The US House Judiciary Committee approved a bill on Wednesday that would remove marijuana from the list of Schedule I narcotics, effectively legalizing it at the federal level if passed into law. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act passed by a vote of 24-10 following the Committee’s markup, thereby sending the bill to the [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in cases concerning race discrimination in contracting and bankruptcy. The first involves whether a plaintiff must show in its pleadings that the defendant’s action would not have been taken but for the alleged discrimination. And the second will decide whether an order denying a creditor’s motion to [...]
A New York state judge fined US President Donald Trump $2 million for improperly disbursing Trump Foundation funds through his 2016 presidential campaign, according to a Thursday court filing. The lawsuit stems from a 2016 televised fundraiser in Des Moines, Iowa, in which Trump raised over $2.8 million to support charitable organizations serving veterans. The [...]
Voters in Washington narrowly rejected a referendum on Tuesday that would have instituted a statewide affirmative action program for employment. Referendum 88 would have enacted I-1000, deemed the “Washington state diversity, equity, and inclusion act.” The act was the state legislature’s second attempt in the last two decades to enactment an equal opportunity employment program [...]
The UK Supreme Court held on Wednesday that Warrington District Court Judge Claire Gilham is a “worker” entitled to whistleblower protections under Part IVA of the Employment Rights Act, allowing her case to move forward in the Employment Tribunal. The issue stems from austerity measures implemented over the course of several years, which resulted in the [...]
A federal judge granted an injunction on Tuesday blocking a California law that would require presidential candidates to release their tax returns in order to appear on the state’s ballots. California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Presidential Tax Transparency and Accountability Act into law in July after passage by over two-thirds majority of the legislature. [...]
The US Office of Special Counsel (OSC) on Tuesday alerted the President and Congress that several Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety inspectors were not sufficiently trained to certify pilots, including some who piloted the dangerous Boeing 737 MAX aircrafts. According to the Disclosure of Wrongdoing, OSC sent letters to the President and Congress alerting them [...]
The US House of Representatives approved HR 1690 on Tuesday that would require carbon monoxide detectors in public housing. If passed by the Senate the bill would require certain owners of federally subsidized housing to install carbon monoxide detectors within 90 days from enactment. To enable this the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) [...]
A Scottish Court of Sessions Judge ruled Wednesday Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue Parliament was legal. The decision by Lord Doherty came a day after British lawmakers voted to prevent Johnson from ending negotiations between Britain and the EU without a deal, sparking calls for an election. The petition originated from a group [...]
In a report released Thursday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet urged Venezuela to take immediate steps to address “grave violations of economic, social, civil, political and cultural rights” in the country. The report warns that if the situation does not improve, an unprecedented outflow of Venezuelan migrants and refugees will continue [...]
