A three-judge panel of the US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin on Thursday denied Republicans’ request to dismiss a redistricting lawsuit brought by Democrats. Republicans aimed for the case to be moved to state court, as the Wisconsin Supreme Court is controlled by conservative judges, but the panel’s ruling keeps the case in [...]
The Western Division of the US District Court for the Western District of Tennessee issued a preliminary injunction on Friday to blocking Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s executive order allowing parents in Shelby County to opt out of school mask requirements, asserting that plaintiffs established evidence demonstrating Lee’s order prevents children with health problems from safely [...]
The Department of Justice (DOJ) will review the conduct of the Columbus, Ohio police department in response to a series of fatal police shootings of Black people, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther announced Thursday. The DOJ Office of Community Orientated Policing Services (COPS) will conduct the review. The Office’s acting director, Robert E. Chapman, stated that [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Friday blocked a Tennessee law that outlawed abortions based on certain reasons, such as a prenatal diagnosis of Down Syndrome or the race or gender of the fetus. The court also blocked the state’s six-week abortion ban. Tennessee enacted the anti-abortion measure, including the “reason [...]
A coalition of reproductive rights advocates and abortion providers filed a lawsuit on Thursday in an Oklahoma district court aiming to block five Oklahoma state laws that ban and restrict abortion care. The laws are scheduled to take effect on November 1. The laws would ban abortion care as early as six weeks, which is [...]
The Sackler family on Wednesday won immunity from opioid lawsuits linked to Purdue Pharma, their privately owned company, and its OxyContin medication when a federal judge approved a bankruptcy settlement to resolve thousands of opioid lawsuits. OxyContin is a prescription painkiller that is stronger than morphine. Nearly all 50 states filed lawsuits against Purdue Pharma [...]
A two-person panel of the California Board of Parole Hearings on Friday recommended for parole Sirhan Sirhan, the man convicted of assassinating Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. Sirhan was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for the killing of RFK. Sirhan’s sentence was reduced to life with the possibility of parole when California [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Monday upheld a district court’s decision to uphold a Michigan mask mandate for young children, rejecting the arguments brought by a Catholic school in Lansing, including that the state mask order violated free exercise of religion. Once the statewide mask mandate requiring everyone above the [...]
A California judge ruled Friday that Proposition 22, a 2020 ballot measure exempting Uber and other companies from a state labor law by classifying drivers as independent contractors, is unconstitutional and unenforceable because it interferes with the legislature’s power to set workplace standards. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) filed the lawsuit. Proposition 22 passed [...]
The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the University of South Carolina (USC) has the right to require students to wear masks on campus to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and the requirement is effective immediately. In July, USC ordered a mask mandate for all students, faculty, and staff. South Carolina Attorney General [...]
