health insurance while a legal battle plays out over the plant’s closure, according to a new court ruling this week.
Supreme Court rejects Trump-backed Missouri congressional map for third time
The justices halted a federal appeals court ruling that would have revived the Republican-friendly map for the November elections, which will determine control of Congress. There were no noted dissents.
Turkmenistan’s Ruling Duo Is Having a Family Feud. Will Their Regime Survive It?
Ex-president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov remains interested in politics, but his son Serdar, Turkmenistan’s current president, is becoming increasingly independent and willing to break with his father’s legacy. If their covert rivalry goes too far, both risk losing power.
Judge blocks Trump from firing Seattle US attorney who had job for an hour
President Donald Trump cannot fire US attorneys who have been appointed by courts, a federal judge in Washington state said Thursday in a first-of-its-kind ruling that tests the scope of a president’s removal power under the Constitution.
Quality Behavioral Health Facing Federal Medicaid Fraud, Forced Labor Investigation
Quality Behavioral Health and its leader have petitioned the courts to have federal law enforcement give back $18.8 million in assets investigators seized
Supreme Court returns with high-profile emergency cases
The Supreme Court returns Monday, and the Trump administration is already appealing to the high court to make emergency rulings. Experts don’t see the commander in chief slowing down.
Supreme Court blocks Trump-backed Missouri congressional map
The ruling is a defeat for Republicans seeking to give their party an edge in the midterm elections for control of the House. It means voters will face a different map than the one used in the primary elections.
Ruling makes Hope Florida an even bigger political issue a month before election
TALLAHASSEE — As Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a news conference this week: “When the narratives are set, they’re set.
Court rejects Pawnee Nation challenge to Oklahoma environmental authority
A federal appeals court has upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to let Oklahoma administer federal environmental programs in parts of Indian Country, rejecting a challenge brought by the Pawnee Nation in a 2-1 ruling Oct. 16. The case, Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma v. Zeldin, turns on a provision known as the “Midnight Rider,” a […]
Political Considerations Increasingly Shape College Decision
The third iteration of the Art & Science Group poll finds that more students on both the left and the right are ruling out institutions based on the political climate of their states.
Supreme Court asked to weigh political ad rates
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to step into a lower court dispute over television advertising rates paid by political candidates and joint fundraising committees weeks before the midterm elections. The application asked the justices to set aside a 2-1 ruling issued Wednesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th […]
Trump administration appeals to Supreme Court as 3rd-country deportations are thrown into question
A ruling to halt deportations of people to countries other than their own threw a core immigration policy of the Trump administration into question, at least temporarily, and prompted a desperate appeal to the Supreme Court on Thursday.
Appeals court cites defendant's mental health issues in reversing trial court ruling on probation violation
The Indiana Court of Appeals cited a defendant’s mental health crisis in reversing a trial court decision ordering him back to prison for a probation violation.
After heading home to Missouri, Andrew Bailey isn’t ruling out another run for office
The former Missouri attorney general finished a roughly yearlong stint as co-deputy director of the FBI.
September Monthly Review: Health MCP Guy?
For all the time I spend talking about APIs and data exchange, this newsletter has had embarrassingly little interoperability of its own. It’s old-school SaaS, baby - UI or bust. Not all of that is my fault! Substack, for all its popularity, is (as mentioned before) really frustrating as my system of record. The primary user it optimizes towards is the reader, whose attention feeds the app, the Notes feed, and the recommendation network that Substack is actually selling. Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe They’re falling into the same trap that Medium once sprinted into, albeit at a much more glacial speed. Younger generations may not remember (or never knew) it, but Medium once lured publications like The Ringer and Signal v. Noise onto its platform, only to lose them as it rebuilt itself around a paywall and an algorithmic feed. Substack’s original pitch circa 2020 was the antidote (you own your list), but every new feed feature chips away at it. I get it: writers are generic supply in the eyes of the Substack product team. Generic supply follows demand, so the consistent pressure on the PMs is to generate demand, which leads to every product cycle going toward discovery (Notes, recommendations, the app, live video). The end result lackluster author tools (laggy and broken analytics are truly crippling) all despite the premium price point. The archive is where it crosses from authorial gripes to actual reader impact, though. Across Substack and LinkedIn, I’ve published 1,218 posts and nearly 900,000 words since 2018. Substack’s native search can see only the 464 posts that live on Substack, and even there it’s woefully inadequate at surfacing relevant content (even for the guy who wrote it)! Readers have the same problem, writ large. Ask the Archive Fixing search (for both my readers and my own use) turned out to be extremely non-trivial, unfortunately: