JURIST is launching a new series of dispatches from major US states written by JURIST correspondents “on the ground” in those jurisdictions. JURIST Operations Director Ram Eachambadi files this report from Los Angeles. An almost teary-eyed “humbled and grateful” California Governor Gavin Newsom addressed his supporters and the media at approximately 8:50 PM on Tuesday [...]
UK law firm PGMBM initiated court proceedings on Monday against the government over the Hotel Quarantine Policy, requiring that returners from “red list countries” quarantine for 11 days in a hotel to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Currently, the stay costs approximately £2,285 per passenger, regardless of whether the person is double vaccinated. PGMBM claims [...]
US federal judge Robert Pratt temporarily blocked the state of Iowa on Monday from enforcing a state law that prohibits public schools from requiring masks. Consequently, school districts may continue to enforce their mask mandates. Earlier this month, the ACLU of Iowa and several parents filed suit in federal court to challenge Iowa’s public school [...]
A Florida appeals court has upheld Governor Ron DeSantis’ ban on school mask mandates. The move Friday came after a Florida circuit judge ruled last month to temporarily suspend the ban until the legal challenges against it were complete. As a result, the ban will remain in place until further appellate review. The order states [...]
US President Joe Biden announced a six-pronged plan on Thursday to combat COVID-19 at a time when the Delta variant is rapidly spreading throughout the country. The first part of the plan is to vaccinate as many of the 80 million unvaccinated Americans as possible. To meet this goal, Biden asked the US Department of [...]
The ACLU of Iowa and 11 parents of minor children across the state with disabilities filed a federal lawsuit on Friday challenging an Iowa law that bans school districts from imposing mask mandates in schools. In the last few days of the 2021 legislative session, the Iowa Legislature passed House File 847. House File 847 prevents [...]
The Alberta Human Rights Tribunal (ABHRT) dismissed complaints earlier this month from two men, Peter Szeles and James Beaudin, who refused to wear protective masks inside two separate businesses. The decision was made public on Monday. Szeles and Beaudin argued that their respective disabilities prevented them from wearing masks and that the businesses’ health and safety [...]
The US Department of Education announced Monday that its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) had launched investigations in five states to determine whether statewide prohibitions on universal indoor masking are discriminatory against students with disabilities. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has led to mixed state responses to indoor masking and vaccination requirements. Some states such as [...]
The US Supreme Court on Thursday held that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) exceeded its authority in issuing a moratorium order on evictions in counties with heightened levels of community transmission. The CDC order issued earlier this month was the latest in a series of moratoriums that has been either newly issued or extended [...]
Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Wednesday issued an executive order maintaining the current policy prohibiting the mandating of any COVID-19 vaccinations by any government entity in the state. In the order, Abbott said, “vaccine requirements and exemptions have historically been determined by the legislature, and their involvement is particularly important to avoid a patchwork of [...]
