News Roundup

The Senate Judiciary Committee held four days of hearings this week on President Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court.  The committee is expected to approve her nomination along party lines and has scheduled that vote for October 22.  Barrett currently serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit and clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia in the late 1990’s.  Prior to becoming a federal judge, Barrett spent 15 years as a law professor at Notre Dame.  She noted in her opening statement that if confirmed she would be the only sitting Justice who didn’t attend Harvard or Yale.  Keep reading for more news. Sheriff Apology.  The Greensboro News & Record reports that Davidson County Sheriff Richie Simmons recently apologized for the conduct of one of his department’s investigators in responding to a private dive team’s discovery of a submerged vehicle in the Yadkin River containing the remains of a Lexington teen who has been missing since February. The News & Record report says that the family of Nicholas Alexander Allen had repeatedly asked the sheriff’s department to check the river for the missing vehicle and the missing team, fearing that he had taken his own life in an area of the river he was known to fish.  The private dive team, which runs a YouTube channel for funding, discovered the car and Allen’s remains and contacted the sheriff’s department.  Simmons said that the investigator’s response upon arriving at the scene was not empathetic towards [...]