There’s no public API for readers to access content RSS exists for new content notification, but it only carries the 20 most recent posts and cuts paid ones off at the preview The only Substack MCP is an admin tool for analytics The export exists for authors, but it’s painfully awkward and slow. So I built something to work around that: the Health API Guy MCP. It’s a private MCP server holding the full text of everything I’ve written across Substack and LinkedIn. Add it to Claude or ChatGPT as a connector and you can ask things like: It pairs keyword search (for acronyms and case names, of which we have many) with semantic search. Every post is also labeled by topic, form, and court case, so you can pull a lawsuit’s (or multiple cases’) entire docket across Substack and LinkedIn in one query: Hail, Healthapiguyhydra This is also a bit of me eating my own cooking. I’ve spent the year arguing that headless healthcare is arriving and that developers want primitives over abstractions. Last week in Hail, Benihydra, I watched Salesforce plug its platform into Claude and bet that the records underneath outlive whatever interface sits on top: Salesforce must believe that the Hydra’s immortal head is the records, permissions, and business logic (in that they will survive whatever happens to the interface). It felt a bit hypocritical to keep my own archive behind a Substack search bar. The archive is the body. Substack is one head, and now whatever tool you might use is another. Will the EHRs follow my lead? Probably not imminently, but one can hope! Why Founding Members Only The MCP is available to Founding Member subscribers. A few reasons: It costs money and time to run. Hosting, the database, Clerk usage and AI compute for search and labeling are significant operational costs (that increase with usage). Substack gives me no way to automate access. There’s no API to check whether someone is a paid subscriber, so every user is manual operations for now. It’s a beta. We’ll need to improve things and parts will break. I’d rather they break for a small group of dedicated readers who will tell me about it. The Founding tier deserved a real benefit. Until now it was mostly a generous tip. Now it comes with something. If you’re already a Founding Member, reply to this email with the address you’d like provisioned. If you’re not and want in, upgrade here. Larger teams (such as companies) can get access too: group subscriptions at the Founding tier come with the group discount. The admin for the subscription can reply with the list of addresses to provision. Get 20% off a group subscription Pricing Founding membership is now a flat $200 a year, replacing the old suggested $150 that readers could adjust. Existing Founding Members will have access grandfathered in at their previous rate. Month in Review Articles Published Make Networks Dumb Again (Sep 11): AI is making old analog networks cheaper to use and flooding them with machine traffic in the process. A plea for agent-native rails with the intelligence at the endpoints, and for Washington to drag them to ubiquity. Interoperability, Unbuttoned (Sep 29): Interoperability is a series of workflows in a trenchcoat, and this post finally takes the trenchcoat off. A color-coded map shows which provider workflows went digital, which are fragmented, and which still run on fax. Video Content Antitrust’s System of Record Problem (Sep 3): The FTC’s investigation into Epic prompted a ninety-minute webinar, now posted with chapters and a smoothed transcript. We get into why market definition, missing B2B share data, and the SSNIP test leave antitrust poorly suited to systems of record, plus why information blocking may be doing more than any pending lawsuit. The Information Exchange: Cerner Milking Edition (Sep 18): This was so fucking fun. Ryan Tucker, Ryan Brickner, Brad Thorson, and I try an Around the Horn format, complete with points, penalties, and a mute button. We debate whether Oracle Health is dead, who would actually buy Cerner (IBM enters the chat), p(Doom), and why the front desk still hands you a clipboard. Regulatory Ask Not What Your Network Can Do (Sep 23): CDC’s RFI on public health data intermediaries lists use cases already served, unevenly, by eCR, lab reporting, IZ Gateway, and syndromic surveillance. The real opportunity sits in one question about AI: a network that can handle the next emergency without another interface project. Court cases Particle v. Epic: The Naughty Schoolteacher (Sep 4): After a summer-long vigil, the answer on Epic’s early summary judgment bid is two paragraphs and a remedial assignment. Particle advances to the next grade, and market definition gets another year of discovery. The Epic Discovery Files (Sep 8): Texas’s motions to compel arrive with a 251-page appendix of requests, objections, and meet-and-confer letters with Cravath. Inside: Epic using generative AI for document review, denied interoperability requests in scope, and Noerr-Pennington raised against lobbying discovery. Epic v. Health Gorilla: “Working as Designed” (Sep 9): Epic wants nothing to do with the data breach MDL, and explaining why puts fresh discovery on the public docket. The spiciest allegation: Health Gorilla told GuardDog to scrub its law firm business from its website instead of cutting off access. Veeva v. Epic: Legal Bypass Surgery (Sep 15): Veeva asks the Wisconsin Supreme Court to skip the Court of Appeals, while law professors and three policy groups line up as amici. Meanwhile, Epic’s lawyers apologize for another round of citation errors, including a quote that never existed. Texas v. Epic: Behind the Black Bars (Sep 17): The court portal served up Epic’s unredacted filings, revealing a $5 million document review budget and the AI workflow behind it. Also inside: the 200-plus company names Texas wants searched, and one very expensive Zoom