Representational government rests on a simple idea: that the laws the nation lives under generally reflect what the public wants. In the United States, few issues test that idea more than abortion.

In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that the Constitution does not guarantee a right to an abortion. The decision effectively overturned nearly 50 years of federally protected access to the procedure and returned primary authority over abortion policy to states.

The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will hear a significant climate lawsuit in which oil companies are seeking to avoid being tried in state court. 

The fate of several dozen climate lawsuits brought against oil companies by state and local governments could hinge on the decision, which could determine whether the cases can be tried in state court. The suits seek to force oil companies to pay billions of dollars to help governments grapple with the costs of climate-related damages, such as natural disasters, rising sea levels and drought.

LINCOLN — A legislative committee unanimously advanced small tweaks Tuesday to the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission, presenting a unified front that was a first for legislation on the topic.

LINCOLN — An undocumented migrant caught in legal limbo at the ICE detention center in McCook will get a bond hearing soon, or, a federal judge has ruled, the federal government must release him. 

U.S. District Judge Susan Bazis issued an order late Monday calling for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to arrange a bond hearing within seven days for Carlos Roldan Chang. If that doesn’t happen, she ordered that Roldan Chang be immediately released.