The US Supreme Court ruled 7-2 Thursday that a Minnesota political apparel ban within polling places violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky challenged a Minnesota law that banned political badges, buttons or other political insignia from being worn at or about polling places on primary or Election [...]
Citizens in Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana filed lawsuits on Tuesday against their respective states for violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act through the drawing of the congressional districts. The lawsuits request that the congressional maps approved in 2011 be redrawn to strengthen the African American vote, by creating majority-minority congressional districts, allowing African [...]
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday announced the “Place to Worship Initiative” to assist in religious organizations’ ability to build, rent and maintain places of worship. The initiative seeks to educate communities on the provisions of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) by providing community outreach, education of civic and [...]
Amnesty International called on the Iranian government Wednesday to release prominent human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, whom the government had arrested on unknown charges. Recently, Sotoudeh had advocated against Article 48 of Iran’s 2015 Code of Criminal Procedure . A note to Article 48 requires that individuals charged in serious criminal cases and in cases [...]
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe filed a lawsuit on Tuesday alleging that the Department of Justice has repeatedly refused to provide him with documentation justifying his firing. The lawsuit alleges that the Office of the Inspector General has refused to make the inspector general manual available for public review, refused to provide it and [...]
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey filed a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma and 16 executives Tuesday, marking the first lawsuit of its kind to attempt to hold individuals responsible for the impact of the opioid crisis in the state. The complaint alleges that Purdue executives were well aware of the dangers that opioid prescriptions carry. Despite those [...]
Seattle’s city council voted on Tuesday to repeal a proposed tax on businesses, in which large businesses would have been taxed $275 for every full-time employee, with the revenue going towards Seattle’s homeless population. The city council had passed the tax unanimously a few weeks ago. However, the council voted 7-2 to repeal the tax [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Wednesday that Israel’s use of deadly force in Gaza Strip “may amount of war crimes.” HRW reports that between March 30 and June 8, the Israeli government used lethal force against Palestinian protesters, although the protesters provided “no imminent threat to life.” According to the report, 118 people were killed [...]
The Irish cabinet voted on Tuesday in favor of the Removal of Blasphemy Bill , which will “provide for a referendum on removing the crime of blasphemy from the Constitution.” Charlie Flanagan , the Minister for Justice and Equality, proposed the bill. Article 40.6.1(i) of the Irish Constitution says, “The publication or utterance of blasphemous, [...]
Judge Richard Leon of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Tuesday that AT&T could go through with its multi-billion dollar acquisition of Time Warner. The Department of Justice (DOJ) had brought suit in November arguing the merger would violate section 7 of the Clayton Act. The DOJ claimed that the acquisition [...]