invitation. OpenEvidence v. Doximity: Consequences Will Follow (Sep 25): OpenEvidence tells the court it will not comply with a discovery order, and its own lawyers at Quinn Emanuel say they won’t defend the choice. Add years of Slack reported unrecoverable, and Rule 37 sanctions come into view. Health Tech Keeps Choosing Violence (Sep 28): Doximity moves to end OpenEvidence’s case, Epic asks Texas to show its work, and a sleepy Audacious Inquiry patent fight sprouts antitrust and information blocking counterclaims. The main event is a long-sealed Cognizant v. Infosys ruling that hints where system of record antitrust claims can survive. EHRs One Verb for Oracle Health (Sep 14): Oracle’s earnings call quantifies every data center to the decimal point, while Oracle Health gets a single verb: “accelerate.” Panning the few healthcare mentions turns up an agentic care management system, a research-to-care ledger play, and the question of whether healthcare gets Larry’s patience. Epic’s Forretress Under Siege (Sep 30): Judy Faulkner tells a panel Epic paused hundreds of projects to harden its software and calls it a “shame,” while a spokesperson insists the roadmap hasn’t changed. Project Glasswing, a Pokémon-branded QAN sprint, and a trove of Jodel grievances reconcile the two Epics and preview the Jevons paradox coming for all software. Industry Analysis Scanning for a Network (Sep 1): Scan.com raises $220M to build the imaging network labs never got, speedrunning Zocdoc’s consumer-to-B2B pivot. Its wedge to network density may be the most American one available: personal injury litigation. The Front Desk Wants the Damn Whole Building (Sep 16): Hello Patient buys Converse Health, pushing its AI front desk into referrals, chart work, and prior auth. The copilot categories keep blurring, and your distribution partner is still your final boss. Cross-industry Comparisons A Different Patchwork Quilt (Sep 10): Healthcare loves to envy open banking, but the US version has no mandate, a toll booth at Chase, and data quality problems of its own. The grass isn’t greener; it’s another American patchwork quilt, and perhaps a worse one. Hail, Benihydra (Sep 21): Salesforce brings its platform into Claude, Slack, and its own agent, inviting the interfaces that might replace it. Cut off one head and more grow back, so long as the records underneath stay put. Living on A Trade Secret Prayer (Sep 22): Six credit unions are suing Fiserv, the Epic of core banking, by claiming their own member records as trade secrets. Banking has no Cures Act, so its lawyers reach for legal alchemy that healthcare has already tried. Other News None this month External Media Nabla Accelerate NYC: I kicked off fall conference season at Nabla’s Accelerate event in New York, where Delphine Groll opened by asking the room to picture the company it wants to become and the one it doesn’t. I liked her framework of bureaucracy, fear, and ego as the blockers. I also love vendor conferences/events in general - different vibe than industry biggies. Healthcare 101 with Nikhil Krishnan: I briefly guest lectured Out-Of-Pocket’s Healthcare 101 class. Appreciated Nikhil’s takeaways cover whether AI doctors can query HIEs, why healthcare’s data-liberation rules beat most industries’, and the hi-res graphic is in the comments. HCN: Epic Probed by the FTC: I joined the HCN guys to talk through the FTC’s investigation into Epic. Cedric’s new hairdo was an unexpected plot twist. The episode also covers MFN drug pricing, healthcare M&A and Eli Lilly’s acquisition streak. Fall Conferences: At eHealth Exchange’s Annual Meeting in Austin on Oct 27, I’ll moderate a panel on the tensions between AI, HIEs, and timely patient access with Jean Ross (Primary Record), Therasa Bell (Kno2), Byron Crowe (Doctronic), and Michael Marchant (Freenome). Here’s the rest of my schedule if you want to meet up: CommonWell (Redwood Shores, CA): Oct 13-14 Will be participating in a fun Jeopardy event Open@Epic (Madison, WI): Oct 20-23 Will be enjoying Verona, Willy Street, and other local adventures eHealth Exchange and Sequoia Project (Austin, TX): Oct 27-29 Yeehaw HLTH (Vegas): Nov 15-18 Groundhog Day, Venetian Edition RSNA (Chicago): Nov 30-Dec 2 See me at “Governing AI in Breast Imaging: What Health Systems Are Actually Doing” Digital Health Counsel 2026 AI Summit (Seattle): December 2-3 Will likely be speaking to a bunch of lawyers about information blocking Posts I Liked ChatGPT’s Epic integration: game changer or nothing burger?: Joshua Liu, MD offers five thoughts on OpenAI’s Epic launch, starting from the point that it rides the same open APIs available to anyone. He argues read-only access leaves ordering to Art and the ambient startups, and asks why HCA is piloting it alongside Commure. He’s sorta a must-follow at this point - consistently excellent, thought-provoking takes. Epic, Lilly, and the Discovery pass: Seth Chaney reads Epic’s first major Discovery deal (with Eli Lilly), as well as its revised developer terms on commercial displays, as the pipe finally opening between EHRs and pharma. Life sciences and health continue to collide. Scott Rossignol on EHR payer platforms and ePA fees: Scott argues the top ambulatory EHR vendors are turning the prior auth mandate into a per-member-per-year toll on payers, for an API whose operating cost has nothing to do with covered lives. His fix is two lines of regulatory text: put the CRD/DTR/PAS certification criteria in the Base EHR definition, and bring payer-facing ePA connectivity under § 170.404’s cost-based fee rules. It’s a good solution. Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe
Columbine Brutal Reminder on Epidemic of School Violence
Colorado Politics looks back at Ken Salazar’s reflections on the Columbine shooting and a landmark court ruling that reshaped election security standards for Colorado voting machines.
