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Venezuela’s supreme court rules against opposition in vote setbackTop court complains opposition-held congress did not name electoral body authorities in time Venezuela’s government-friendly supreme court has said the opposition-held congress did not name rectors to the South American country’s electoral authority in time, a move denounced by the opposition as an attempt to derail election plans. The court declared the national assembly’s decisions null and void shortly after the opposition won control of the body in late 2015. With new legislative elections due by the end of 2020, the decision marked a setback to efforts between the two sides to agree on conditions for the vote.  Continue reading… ….. Read More.THE GUARDIAN – General | World News & EventsFri, June 5, 20202 hours ago

Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court DecisionsPlease enjoy the latest edition of Short Circuit, a weekly feature from the Institute for Justice. Ever wondered what it’s like to argue before the Supreme Court? Four IJers who have been in the hot seat talk shop on the latest episode of the Short Circuit podcast. And over at NPR, IJ Senior Attorney Robert McNamara (who we really, really hope will be on the hot seat next term) tells it like it is on qualified immunity. Click here to listen.  After White House correspondent for Playboy gets into a shouting match with a former aide to President Trump at a press event, the correspondent’s hard-pass credentials (which allow on–demand access to the White House) are suspended for 30 days—the first time in over 50 years of issuing such credentials that anyone’s have ever been suspended or terminated. D.C. Circuit: The White House can certainly punish “rogue, mooning journalists,” but first it must give them…

Michigan’s top court throws out orders against Owosso barber Karl MankeThe Michigan Supreme Court on Friday overturned orders that directed a barber to close his shop during the coronavirus outbreak.         ….. Read More.DETROIT FREE PRESS – General News | U.S. National NewsFri, June 5, 20208 hours ago

A Federal Court Just Halted Use of a Highly Controversial HerbicideOn Wednesday afternoon, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco made a ruling that sent shockwaves through Midwestern and Southern farm country: It vacated the Environmental Protection Agency’ registrations of a weed-killing chemical that has surged in use in recent years—and generated massive controversy for its tendency to drift off-target and damage crops in neighboring fields and other foliage.  The EPA “entirely failed to acknowledge the risk” that the product would “tear the social fabric of farming communities,” the court’s decision says. The herbicide, dicamba, has been around since 1962, but had largely fallen of favor, because of its tendency to drift. But in 2016, seed/pesticide titan Monsanto—which has since been subsumed by German chemical giant Bayer—released seeds for soybean crops engineered to withstand dicamba and its longtime blockbuster herbicide, glyphosate. Throughout the Midwestern soybean belt and southern cotton belt,…

Zip-Lining: Not an “Essential Service”An interesting little decision on whether contractual waivers of negligence liability are enforceable in recreational contexts: Yes as to zip-lining, under Colorado law, says Judge William J. Martinez in today’s Cowles v. Bonsai Design, LLC (D. Colo.): Colorado law “distinguishe[s] businesses engaged in recreational activities, which are not practically necessary and with regard to which the provider owes no special duty to the public.” Chadwick v. Colt Ross Outfitters, Inc. (Colo. 2004). Numerous prior cases have confirmed that exculpatory waivers may be enforced in the context of recreational services and activities because such activities do not involve a duty to the public of a kind that would make enforcement of such contractual waivers against public policy. Zip-lining, which involves no matter of great public importance, is clearly recreational in nature. Thus, there is no duty to the public preventing enforcement of the Waiver. Note that such waivers…

James Mattis Denounces President Trump, Describes Him as a Threat to the ConstitutionJames Mattis, the esteemed Marine general who resigned as secretary of defense in December 2018 to protest Donald Trump’s Syria policy, has, ever since, kept studiously silent about Trump’s performance as president. But he has now broken his silence, writing an extraordinary broadside in which he denounces the president for dividing the nation, and accuses him of ordering the U.S. military to violate the constitutional rights of American citizens.“I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled,” Mattis writes. “The words ‘Equal Justice Under Law’ are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by…