News Roundup

On Tuesday the Justice Department charged 50 people, including celebrities and business leaders, with participating in nationwide bribery and fraud schemes that allowed their children to be admitted into top universities despite lacking the necessary qualifications.  As the New York Times reports, parents, college preparatory businesses, university officials, and coaches paid and accepted bribes in order to secure spots at various competitive universities.  The schemes were fractured and complex – sometimes a test proctor was bribed to adjust a student’s standardized test score, other times a coach was bribed to falsely label a student as an athletic recruit.  The common denominator in the sprawling schemes was the exchange of significant amounts of money.  The Times story describes situations where parents paid hundreds of thousands of dollars, and in at least one case more than $1 million, in order to fraudulently secure a spot for their child at a desirable school.  Keep reading for more news. Davis Appointed. As the Associated Press reports, Governor Roy Cooper appointed North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Mark Davis to fill the associate justice seat on the Supreme Court vacated by Cheri Beasley after her recent appointment as Chief Justice.  Davis has served on the Court of Appeals since 2012, and previously was a Special Deputy Attorney General in the NC Department of Justice.  Davis said that he is proud to be the first Jewish jurist on the state high court.  With Davis’s appointment, the court now will be comprised of six Democrats and a lone [...]