Montana ballot measure could undo ruling on corporate spending in state politics
Montana voters will have a chance to speak out on the boom of corporate and anonymous money in politics that has been the result of the Citizens United court ruling.
Massillon football players get restraining order before eligibility ruling
Families of six Massillon Tigers football players receive an injunction from a Stark County judge ahead of any OHSAA ruling on their eligibility.
Supreme Court backs Republicans on New Hampshire voter IDs
(Bloomberg) — The U.S. Supreme Court lifted a ruling that would have allowed use of student-ID cards to help show eligibility to vote in New Hampshire, siding with Republicans in a state where Democrats are defending a Senate seat next...
Supreme Court vote shadows Maine Sen. Susan Collins in her first race after abortion rights decision
The Nov. 3 election will be the first time Collins is on the ballot since the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, resulting in abortion being banned in much of the United States.
Keldon Johnson Makes Ruling on Spurs' Starting Lineup Situation
The San Antonio Spurs have more than enough options for the starting lineup, which means some players will feel snubbed. Keldon Johnson explained why he doesn't care what his teammates think.
Meta denies accusation of anti-Lula political bias in Brazil after electoral court ruling
Tech giant Meta has denied accusations it has acted with political bias during Brazil’s presidential campaign.
Trump Officials Revise Biden-Era Sex Discrimination Rules
The change follows a court ruling barring Title IX from protecting L.G.B.T.Q. people and has angered advocates for sexual assault survivors.
Tom Izzo Unloads on Trey Kaufman-Renn’s Sixth-Year Ruling
Tom Izzo did not hold back on the court ruling that sent Trey Kaufman-Renn to Kansas. #Spartans
Supreme Court blocks Trump-backed Missouri congressional map
The ruling is a defeat for Republicans seeking to give their party an edge in the midterm elections for control of the House. It means voters will face a different map than the one used in the primary elections.
NBC MT Today: Rising fuel costs impact business, absentee ballot ruling, snow chances
Manchester City Found Guilty on Almost All Financial Breach Charges
The club is expected to appeal the ruling.
Justice Kagan warns Supreme Court rulings are fueling polarization and undermining democracy
WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Elena Kagan on Tuesday said voting and elections decisions from her conservative Supreme Court colleagues have helped make the country more politically polarized and less democratic.
Judge won’t halt Atrium’s cheaper copays for State Health Plan members, for now
After the ruling, the State Health Plan warned premiums could more than double in 2028.
An Elevator Pitch About What Information Is
The conception of information as ruling out possibilities allows for teleological as well as non-teleological processes to generate information.
Former UCF F Keyshawn Hall Granted TRO, Gains Eligibility
A New York court ruling clears the path for the dynamic "Big Guard" to join Rick Pitino at St. John’s, bolstering the Red Storm’s offensive arsenal.
White House TV pool appears to be back in operation
A judge temporarily struck down the ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico on Thursday, but his ruling didn’t directly address the pool
Politics increasingly shape students' college choices, survey finds
A new report finds politics is increasingly shaping college searches, with one-third of prospective students ruling out schools for political reasons and many making those decisions before applying.
Blumenthal, Lamont: Trump blocking CT grants for political reasons
Blumenthal and Lamont say $53 million in Connecticut energy grants remains withheld after court rulings found the terminations were illegal.
