Arkansas House sends governor hate crimes bill advocates decry as "sham"
CBSN
Arkansas lawmakers on Monday approved a stripped-down alternative to hate crimes legislation that longtime supporters of such laws have criticized as not providing true protections following a succession of new measures restricting the rights of transgender people.
The majority-Republican House voted 65-26 in favor of the measure, called a "class protection" bill, sending it to Gov. Asa Hutchinson's desk. The Republican, who has made enacting a hate crimes law a priority this year, said he plans to sign the bill into law. Arkansas is one of three states without a hate crimes law, along with South Carolina and Wyoming. Hate crimes legislation is also advancing in South Carolina's Legislature.Washington — The Supreme Court on Friday said it will consider the constitutionality of the Federal Communications Commission's Universal Service Fund, agreeing to review a lower court decision that upended the mechanism for funding programs that provide communications services to rural areas, low-income communities and schools, libraries and hospitals.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launched six space tourists on a high-speed dash to the edge of space and back Friday, giving the passengers — including a husband and wife making their second flight — about three minutes of weightlessness and an out-of-this world view before the capsule made a parachute descent to touchdown at the company's west Texas flight facility.