A US Circuit Court judge Wednesday lifted an injunction against a federal “pause” on oil and natural gas leasing after a previous enjoinment prevented the ban from going into effect. Fifth Circuit Court Judge Patrick E. Higginbotham vacated a previous judgment from June 2021 that stopped the federal government from enforcing Section 208 of Executive Order [...]
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has initiated proceedings towards making new rules regulating consumer data privacy, the board announced Thursday. The commission, led by Chair Lina Khan, released an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR), outlining a plan to create nationwide data privacy regulations and investigate “unfair and deceptive” data practices to which many [...]
The Montana Supreme Court Tuesday upheld a preliminary injunction against three state laws regulating abortion, temporarily blocking an attempt to enforce abortion prohibitions while the laws are challenged in the courts. Abortion provider Planned Parenthood applied for a preliminary injunction against the immediate enforcement 0f three laws passed by the Montana state legislature: HB 136 banning [...]
Former US President Donald Trump invoked the Fifth Amendment Wednesday in a New York State civil investigation into his business and real estate dealings, choosing not to testify in an unusual move for the vocal politician. Trump was scheduled for a deposition on August 10 in the civil case People of the State of New [...]
The government of outgoing Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi Thursday announced sweeping reforms to the country’s justice system. Draghi, a former European Central Bank president who was elected to stabilize the country’s economy, resigned July 21 after the collapse of his national unity government. President Sergio Mattarella asked Draghi to stay on as a caretaker [...]
US President Joe Biden Wednesday signed an executive order protecting the right of American women to travel across state lines for abortion care and directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to protect abortion and reproductive healthcare access. Biden signed the order in a video call to the first meeting of the Interagency [...]
Environmental groups Earthjustice and the Center for Biological Diversity Tuesday criticized the fossil-fuel concessions made in a deal among Senate Democrats in efforts to pass their proposed spending bill, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The groups highlight a portion of the Inflation Reduction Act that streamlines the approval of fossil fuel projects. The provision [...]
Biotech giants BioNTech and Pfizer Monday filed a complaint for declaratory judgment of noninfringement in the US District Court of Massachusetts. The companies seek to quell claims by CureVac of intellectual property violations. BioNTech and Pfizer collaborated in the development and distribution of their COVID-19 vaccine. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, trademarked as COMIRNATY®, was the first successful [...]
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Trevor McBurney Monday granted a motion from State Senator Burt Jones to disqualify a grand jury investigation against him. Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis petitioned the Superior Court to impanel a special purpose grand jury into Jones’ involvement in “possible criminal interference” in the 2020 election. The petition was approved, [...]
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) Monday filed a civil lawsuit against three large poultry corporations alleging the companies collaborated to maintain competition against other corporations by underpaying workers. The antitrust lawsuit accuses three companies accounting for 90 percent of poultry processing jobs nationwide of running a “conspiracy to exchange information about wages and benefits [...]