Ben Simmons receives devastating injury update amid comeback attempt
Simmons is believed to have torn his Achilles tendon on Sunday, ruling him out for the rest of the year.
Republican coordinated campaign spending surges after US Supreme Court ruling
The Republican committees supporting the party's candidates have exceeded the former national caps by more than $48 million
Arizona appeals court upholds rejection of Marana data center referenda
The Arizona Court of Appeals, Division Two has upheld the rejection of two referendum petitions challenging zoning approvals for a proposed Marana data center project, ruling that the petitions failed to meet Arizona’s strict legal requirements for referenda. The decision affirms an earlier Pima County Superior Court ruling and leaves the Marana Town Council’s January […]
Supreme Court OKs Use of Social Security Data to Check Voter Rolls. What It Means for the Midterms
The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Trump administration to move forward – for now – with a system that uses federal data to help states identify people on their voter rolls who may not be eligible to vote. The emergency ruling lifts restrictions imposed by a lower court on the administration's ...
Pennsylvania skill games fight leaves small businesses facing an uncertain future
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – For one Pennsylvania bar owner, skill games have been more than a source of entertainment. They've helped keep a small business afloat in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic changed how people spend their time and money. Now, with a state Supreme Court ruling putting the machines’ future
Justice Kagan says Supreme Court has damaged democracy with recent rulings
The liberal justice took aim at the conservative majority’s rulings on the Voting Rights Act, campaign finance and partisan gerrymandering.
The Supreme Court sides with GOP again in political ad rates dispute
The ruling gives the FCC more time to review a policy that would extend discounted campaign ad rates to political committees.
Business owners brace for removal of skill machines
It’s a challenging reality for many in the state right now that, after Oct. 13, skilled games will be considered illegal.
Wrigley rooftop owner appeals court ruling that bars ticket sales
The Cubs won a permanent injunction against a neighboring rooftop business, but the fight over who can profit from views into Wrigley Field isn’t over.
Meta denies accusation of anti-Lula political bias in Brazil after electoral court ruling
SAO PAULO (AP) — Tech giant Meta denied accusations Friday that it acted with political bias during Brazil’s presidential campaign, less than a day after the country’s electoral court ruled the pla…
Bobby Kotick’s lawyers sent me a bad email (and later apologized)
The message I had received was unsettling—for a moment. Then it was just really confusing. Back on January 20 of this year, at 5:15pm ET, I received an email with the subject line “Legal Correspondence re Bobby Kotick.” It was from the law firm Clare Locke, a firm I’d heard had been emailing reporters in recent years about their coverage of Kotick, the former, longtime CEO of Activision Blizzard. The letter was threatening. A lawyer from the firm introduced themselves as “defamation counsel to Bobby Kotick.” They issued a “demand” that I “correct” a Game File article I’d published a week prior. The article that had irked them had been a scoop of sorts. I’d written about a a 2022 lawsuit brought by a Swedish pension fund, AP7, over Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard. The suit wasn’t news, but I was first to review and report about Kotick’s extensive pushback to the fund’s claims. The pension fund’s core contention was that the sale had been rushed by Kotick to avoid the consequences of sexual misconduct scandals swirling around the company in 2021. (He’d not been accused of misconduct himself in those suits, to be clear.) As I wrote at the time, Kotick had denied the allegations of the rushed sale. Beyond that, Kotick used a December 2025 reply to the Swedish fund’s lawsuit to assign blame for those workplace scandals, the bad press and even for the AP7 lawsuit. I’d found Kotick’s arguments novel and newsworthy. Across nearly 3,000 words, I explained Kotick’s take: that a Swedish gaming company was behind the Swedish fund’s lawsuit (the Embracer group; they denied it); that the Microsoft-Activision deal was not rushed and was secured at what Kotick felt history had proven to be an optimal price for shareholders; that he believed a conspiracy of people at unions government agencies, PR firms and the media had spun up claims of widespread workplace misconduct at Activision Blizzard in 2021. The article gave context for all of this, letting readers assess the claims and weigh their credibility. As I’d later write to Kotick’s lawyers: I would be surprised if you could point to any news article about Bobby Kotick in the last five years that has spent more of its wordcount articulating his point of view. He is welcome to do an interview with Game File any time. Nonetheless, there they were in my inbox that Tuesday evening: Clare Locke, the law firm that secured a $787.5 million settlement from Fox News over false statements about voting machines. They were emailing me, threatening that failure to comply with their demand could support a claim of “actual malice,” a legal standard for libel. Unless… Unless, they said, I added a key paragraph to my article. This was a paragraph that I already knew Kotick’s lawyers had been emailing reporters about for at least a year, and it was a paragraph that was already in my article. The paragraph they wanted is from a 2023 settlement that California’s Civil Rights Department struck with Activision Blizzard. The settlement had closed a two-year-old lawsuit over