Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Trump confident he will prevail against lawsuits over emergency declaration

President Donald Trump expressed confidence on Tuesday that he would prevail against a lawsuit filed by 16 U.S. states seeking to block his declaration of a national emergency to fund a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. The group of states, including California and New York, has charged the president and top officials in his administration with taking away taxpayer funds for their communities to fulfill a promise from his 2016 campaign to curb illegal immigration and the flow of drugs. U.S. top court rejects Maryland bid to revive drug price-gouging law

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Maryland's bid to revive a law aimed at preventing price gouging by pharmaceutical companies, dealing a setback to the power of states to rein in prescription drug costs. The justices declined to take up Maryland's appeal of a 2018 federal appeals court ruling that struck down the state's law, That ruling held that Maryland had regulated wholesale pricing by the companies in violation of the U.S. Constitution's bar on state-level regulation of interstate commerce. Justice Thomas assails landmark U.S. libel ruling that protects media

Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas on Tuesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider its landmark 1964 ruling that made it harder for public figures to sue for defamation, a precedent that has served as powerful protection for the news media. Thomas took aim at the unanimous ruling in the libel case known as New York Times Co. v. Sullivan in an opinion he wrote concurring with the court's decision to end a defamation suit against Bill Cosby filed by a woman who said the comedian raped her in 1974. West Virginia lawmakers reject charter school bill in victory for striking teachers

Striking teachers in West Virginia celebrated on Tuesday as lawmakers rejected a bill that would have opened the first charter schools in the state as unions become more vocal about the public schools run by private groups. The 53-45 vote by the House of Delegates effectively kills the legislation, which Governor Jim Justice, a Republican, had vowed to veto. The bill had passed the Republican-controlled Senate on Monday, prompting labor unions to call the strike, which closed most of the state's 700 schools that serve 277,000 students. Teen in Lincoln Memorial protest sues Washington Post for $250 million

A high school student from Covington, Kentucky, at the center of a videotaped incident at the Lincoln Memorial involving a Native American activist sued the Washington Post for defamation on Tuesday, claiming the newspaper "vilified" him because he is white. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Kentucky by Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann, 16, seeks $250 million in damages - saying that was the amount Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com and the world's richest person, paid for the Post in 2013. North Carolina poll workers admit improperly running early results

North Carolina poll workers told election officials on Tuesday they illegally viewed early election results last year, the latest evidence in a probe of voting irregularities in a still unsettled congressional race. The investigation into the disputed Nov. 6 election for the state's 9th Congressional District seat also uncovered an unlawful absentee ballot scheme by an operative for Republican candidate Mark Harris, according to testimony at the hearing that could prompt a new vote. U.S. Supreme Court bars Texas from executing death row inmate

Texas cannot execute a black death row inmate convicted in the 1980 Houston murder of a grocery store clerk, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday, concluding that he is intellectually disabled and therefore exempt from capital punishment. The divided court ruled that a Texas appeals court misapplied the law by again rejecting an appeal brought by inmate Bobby Moore, 59, seeking to avoid execution on the basis of intellectual disability. U.S. seeks return of $2.5 billion California high-speed rail funds

The U.S. Transportation Department said on Tuesday it will cancel $929 million in federal grant funds awarded by the Obama administration for a California high-speed rail project and is "actively exploring every legal option" to seek the return of $2.5 billion the state has already received. California Governor Gavin Newsom said last week the state will dramatically scale back a planned $77.3 billion high-speed rail project that has faced cost hikes, delays and management concerns, but will finish a smaller section of the line. Trump signs directive in move to create a U.S. Space Force

President Donald Trump on Tuesday took a step needed for lawmakers to begin the lengthy process of creating a U.S. Space Force, a new branch of the military dedicated to handling threats in space. Trump signed Space Policy Directive 4, which puts in place the foundation for a legislative initiative that could establish a Space Force as a new military service comparable to the U.S. Marines. U.S. top court rejects bid to block Indivior opioid drug copycat

The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to Indivior Plc on Tuesday, clearing the way for a copycat version of the British pharmaceutical firm's lucrative opioid addiction treatment Suboxone Film in a victory for India-based generic drug maker Dr. Reddy's Laboratories. Chief Justice John Roberts, in a brief order, denied Indivior's request to put on hold a lower court's ruling that had opened the door to cheaper generic versions of Suboxone while the company prepares an appeal to the high court.