News brief

Supreme Court rules on excessive force lawsuit. A unanimous Supreme Court ruling on May 15 revived the civil rights lawsuit against a Texas police officer who shot a man to death during a traffic stop over unpaid tolls. The justices ordered the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to take a new look at the case of Ashtian Barnes, who died in his rental car in April 2016 on the shoulder of the Sam Houston Tollway in Houston. Lower courts had dismissed the excessive force lawsuit filed against Officer Roberto Felix Jr. by Mr. Barnes’ mother, Janice Hughes.