The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday announced that the agency is in the process of adopting its final greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards that will apply to certain new commercial airplanes manufactured in the US, including all new large passenger planes and commercial jets. The rule will apply to “new-type design airplanes” whenever [...]
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced Monday updates to the state’s Excellence in Policing initiative, a set of the guidelines which govern the use of force for New Jersey’s nearly 40,000 police officers at the state, county, and local levels. The updated policy is comprised of seven core principles, the first being “the sanctity of [...]
Federal judges in Georgia dismissed two GOP-led lawsuits Thursday that attempted to modify the state’s absentee voting rules ahead of the January 5 Senate run-off elections. The elections will determine control of the Senate in 2021. Both lawsuits allege that the mail-in absentee ballot process presents “opportunities to obscure the true identities of persons fraudulently claiming to [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of New Mexico, ending the latest chapter in a decades-old water dispute involving the Pecos River. The conflict involves how water is apportioned between New Mexico and Texas under an interstate compact first approved by Congress in the mid-twentieth century. Texas v. New Mexico centers around [...]
International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced Wednesday that she had decided to close a preliminary examination into alleged war crimes committed by members of the British Armed Forces in Iraq, despite confirming a “reasonable basis” to find that the crimes did occur. The prosecutor further announced she would not open an investigation. In January 2014 the [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in two cases brought by Holocaust survivors and their heirs, regarding restitution and claims of property taken from Jews in Nazi-era Europe. The central issue in both cases is whether US courts have jurisdiction over such cases involving crimes overseas with no direct American involvement. Both cases [...]
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its final decision Monday to maintain the existing National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for soot particulate matter for another five years, without changes. The Clean Air Act requires the agency to review and set NAAQS regulations for “pollutants that are common in outdoor air, considered harmful to [...]
The Allegheny County Jail (ACJ) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has reversed a recently implemented policy that sought to prohibit incarcerated people from purchasing physical copies of books or having physical books purchased on their behalf from pre-approved third parties. The ban lasted just over two weeks following strenuous online criticism, and was ended Wednesday. Warden Orlando [...]
The European Court of Human Rights ordered the governments of 33 European countries Monday to respond to a milestone climate change lawsuit brought by six young Portuguese climate activists. The court ordered all 33 governments, including the EU27, plus Ukraine, Turkey, the UK, Switzerland, Russia and Norway, to respond to the lawsuit by February 23. According [...]
Swiss voters on Sunday rejected measures that would have heightened penalties against Switzerland-based companies that violate UN human rights mandates or harm the environment abroad. The proposal, titled “Responsible companies — to protect people and the environment,” was aimed at introducing new statutory obligations for Swiss businesses. It initially won by a narrow majority of [...]
