US Domestic News Roundup: US Supreme Court to decide fate of Biden student loan forgiveness; Jury acquits former Florida deputy of failing to protect students in Parkland school shooting and more

In a telephone interview with Reuters, Trump said "possibly not" when asked if he would be at the debate, to be hosted by Fox News in Milwaukee on Aug. 23. US Supreme Court to rule on web designer with anti-gay marriage stance The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday is poised to rule on whether a Christian web designer from Colorado has a right to refuse to provide services for same-sex marriages based on constitutional free speech protections - a case that could upend state anti-discrimination laws.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

US Supreme Court to decide fate of Biden student loan forgiveness

The U.S Supreme Court on Friday was set to rule on the legality of President Joe Biden's plan to cancel $430 billion in student loan debt - a move intended to benefit up to 43 million Americans and fulfill a campaign promise. The conservative justices during arguments in the case in February signaled skepticism over the plan as they mulled legal challenges pursued by six conservative-leaning states - Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina - and two individual borrowers.

Jury acquits former Florida deputy of failing to protect students in Parkland school shooting

A Florida jury on Thursday acquitted a former sheriff's deputy accused of failing to protect students during the 2018 mass shooting at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Scot Peterson, the school resource officer on duty when a gunman entered a building in Feb. 14, 2018 and opened fire, killing 17 and wounding another 17, had been charged with 11 counts of child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury.

Hollywood faces possible second strike as actors' talks near deadline

Netflix Inc, Walt Disney Co and Hollywood's other major film and television studios were racing against a midnight deadline on Friday to reach a deal with the SAG-AFTRA actors union and avert a second labor strike this summer. A-list stars including Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep, in a letter to union leadership this week, said they were ready to walk off the job if negotiators cannot reach a "transformative deal" on higher base pay and safeguards around use of artificial intelligence (AI).

US urges appeals court to uphold Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking conviction

The U.S. government has urged an appeals court to uphold Ghislaine Maxwell's conviction and 20-year prison sentence for helping the disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls. In a Thursday night filing with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan, federal prosecutors said none of Maxwell's legal arguments about the fairness of her trial held merit.

Trump says may skip first Republican debate, hold rival event

Former U.S. President Donald Trump said he might not participate in the Republican Party's first 2024 election primary debate in August and may hold an alternative event, citing his lead in opinion polls and what he claims is the hosting network's bias against him. In a telephone interview with Reuters, Trump said "possibly not" when asked if he would be at the debate, to be hosted by Fox News in Milwaukee on Aug. 23.

US Supreme Court to rule on web designer with anti-gay marriage stance

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday is poised to rule on whether a Christian web designer from Colorado has a right to refuse to provide services for same-sex marriages based on constitutional free speech protections - a case that could upend state anti-discrimination laws. During arguments in the case in December, the conservative justices appeared ready to rule in favor of Denver-area business owner Lorie Smith, who is seeking an exemption from a Colorado law that bars discrimination based on sexual orientation and other factors. Lower courts ruled in Colorado's favor.

Judge rejects Donald Trump bid to dismiss E. Jean Carroll's first defamation lawsuit

A federal judge on Thursday rejected Donald Trump's bid to dismiss the first of writer E. Jean Carroll's two lawsuits accusing the former U.S. president of defamation for denying he raped her in the mid-1990s. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan found no merit in Trump's arguments that he deserved absolute presidential immunity, and that many of his statements about Carroll were opinion and thus protected.

New legal battles await colleges after US Supreme Court's affirmative action ruling

The Supreme Court's decision on Thursday barring race-conscious admissions policies will force universities to find new ways to attract a diverse student body – but experts said such efforts will likely open a new front in what has been a decades-long legal battle over race and college admissions. The majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts and joined by the court's five other conservatives, held that giving some minority applicants a boost over others based on their race violated the U.S. Constitution.

US presidential summit heralds Moms for Liberty as major 2024 player

Moms for Liberty, a conservative parents-rights advocacy group that has rapidly expanded since its founding little more than two years ago, will flex its political muscles this week as top rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination speak at its national conference in Philadelphia. Former President Donald Trump, the front-runner in the race, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, his closest challenger, will address the group on Friday, a testament to the weight their campaigns are placing on its agenda of race and gender-based cultural issues related to education heading into next year's nominating contests.

Trump, DeSantis allies drive a 2024 election spending spree

Two groups allied with former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have pumped more than $30 million into the 2024 Republican presidential race, more than five times the spending by all outside groups at the same point in the 2020 campaign, according to a Reuters analysis, in a sign of the intense competition between the two frontrunners. The group backing Trump, known as MAGA Inc, has spent more than $23 million this year, almost entirely on ads attacking DeSantis, the Reuters analysis of preliminary financial disclosures to the Federal Election Commission found.