The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in a free speech challenge to the Biden administration’s encouragement of platforms to remove posts that officials deemed misinformation, including posts relating to elections and COVID-19. The lawsuit, filed by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana along with five individuals, raises critical questions about the intersection [...]
Search Results for: federalism
US Supreme Court rejects appeal of county commissioner removed from office over January 6 conviction
The US Supreme Court declined to hear Monday the appeal of New Mexico County Commissioner Couy Griffin, who was removed from office after his participation in the events of January 6, 2021, at the US Capitol. Griffin, the founder of Cowboys for Trump and former Otero County Commissioner, was convicted of disorderly conduct and entering [...]
US Supreme Court indefinitely extends stay blocking Texas illegal entry law
US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito indefinitely extended a stay blocking the enforcement of a Texas law that criminalizes illegal entry into the state from other countries. Monday’s extension came just as a previous extension issued last week was set to expire. In late February, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction preventing the law [...]
Under President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s leadership, the Sri Lankan civil war reached a brutal conclusion on May 18, 2009, ending a 25-year-long conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist rebel group. Rooted in longstanding grievances, including discriminatory policies against Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority, the conflict saw the [...]
As Georgia Prepares to Execute Willie Pye, a Deceased Lawyer’s Incompetence Looms
It is hard to imagine a man much more marginalized than Willie Pye, who Georgia plans to execute on Mar. 20. Undeniably, the 1993 murder that landed him on death row was heinous. But as his death march nears, it bears considering whether the converging histories of poverty and abuse that defined his youth, paired [...]
Latvia’s State Security Service (VDD) was reported on Saturday to have initiated criminal proceedings against Tatjana Ždanoka, a European Parliament lawmaker (MEP) and Latvian citizen, on suspicion of cooperating with Russian intelligence and security services, according to local Latvian media outlets. Per media reports, the VDD had been investigating the activities of Ždanoka, 73, following [...]
The Supreme Federal Court of Brazil (STF) disclosed Friday the testimonies of two former high-ranking military officials who said that former president Jair Bolsonaro summoned them to discuss a potential coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 presidential elections to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The testimonies of Marco Antonio Freire Gomes, a [...]
US federal judge orders special master to oversee California women's prison known for sexual abuse
A US federal judge on Friday ordered the appointment of a special master to oversee a federal women’s prison in California that is notorious for widespread sexual abuse against inmates. This move marks the first time the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has been subject to such oversight. US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers wrote, [...]
Canada Supreme Court expands scope of judicial review for tribunal decisions
The Supreme Court of Canada clarified on Friday the scope of judicial review for tribunal decisions, holding that judicial review is available even when a statutory right to appeal from tribunal decisions is limited to pure questions of law. The case involved an insurance dispute. The insurer refused to pay accident benefits to the claimant, [...]
US Supreme Court rules public officials can be sued for blocking users on social media in some cases
The US Supreme Court ruled Friday that public officials can be sued for blocking users on social media if the official posts about state matters and is authorized to speak for the state. The court decided that blocking users only qualifies as “state action” under 42 U.S.C § 1983, which authorizes lawsuits against public officials [...]