On January 1, Illinois became the first state in the country to officially eliminate its cash bail system when the Pretrial Fairness Act goes into effect. Under the new system, a person will only be detained before trial if a judge determines that they pose a threat to others or have a likelihood of being a flight risk.

OMAHA — The ACLU of Nebraska revealed Wednesday that a study of bail-setting by judges shows that recent state legislative reforms have failed to halt modern-day “debtors’ prisons.”

In seeking to discover how judges treat financially struggling Nebraskans, a team of 24 court watchers tracked more than 2,300 bail and sentencing hearings in the state’s two largest counties, Douglas and Lancaster.

OMAHA — The two-year legal fight is not yet over between the loser of a 2020 GOP-on-GOP legislative race and the Nebraska Republican Party that accused her in ads of wrongdoing.

Nebraska City business owner Janet Palmtag lost her defamation lawsuit against the state GOP, a Lancaster County District Court judge ruled Friday in a summary judgment.

The release from Russian prison of WNBA star Britney Griner has been greeted with general delight in the United States.

Announcing the deal that saw her freed on Dec. 8, 2022, President Joe Biden lauded the “painstaking and intense negotiations” that made it happen. Others may have legitimate concerns over the equivalence of the exchange, which saw convicted arms merchant Viktor Bout returned to Russia.