Federal appeals court rules private plaintiffs can't sue in blow to Voting Rights Act
CBSN
A divided federal appeals court on Monday ruled that private individuals and groups such as the NAACP do not have the ability to sue under a key section of the federal Voting Rights Act, a decision that contradicts decades of precedent and could further erode protections under the landmark 1965 law.
The 2-1 decision by a panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in St. Louis found that only the attorney general can enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires political maps to include districts where minority populations' preferred candidates can win elections.
The majority said other federal laws, including the 1964 Civil Rights Act, make it clear when private groups can sue but said similar wording is not found in the voting law.
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.
Just a week before Thanksgiving, shoppers at Stop & Shop stores across Massachusetts were forced to leave empty-handed after a cyberattack against the supermarket chain's parent company led to inventory shortages.
For the last seven years, Brazilian soccer legend Marta dreamed of playing in a National Women's Soccer League championship game.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida says he doesn't intend to return to Congress in January, after resigning from his seat and withdrawing from consideration as U.S. attorney general.
The United States on Friday announced sanctions against a former Colombian general it said was involved in extrajudicial killings of civilians falsely reported as combat deaths.
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.
The Emmy Award-winning "CBS News Sunday Morning" is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET. "Sunday Morning" also streams on the CBS News app beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET. (Download it here.)
Organic carrots and celery sold at Whole Foods Market in five states are being recalled amid a deadly E. coli outbreak that has stricken 39 people in 18 states.
It's well-documented that women in the workplace often face biases when seeking leadership roles, but new research is uncovering just how pervasive and wide-ranging those prejudices can be.
President-elect Donald Trump's sentencing for his May criminal conviction has once again been delayed, a judge ruled Friday.
Washington — The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed Facebook's appeal of a lower court order reviving a shareholder lawsuit brought against the social media giant in light of consulting firm Cambridge Analytica's 2015 misuse of millions of Facebook users' data.