alleged sexual discrimination at the game maker. The paragraph basically said that claims of systemic or widespread sexual harassment—or of execs like Kotick tolerating such behavior—had never been proven. I’d already seen proof that Kotick’s lawyers had pushed for the settlement’s language to be added to reports about 2021 sexual discrimination and misconduct lawsuits brought against Activision Blizzard by California and, separately, by the U.S. federal government (both suits were since settled). I knew that Kotick and his lawyers felt that the California settlement language should be mentioned in the same breath as references to an article he hated and denied, a November 2021 Wall Street Journal article claiming Kotick knew “for years” of sexual misconduct at Activision Blizzard. So, in the Game File article that Clare Locke emailed me about, in the interest of ensuring I was being fair and balanced regarding the person I was covering, I had already included the following excerpt from the California settlement [emphasis added in bold]: (Kotick has repeatedly pushed back against that November article in the Wall Street Journal, citing among other things, language from a court-approved consent decree as part of Activision’s 2023 $54 million settlement over the California suit. It states: “no court or any independent investigation has substantiated any allegations that: there has been systemic or widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard [or] that Activision Blizzard senior executives ignored, condoned, or tolerated a culture of systemic harassment, retaliation, or discrimination.”) On the evening of January 20, I was incredulous. How do you write a four page legal threat about a week-old article and miss this? While scrambling to also make my kids dinner, I wrote a lengthy reply to Clare Locke’s lawyers, basically asking them to cool it with the threats and to start making sense. In part, I wrote: I hope you can understand why I am having trouble understanding what you’re asking for, when the statement you’re demanding to see in Game File’s article already appears in Game File’s article. Actual malice, as you know, refers to a reckless disregard for the truth. I’m not sure what your argument is when my article already states your client’s position. Here is where I should remind you, the reader, that I am an independent journalist. I publish on Substack, and have availed myself of the Substack Defender program that provides writers on the platform with legal support. But I’m no Wall Street Journal or New York Times, nor even IGN or GameSpot when it comes to such things as, well, having a legal department. There are more fun things for me to do as an independent journalist than writing back to a powerful law firm representing a very rich person. On the evening of January 20th, I was just trying to cook some pasta, broccoli and chicken nuggets for hungry twins. Nevertheless, I wrote back to them. Two hours later, I got a reply. Summarizing: A lawyer for Clare Locke said they’d “reviewed an incomplete version” of my article and they “apologize for the confusion.” (My guess: Someone didn’t read past the piece’s paywall, even though they’d had a full week to scrounge up the funds to do so. What I’d published above the paywall was balanced, as was what came after.)1 That was almost that, but something about the situation bothered me. The letter had been marked “confidential.” I hadn’t agreed to that, and I disliked the idea that powerful people on the beat that I cover would act like they could unilaterally control what I might tell my readers about. On the morning of the 21st, having already gotten the powerful law firm to back off, I oh-so-wisely re-approached them with just one more thing. I thanked them for clearing things up the night before but noted that I’d never agreed to keep their letter confidential. I’m all for agreeing with a source to keep things off the record, but that’s the thing. We have to agree. You can’t just declare it. I’m not bound by that. I wrote to Clare Locke’s lawyer and said, in part: I trust the matter is resolved. It was disappointing to have to spend less time with my kids last night in order to address your legal letter. Family time’s precious. I will add, for clarity’s sake, that, while your letter stipulated that it was confidential, I did not agree to those terms. In the future, should you wish to communicate with me confidentially, I am happy to agree to classifying our communication as “off the record” prior to the actual communication—as is standard with any professional journalist. The firm’s lawyer replied, not directly addressing the confidentiality issue but asserting that the matter was resolved. Why I didn’t write about this until now In May, I told this story on an episode of Simon Parkin’s podcast My Perfect Console, but I held off on sharing it directly with Game File readers. I held off to avoid stepping on the toes of another reporter, the journalist Mikhail Klimentov. He’d interviewed me in the spring of 2025 about an investigation he was working on regarding Bobby Kotick lawyers pressing the media to add the California settlement language to stories referencing the 2021 lawsuits. And about how some outlets had changed their stories and how some simply deleted them. Initially, I was a third-party source for Klimentov’s reporting, providing on-the-record context about the state of the games media. I’d heard about the letters but hadn’t put the time into pursuing the story. I thought it was interesting, and I was glad he was covering it. When the outlet that Klimentov was going to run his reporting in dropped the story, I began talking to him about potentially publishing his reporting on Game File. This was tentative. Then, in January, when I got my own Clare Locke letter, I told Klimentov that I didn’t think it would make sense for me to