Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law Tuesday landmark legislation to reform Texas’ long-beleaguered school finance system. The key provisions of House Bill 3 are increased teacher pay and property tax relief. In addition, the bill put an end to “Robin Hood” payments, which required districts with high property values to send money to the state to [...]
The Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to hear oral arguments in a case brought by a Mexican family against a border patrol agent over the death of their 15-year-old-son, who was killed in a cross-border shooting. In 2010 Jesus Mesa, a US Border Patrol Agent, was on the US side of the Mexican-US boarder when [...]
A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that Democrats could move forward with a lawsuit against US President Donald Trump alleging that the Trump Organization is in breach of the Constitution’s ban on “emoluments.” The lawsuit centers on the issue of whether the profits that the president’s business interests earn from foreign governments are “emoluments”—meaning [...]
German prosecutors on Thursday charged 92-year-old former concentration camp guard Bruno D. with accessory to murder. Prosecutors indicted Bruno D. on suspicion of aiding and abetting to the murder of at least 5,230 people during the roughly one year he spent at the Stutthof concentration camp. During a voluntary interrogation in 2018, Bruno D. admitted [...]
The US Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear arguments that a Pittsburgh rapper’s First Amendment rights were violated after he was convicted for song lyrics. Jamal Knox, who rapped under the name Mayhem Mal, argued that his conviction for song lyrics about killing two police officers violated his First Amendment right. Knox was charged with [...]
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday confirmed that Julian Assange, the co-founder of WikiLeaks, has been indicted for conspiracy to commit computer hacking with Chelsea Manning, a former intelligence analyst in the US Army. The indictment was unsealed after Assange was arrested in the UK. The indictment, filed under seal in the Eastern District of [...]
A federal judge on Tuesday denied a motion for preliminary injunction sought by a First Amendment advocacy group to compel the expeditious processing of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the Mueller report and supporting materials. US District Court Judge Reggie Walton ruled from the bench that the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s (EPIC) [...]
The US House of Representatives voted on Thursday to amend the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, expanding gun control for those convicted of domestic abuse by closing the so-called “boyfriend loophole.” The resolution, HR 1585, passed by a vote of 263-158. The legislation expands law enforcement’s authority to prohibit “any perpetrator of any offense of domestic violence, [...]
Venezuela’s Supreme Court ruled Monday that Juan Guaidó, head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, is in contempt, and requested the pro-Maduro National Constituent Assembly to withdraw the opposition leader’s parliamentary immunity. The court found Guaidó to be in contempt after concluding that he violated travel restrictions imposed by the court in January. According to Voices of America, Guaidó traveled to several South [...]
Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló signed an executive order on Wednesday, banning the practice of “conversion therapy” for LGBQT+ minors. The order, which took effect immediately, requires the Secretary of Health to promulgate regulations within 90 days that prevents licensed health care professional from administering the practice. The executive order defines “conversion” or “reparative” therapies as “those interventions [...]
