Kevin Koeninger

Cold Spring

Reporter at Courthouse News Service

Reporter for @CourthouseNews covering Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and the Sixth Circuit

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Articles

Feds insist Second Amendment doesn’t protect machine guns

1 week ago | courthousenews.com | Kevin Koeninger

CINCINNATI (CN) — Machine guns are atypical weapons not protected by the Second Amendment because a reasonable person would not expect them to be used in militia service, the federal government argued Wednesday before an appeals panel.
Bribery conviction of disgraced former Ohio speaker upheld on appeal

1 week ago | courthousenews.com | Kevin Koeninger

CINCINNATI (CN) — A unified Sixth Circuit panel on Tuesday upheld the federal racketeering conviction of former Ohio Speaker Larry Householder, who took bribes from FirstEnergy to make sure its failing nuclear power plants were bailed out by taxpayers. The former Republican lawmaker, ousted from the top spot in the state legislature after his arrest, argued throughout his trial and appeal that his wheeling and dealing was part of the normal political process.
Educators justified in taking kid’s ‘come and take it’ pro-gun hat

1 week ago | courthousenews.com | Kevin Koeninger

A principal's decision to force a third-grader to remove her "come and take it" hat was a reasonable way to prevent disruption, a Sixth Circuit panel determined. CINCINNATI (CN) — A Michigan elementary school that includes transfer students from the site of the state's worst school shooting did not violate a third-grader's free speech rights when it asked her to remove a hat featuring an assault rifle, a Sixth Circuit panel ruled Friday.
Trump sues states over potential climate change action

2 weeks ago | courthousenews.com | Kevin Koeninger

(CN) — New York and Vermont threaten to undermine America's domestic energy production and will violate federal law if they enforce climate change laws against fossil fuel companies, the Trump administration claimed in a pair of lawsuits filed Thursday. Excessive regulations imposed by both states have driven up energy prices for Americans and are preempted by the Clean Air Act, the administration says in its complaints, similar to two other lawsuits filed Wednesday against Michigan and Hawaii.
Kentucky sex offender demands anonymity on social media

2 weeks ago | courthousenews.com | Kevin Koeninger

CINCINNATI (CN) — A Kentucky law banning some sex offenders from using aliases on social media sites does not violate the First Amendment, a county attorney from the commonwealth of Kentucky argued Wednesday before an appeals court panel. Kentucky Senate Bill 249 requires people convicted of a sex crime involving a minor to use their full legal names on all social media platforms. The Republican Legislature passed the bill, which was signed into law by Democratic Governor Andy Beshear in 2024.
Michigan governor can’t dodge pipeline lawsuit via sovereign immunity

3 weeks ago | courthousenews.com | Kevin Koeninger

CINCINNATI (CN) — Operators of a controversial Michigan pipeline can challenge Governor Gretchen Whitmer's decision to claw back access to the Straits of Mackinac after a Sixth Circuit panel determined sovereign immunity does not apply to the federal case. The decision comes just over a month after the state argued the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Idaho v. Coeur d'Alene Tribe of Idaho barred the operators' lawsuit, which it claimed was essentially a quiet title action.
County clashes with police union over no-knock warrant ban in Kentucky Supreme Court

4 weeks ago | courthousenews.com | Kevin Koeninger

FRANKFORT, KY. (CN) — A ban on "no-knock" warrants does not implicate the employment conditions of police officers or require collective bargaining with their union, a Kentucky county government argued Thursday before the state's high court. The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government defended its ban on the controversial warrants as a policy decision stemming from the political process that benefits the welfare of the general public.
Former judge convicted of bribery cleared to challenge Ohio disbarment procedures

1 month ago | courthousenews.com | Kevin Koeninger

COLUMBUS, Ohio (CN) — An attorney permanently disbarred for misconduct while acting as a common pleas court judge can pursue due process claims against the justices of the Ohio Supreme Court, a federal judge ruled Friday. Steven Terry, whose tenure as a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge began in 2007, was convicted of federal conspiracy and mail fraud charges in 2010 after taking bribes from former Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo.
Pronoun policy of Ohio school district debated before full Sixth Circuit

1 month ago | courthousenews.com | Kevin Koeninger

CINCINNATI (CN) — The fate of an Ohio school district's anti-harassment policy — part of which mandates the use of preferred pronouns — is in the hands of the en banc Sixth Circuit after arguments Wednesday focused on whether the provision actually protects transgender students.
Michigan claims immunity in natural gas pipeline interference lawsuit

1 month ago | courthousenews.com | Kevin Koeninger

CINCINNATI (CN) â€” Sovereign immunity protects Michigan and requires dismissal of a lawsuit brought by the operators of an international oil and natural gas pipeline threatened with closure, the state argued Tuesday before a Sixth Circuit appeals panel.