publish him, not with me now being part of the story. I had my own version of this situation to tell. But I wished him well and said I’d refrain from telling my tale until he could get his reporting out there. Last Friday, Klimentov finally ran his investigation, in a nearly 48-minute video report for People Make Games. It covers various Clare Locke letters, how media outlets reacted to them and what to make of all this. His video weighs the merits of Kotick’s request and looks at some of the articles that were changed (one of which had a glaring error). I highly recommend watching it: (Note, I did some editorial consulting for a People Make Games video last year but nothing to do with this report.) While many outlets haven’t left any public evidence that they updated their Kotick coverage at Kotick’s counsel’s request, at least one has. Back in October 2025, the mainstream outlet Reuters applied the most transparent article update I’ve seen. On the 3rd of the month, they published an article about the state of the Swedish pension fund’s lawsuit. Days later, they added this: In an October 7 letter sent after publication of this article, Kotick’s defamation counsel disputed claims of widespread harassment at Activision. “Not a single investigation, court finding, verdict, or ruling ever concluded that there was any merit” to the allegations of widespread harassment at Activision, Tom Clare and Nick Brechbill of Clare Locke wrote. I’ve never added a statement to my article on Game File, because none was needed. Not for fairness’ sake, nor to meet any demands of Kotick’s lawyers. I’ve nevertheless wanted to be transparent with Game File readers. If someone powerful is questioning my reporting, is threatening a lawsuit over it… if that threat is part of a pattern involving other games media outlets and if, in my case, the whole thing ran into a ridiculous ditch, I want you to know about it. I also share this as a real example of how I handle threats to Game File. I stand up for my own reporting, even when it’s not comfortable to do so. (In that same category of standing up for the work I do, I’ll point to an incident in late August. Asocial media post I published to X/Twitter regarding reporting I did about Take Two and GTA VI was hit by bogus copyright claim by a firm working for the publisher. I pushed back and got it reversed; even while a bigger games media outlet let themselves be censored. This is the other reason I’m sharing this story: To emphasize that dealing with threats from powerful people is one of the costs of covering the video game industry independently and as fearlessly as possible. This is where you come in. Your support, through free and paid subscriptions (sign up here!), can help me keep doing that. It can ensure that I’ve got the back-up I need. And it can help make fiascoes like this even less of a worry, so I can spend my evenings dealing with more important things, such as making sure I steam the kids’ broccoli just right. 1 That pension fund lawsuit I wrote about in January has all but gone away. In May, the fund and Activision Blizzard owner Microsoft agreed to settle. Lawyers for the fund brokered a $250 million settlement for former Activision Blizzard shareholders. In the settlement, the fund’s lawyers changed their rhetoric. Where once they’d questioned the meaning of the California settlement language, they adopted a version of it for themselves. Several weeks ago, while seeking to get a court to sign off on the terms of the settlement, they proposed their fee for their work in the case: $60 million.
🚨 Manchester City appeal Premier League ruling
Manchester City submitted its appeal at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 1, 2026, against the Premier League Commission’s ruling, as the club confirmed in an official statement.The appeal is part of t...
Thai court case risks election rerun and renewed political turmoil
An adverse ruling could force Thailand back to the polls within months, ending a period of unusual political stability.
Supreme Court’s conservatives have let down democracy, Justice Kagan says
Two weeks before the midterm elections, liberal Justice Elena Kagan bluntly sized up the Supreme Court handling of election and voting-related cases, saying, “The court has kind of blinded itself to the very deleterious effects of their rulings on how the political system works.”
Political ad rates case frozen through midterms
The Supreme Court in an unsigned decision Wednesday sided with Republicans in a dispute over expanding discounted television advertising rates beyond political candidates ahead of the midterms. The unsigned order from a majority of the court paused a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals from the 4th Circuit that could have allowed the courts […]
U.S. Supreme Court declines request to consider Bellingham COVID-19 vaccine case
The denial means the lower court’s ruling will remain in effect, thereby signaling the end of the case.
Justice Elena Kagan accuses Supreme Court’s conservative majority of undermining democracy
The liberal justice took aim at various recent rulings, including one that paved the way for rampant partisan gerrymandering of legislative districts.
Supreme Court lets Trump administration use federal voter eligibility database
The emergency order allows states, for now, to use the Department of Homeland Security program, called Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements.
Supreme Court blocks Missouri congressional map favoring GOP for third time
The ruling ends a complicated legal fight that has injected uncertainty into November’s midterm elections in the state.
More students are ruling out colleges based on politics, poll finds
Art & Science Group found that the share of students who decided against a college based entirely on its home state’s politics rose to 34% this summer.
