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Lawyers, news media professionals and students: On Feb. 28, the Houston Bar Association Law and the Media Committee and the Society of Professional Journalists will present "The Importance of Journalism and Free Press to US Democracy." Co-sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists Houston Pro Chapter, two panels will discuss challenges journalists face, recent landmark cases shaping media law, and practical strategies for protecting press freedom. The event also will feature a conversation with NPR National Desk Reporter Tom Bowman. Register here: https://bit.ly/4s1VtxA

Texas can be a dangerous place for wrongly accused parents, especially in the so-called child protective services system. Retired Judge Mike Schneider hopes to change that. His advocacy has helped exonerate Texas mother Jessica Gasser, who faced false felony child abuse charges after her child was seized by state CPS. Ms. Gasser was accused of Munchausen by proxy — in other words, faking medical conditions in her toddler daughter when she was, in fact, seriously ill. In court filings, Schneider asserted the scheme was enabled by a purported law enforcement expert on the syndrome, doctors and high-level CPS bureaucrats. Ms. Gasser’s family is fully reunited and the child is now under the care of excellent doctors. The family is recovering from the three-year ordeal -- "medical kidnapping," as Ms. Gasser calls it. A court sanctioned the state for withheld evidence before the charges were dropped and Schneider's team has found medical records that were allegedly altered. His investigation goes on, meanwhile. Here’s a Law & Crime report on the evolving case:

Mom accused of subjecting child to unnecessary medical procedures 'fully exonerated': Lawyers Jessica Gasser has been "fully exonerated" of charges in Texas after being accused of subjecting her child to multiple unnecessary medical procedures

For three years, military families sickened by the Navy's massive jet-fuel contamination of the water supply near Pearl Harbor have sought truth and justice. The first group of military families with historic Federal Tort Claims Act cases has now prevailed in federal court in Honolulu. After a two-week trial last year, a federal judge ruled this week that the Navy indeed poisoned the water supply and should pay damages to 17 military family members. Thousands of military family members and civilians reported illnesses after about 19,000 gallons of jet fuel from the Red Hill fuel depot gushed into the water supply. This case reminds us that military service should not require government-induced sickness and then gaslighting by commanders that ignored safety warnings about the fuel depot and water supply. The legal team for the military families will now seek to resolve the remaining 7,500 cases pending in federal court. In the meantime, the military families that stood up to the Government in the first phase of this case -- and the many others that still are -- deserve our respect. Here's the 60 Minutes report on the case from last year:

Military families in Hawaii say water tainted by jet fuel made them sick | 60 Minutes Thousands of gallons of jet fuel contaminated the Navy's drinking water system for Pearl Harbor. Families dealing with health issues are suing, alleging they...