Source: Chicago Tribune

In a major blow to the government, a federal judge in Detroit has declared the nation’s female genital mutilation law unconstitutional, thereby dismissing nearly all of the charges against two Michigan doctors and seven others accused of subjecting at least nine minor girls to genital cutting in the nation’s first FGM case.

The historic case involves minor girls from Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota, including some who cried, screamed and bled during the procedure and one who was given Valium ground in liquid Tylenol to keep her calm, court records show.

U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman concluded that Congress did not have the authority to pass the 22-year-old federal law that criminalizes female genital mutilation in America. FGM is banned worldwide and has been outlawed in more than 50 countries, though the U.S. statute had never been tested before this case.

Friedman’s ruling stems from a request by Dr. Jumana Nagarwala and her co-defendants to dismiss the genital mutilation charges, claiming the law they are being prosecuted under is unconstitutional.

Read more: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-female-genital-mutilation-law-20181120-story.html

Source: NPR

Republican Brian Kemp will be the next governor of Georgia, with Democrat Stacey Abrams conceding Friday afternoon following a bitter 10-day battle since election day last week.

The contest between the two had been one of the most closely-watched — and bitter — of the cycle. Abrams, who was vying to become the first black woman ever elected governor in U.S. history, had alleged throughout the campaign that Kemp, who stepped down as secretary of state after the election, had been working to disenfranchise minority voters and suppress new registrations.

Those charges spilled out well beyond Nov. 6, with the race too close to call. Abrams had been fighting to include additional provisional and absentee ballots into the count, hoping that could help her close the roughly 18,000 vote deficit she needed to force a runoff next month.

But with a 5 p.m. Friday deadline for all of Georgia's counties to certify their election results, a path for Abrams was looking slim. It's now up to interim secretary of state Robyn Crittenden to certify the state's results.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2018/11/16/668753230/democrat-stacey-abrams-ends-bid-for-georgia-governor-decrying-suppression

Source: The Hill

President Trump announced Tuesday he is nominating Neomi Rao to fill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s vacant seat on the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Rao currently serves as the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA.

She is a vocal advocate of Trump’s efforts to slash government regulations, crediting the reductions with stimulating job growth.

“I think the reform efforts are part of what has stimulated economic growth and job creation and promoted technological innovation. And from my perspective, our reform efforts have really focused on promoting the rule of law and emphasized the productivity and potential of the American people that’s possible when you get rid of unnecessary economic burdens,” Rao said at an American Bar Association conference earlier this month.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/416470-trump-announces-kavanaugh-replacement-for-dc-circuit-court

Legal Expert: There Is ‘No Legal Ethics Issue Here’ That Would Force Matthew Whitaker to Recuse Himself

Elihu Root Professor of Law at NYU Stephen Gillers told Law&Crime that objections to Whitaker are “compelling,” but there is ultimately “no legal ethics issue here.” Prof. Gillers is one of the most cited legal ethics scholars.

...

You may recall that Jeff Sessions recused himself by citing Title 28, Chapter I, Section 45.2 of the Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) — “Disqualification arising from personal or political relationship.”

Sessions stated that he had to recuse himself from the heading up the Russia probe because he served as a campaign advisor for the Trump campaign.

“That regulation states, in effect, that department employees should not participate in investigations of a campaign if they have served as a campaign advisor,” Sessions said at the time.

-------------------------
There's more of interest to read here, including the entire regulation. Interesting read, and I'm not sure this specific issue breaks our way. Whitaker shouldn't be the Acting AG, imo, simply because he hasn't been confirmed by the Senate to any post during this administration.

Source: ABC News

Earth's protective ozone layer is finally healing from damage caused by aerosol sprays and coolants, a new United Nations report said.

The ozone layer had been thinning since the late 1970s. Scientist raised the alarm and ozone-depleting chemicals were phased out worldwide.

As a result, the upper ozone layer above the Northern Hemisphere should be completely repaired in the 2030s and the gaping Antarctic ozone hole should disappear in the 2060s, according to a scientific assessment released Monday at a conference in Quito, Ecuador. The Southern Hemisphere lags a bit and its ozone layer should be healed by mid-century.

"It's really good news," said report co-chairman Paul Newman, chief Earth scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "If ozone-depleting substances had continued to increase, we would have seen huge effects. We stopped that."

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/protection-earths-ozone-layer-healing-58971673