The US Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals declined Tuesday to rehear with the full Eighth Circuit panel of judges a prior appeals court decision curtailing private organizations’ ability to sue under section two of the Voting Rights Act for alleged racial gerrymandering in redistricting decisions. In the order denying the rehearing, Judge David Stras, writing [...]
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US Supreme Court and federal appeals court refuse to stay Alabama nitrogen hypoxia execution
The US Supreme Court and Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on Wednesday refused Kenneth Smith’s application for a stay of his execution by nitrogen hypoxia. Kenneth Smith is scheduled to be executed by way of nitrogen hypoxia on Thursday night at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama. According to the Alabama execution [...]
Kentucky House committee approves toughened criminal justice bill
A Kentucky House committee approved a bill Thursday that establishes tougher penalties for various criminal offenses. One of the main components of House Bill 5 is its three-strikes provision, which would have people convicted of three violent felonies face life in prison. The bill also toughens penalties for the distribution of fentanyl, classifies carjacking as [...]
US Supreme Court declines to review Indiana school district's transgender bathroom policy
The US Supreme Court denied certiorari Tuesday to an Indiana public school district’s appeal of a ruling that prohibited the district from enforcing its transgender bathroom policy. In August, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Metropolitan School District of Martinsville’s policy, which barred transgender students from using bathrooms that correspond with their [...]
Trump appeals Maine Secretary of State's decision to keep him off state ballot
Trump’s lawyer submitted on Tuesday a petition in Maine, to reverse the decision to strike Trump off the state’s primary election ballot. Trump’s legal team argues that the Secretary of State who ruled on the decision “failed to provide lawful due process” because she was proven to be biased. They present evidence of this by [...]
US federal Judge Stephen Locher on Friday blocked key provisions of SF 496, an Iowa law prohibiting school libraries from distributing books containing LGBTQ+ and gender identity issues. Judge Locher stated that the law “sweeps so broadly,” that more than 500 books, including literary classics and self-help books, faced removal. Iowa claimed that the selection [...]
ACLU challenges new Texas law criminalizing illegal entry from abroad
Civil rights groups filed a lawsuit on Tuesday challenging a recently enacted Texas law, which gives state officials broad powers to arrest, prosecute and deport people who illegally cross the US-Mexico border. Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed SB4 into law on Monday as the latest escalation of confrontations between the state and the federal government [...]
Texas governor signs law criminalizing illegal entry from abroad
Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill into law Monday that criminalizes illegal entry into the border state from anywhere but a port of entry, exerting state jurisdiction over what is normally a federal matter. The bill creates a misdemeanor offense for violation of the statute and a felony crime for multiple offenses. It also [...]
US judge approves settlement prohibiting family separation at US-Mexico border
A US federal judge prohibited the practice of separating migrant children from their families for eight years on Friday following a settlement that will allow migrant children and their families, who were separated at the US-Mexico border, to be reunited. The “Mrs. L” deal, the result of a lawsuit against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement [...]
Maryland to pay $235K to family of Black teen after fatal police encounter
Maryland’s Board of Public Works unanimously approved on Wednesday a settlement ending a lawsuit against the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in the aftermath of a fatal police encounter that resulted in the death of Anton Black’s death five years ago. The resolution grants $100,000 to Black’s family and estate, with an additional $135,000 [...]