Ruling makes Hope Florida a bigger political issue a month before election
DeSantis declares victory, but many questions remain.
Judge orders White House to lift Trump's ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico — but reporters say they were still denied access
The news outlets asked the court for an immediate hearing after some of their journalists reported being turned away despite the ruling.
Supreme Court lets Trump administration use federal voter eligibility database
The emergency order allows states, for now, to use the Department of Homeland Security program, called Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements.
Supreme Court vote shadows Maine Sen. Susan Collins in her first bid after abortion rights decision
The Nov. 3 election will be the first time Collins is on the ballot since the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, resulting in abortion being banned in much of the United States.
Kentucky's Ousmane N'Diaye gets eligibility ruling
Kentucky basketball has been waiting for an official ruling on the eligibility of Ousmane N'Diaye, and received it on Wednesday.
‘LaPolitics’ Q&A: Scrutinizing the costs of powering Meta
LaPolitics: The Louisiana Public Service Commission recently voted down its administrative law judge’s order that would have required Meta to disclose how it calculated job projections and electricity needs for its Richland Parish data center project. Is the PSC overruling an ALJ unusual? Logan Burke, executive director with the Alliance for Affordable Energy: The commission […]
Louisville, Kentucky athletes ineligible after Court of Appeals ruling
The group of athletes now ruled ineligible includes two UofL basketball players, two UofL football players and one UK football player.
White House TV pool appears to be back in operation
A judge temporarily struck down the ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico on Thursday, but his ruling didn’t directly address the pool
News outlets win a round against Trump’s press ban — but the fight is far from over
News outlets and press freedom advocates are cheering the latest court ruling against President Donald Trump’s press ban, while cautioning that he will keep trying to punish news coverage he dislikes.
Politics increasingly shape students' college choices, survey finds
A new report finds politics is increasingly shaping college searches, with one-third of prospective students ruling out schools for political reasons and many making those decisions before applying.
Supreme Court says New Hampshire can limit use of student IDs for voting
The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed New Hampshire officials to limit when voters may use a student ID to receive a ballot, agreeing that a lower court ruling that blocked enforcement of the policy was too close to Election Day.
Supreme Court Ruling Could Have Limited Impact on Voter Screening in Midterms
Federal law requires a 90-day “quiet period” before elections, likely restricting the immediate scope of a decision that allows the use of a citizenship database to examine voter rolls.
Resolution Copper project on track after Ninth Circuit decision
A federal appeals court has left in place a ruling allowing the land exchange tied to the Resolution Copper project to move forward, rejecting a request to reconsider the case. The Sept. 29 decision means the Ninth Circuit will not rehear the case after a three-judge panel earlier this year declined to block the exchange. […]
Manchester City respond to Premier League’s seismic ruling of guilt over majority of 115 charges
The club said it was ‘disappointed and surprised’ by the independent commission’s verdict
Federal judge orders White House to lift Trump's ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico
Hours after the ruling, reporters from CNN and Politico said they were denied access to the White House grounds.
Politics increasingly shape students' college choices, survey finds
A new report finds politics is increasingly shaping college searches, with one-third of prospective students ruling out schools for political reasons and many making those decisions before applying.
Over A Third Of Students Are Ruling Out Colleges Because Of State Politics
One in three school seniors ruled out prospective colleges due to the political environment where the colleges were located according to polls by the Art & Science Group.
Judge halts Trump administration's taxpayer-funded ads
The ruling temporarily blocks the ads weeks before November's midterm elections.
Republican coordinated campaign spending surges after US Supreme Court ruling
By John Kruzel WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Since the US Supreme Court in June sided with Republicans and struck down federal caps on spending by political parties in coordination with candidates,
Ahead of Midterms, Justice Kagan Says Rulings Have Intensified Polarization
The justice said during a discussion that recent Supreme Court decisions on voting rights, gerrymandering and campaign finance have deepened America’s divides.
Patriots' Mike Vrabel breaks silence on A.J. Brown return question
Patriots coach Mike Vrabel isn't ruling out an A.J. Brown return this week.
Supreme Court returns with high-profile emergency cases
The Supreme Court returns Monday, and the Trump administration is already appealing to the high court to make emergency rulings. Experts don’t see the commander in chief slowing down.
Democratic lawmakers call for protections over third country deportations after ‘indefensible’ court ruling
Lawmakers say ‘Congress must step in’ after supreme court ruled to allow Trump officials to resume deporting people where their lives could be in danger
Federal judge upholds Idaho law that bans vaccine, medical treatment requirements in daycares
The ruling upholds an Idaho law that bans daycares, businesses, governments and schools from mandating vaccines or “medical interventions."