'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
U.S. President Joe Biden intends to nominate an anti-abortion Republican lawyer to a federal judgeship, two Kentucky Democrats informed of the decision say.
The prospective nominee, conservative lawyer Chad Meredith, would serve in a lifetime appointment to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
Meredith's prospective appointment was first reported by The Courier-Journal.
Kentucky Democrats expressed outrage about Meredith's expected nomination to the court before it was clear that a vacancy would emerge on the bench. But on Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Karen K. Caldwell of the Eastern District of Kentucky was added to a public list of future federal judicial vacancies, clearing a path for Meredith to potentially join the court.
The U.S. Courts list indicates that Caldwell shared her decision late last month to move into "senior" status as a judge for the court. By taking senior status, U.S. Courts states, judges may choose to handle a reduced caseload; regardless of that caseload, the status creates a vacancy on the court they serve on.
Biden's prospective nomination comes just as the President is pledging to use everything within his power to fight for abortion rights in the wake of last week's U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. With the federal constitutional right to an abortion eliminated, states will have to determine abortion rights unless Congress acts.
Meredith previously worked as then-Kentucky Republican Gov. Matt Bevin's deputy counsel, defending a state law that requires doctors performing abortions to first perform an ultrasound and describe the image on the monitor to the patient.
In court in 2018, Meredith argued that the law would make sure women were more fully informed of their decision because "not every patient understands the consequences of the abortion procedure."
"This is right in the heartland of what states are permitted to do to regulate medicine," Meredith said at the time. "There are a number of patients who don't understand the nature of the fetus within them."
A spokesperson for Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth of Kentucky told CNN that the congressman "was informed of the White House's intent to nominate Meredith by White House staff." And Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear said in a news conference on Thursday that his team was informed about Biden's intention to nominate Meredith "late last week."
"My understanding right now is it has not been submitted, which I hope at the very least means it's on pause," Beshear said.
Beshear had strong words for Biden, saying: "If the President makes that nomination, it is indefensible."
The governor also criticized Meredith's involvement in Bevin's decision to issue hundreds of pardons before leaving office, which included forgiveness for a variety of violent acts such as murder and rape. There were accusations from critics that some of the pardons had been political in nature, which Bevin denied at the time.
"I don't know how the President can say he's for public safety if he makes this nomination," Beshear added.
Asked for comment, a White House official said, "As a matter of practice, we don't comment on executive or judicial vacancies."
Yarmuth told The Courier-Journal he believed Meredith's prospective nomination "is part of some larger deal on judicial nominations between the President and Mitch McConnell" -- namely, to get the Senate minority leader to agree to no longer hold up Biden's future federal nominations.
Brian Fallon, the co-founder and executive director of Demand Justice, a left-leaning organization focused on America's courts, on Friday criticized Biden's potential nomination of Meredith as a contrast to his record on judicial nominations.
"One of the unqualified success stories of the Biden presidency was his prioritizing of judicial nominations and elevation of public defenders and civil rights lawyers. I don't get why you would undercut that record to make a bad deal with McConnell - on the heels of (the Supreme Court's decision that overturned Roe v. Wade) no less," Fallon tweeted.
CNN has reached out to Meredith and McConnell's office for comment.
There are 119 current or expected lower court vacancies. The Biden administration has named a nominee for 34 of those vacancies so far.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.