Afternoon Briefs: Texas no longer accepting refugees; new San Francisco DA announces round of layoffs
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New refugees no longer welcome in Texas, governor says
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced in a letter released Friday that the state will not take new refugees under a federal refugee resettlement program in 2020. Abbott said more refugees have been accepted by Texas than any other state since 2010, and in addition to receiving so many refugees, “Texas has been left by Congress to deal with disproportionate migration issues resulting from a broken federal immigration system.” The state and nonprofit organizations “have a responsibility to dedicate available resources to those who are already here,” he said. (NPR, Texas Tribune, Houston Chronicle, Courthouse News Service, Jan. 10 letter)
Newly elected San Francisco district attorney fires multiple prosecutors
The new San Francisco district attorney fired at least six attorneys, including several managing attorneys in his office’s criminal division, on Friday. “I had to make difficult staffing decisions today in order to put in place a management team that will help me accomplish the work I committed to do for San Francisco,” Chesa Boudin, who was sworn in two days before the firings, said in a statement. A former deputy public defender, he was elected in November and promised to reshape San Francisco’s legal system and focus on violent crime. (San Francisco Chronicle)
CNN will pay $76 million in settlement over labor law violations, NLRB says
The National Labor Relations Board announced on Friday that CNN agreed to pay $76 million in back pay to end a dispute that started in 2003, when the cable company terminated a contract with Team Video Services. CNN then hired new employees to perform the same audio and video services without bargaining with the two unions that represented the Team Video Services broadcast technicians. The NLRB confirmed that the settlement is the largest monetary remedy in its 84-year history. (New York Times, Variety, Associated Press)
Families of victims lost in 2014 airline disappearance must sue in Malaysia, court rules
An appeals court ruled Friday that families of victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared in March 2014 between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing, must pursue their claims in Malaysia. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said that under the Montreal Convention, passengers from foreign countries are barred from suing a foreign airline in American courts. “While the court has great sympathy for the victims of this tragedy and their families, we cannot disregard the narrow standard governing our review in this case,” the court wrote. (Law.com, Jan. 10 opinion)
