How Trump's impeachment differs from a criminal trial

WASHINGTON (AP) — Yes, it's a trial — but the Senate's impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump won't resemble anything Americans have seen on Court TV. In Trump's trial, the Senate will serve as both judge and jury. The Republicans who control the chamber can forge their own rules if...

Ex-US Rep. Collins gets over 2 years in insider trading case

NEW YORK (AP) — The first member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump to be president was sentenced Friday to two years and two months in federal prison after admitting he helped his son and others dodge $800,000 in stock market losses when he learned that a drug trial by a small pharmaceutical company had...

Alabama court won't reconsider Confederate monument ruling

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama Supreme Court on Friday refused to reconsider a ruling that prohibits Birmingham from obscuring, or taking down, a Confederate monument in a city park. Justices turned down a rehearing request without comment. The court in November ruled that Birmingham violated a...

Virginia's highest court upholds weapons ban at gun rally

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia's highest court on Friday upheld a ban on firearms at an upcoming pro-gun rally in the state's capital, an event that authorities feared could erupt in violence at the hands of armed extremists. The Virginia Supreme Court's decision came a day after gun-rights groups sued to...

Virginia Supreme Court upholds weapons ban for pro-gun rally next week, rejecting appeal from gun-rights groups

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Supreme Court upholds weapons ban for pro-gun rally next week, rejecting appeal from gun-rights groups.

Appeals court rules against convict over gender pronouns

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A transgender convict has lost a federal appeal to have her name changed in court records — and to have the appeals court refer to her with feminine pronouns. The case of Norman Varner — now Katherine Nicole Jett — divided a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit...

Judge says conservation group can look into energy panel

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A conservation group can seek details from the Trump administration on whether it followed recommendations from an illegally created industry advisory group to ease rules for oil, gas and coal extraction, according to a federal court ruling. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy said in...

Court to look anew at health care law birth control rules

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will consider allowing the Trump administration to enforce rules that allow more employers to deny insurance coverage for contraceptives to women. The justices agreed Friday to yet another case stemming from President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, this time about...

Michigan juvenile lifer to get new sentence in girl's death

CASSOPOLIS, Mich. (AP) — A judge set aside a life sentence for a man who was convicted of killing his pregnant girlfriend when they were teenagers and burying her body in southwestern Michigan. The decision Monday by a Cass County judge means Robert Leamon, 43, will get a new sentence and a chance for...

Ex-Guantanamo commander convicted of lying about man's death

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A former commander of the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay was convicted Friday of interfering with an investigation into the death of a civilian with whom the commander had fought and argued over his affair with the man's wife. A federal jury in Jacksonville convicted Navy Capt....