The US Department of Education’s (DOE) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced in a Monday letter that it is looking into whether Harvard University’s donor and legacy admissions preferences perpetuates racial discrimination. The announcement comes after a complaint was filed against Harvard University three weeks ago with the DOE, which alleged the university’s preferential admissions [...]

The Georgia Supreme Court issued an order on Monday unanimously rejecting former US President Donald Trump’s attempts to prevent the release and use of a special purpose grand jury investigation into 2020 election interference claims. In February of this year, a Georgia lower court allowed parts of the grand jury report to be released, where [...]

Conservationist groups Center for Biological Diversity and 350 Colorado filed a petition for review in the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on Monday against the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its air pollution practices. Specifically at issue in the petition is the EPA’s approval of parts of the 8-Hour Ozone Attainment [...]

Activist groups filed a complaint on Monday with the US Department of Education against Harvard University, challenging its legacy admissions policy. The complaint comes days after the US Supreme Court rejected the use of race in college admissions, known as affirmative action, upending years of precedent. The lawsuit alleges that applicants who have relatives that [...]

A US federal court in New York rejected on Thursday former President Donald Trump’s late claim of absolute presidential immunity to fend off a defamation lawsuit filed by writer E. Jean Carroll. The decision came a month after a New York jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll, resulting in $5 million [...]

Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) and Congressman Chris Pappas (D-NH) introduced a bill on Monday that would ban the use of sexual orientation and gender identity-based panic defenses in criminal trials. Known as the LGBTQ+ Panic Defense Prohibition Act of 2023, the bill would prohibit criminal defendants from using a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity [...]

Maine Governor Janet Mills signed a bill into law on Monday that partially decriminalizes prostitution in the state. Legislative Document (LD) 1435, called An Act to Reduce Commercial Sexual Exploitation, amends existing law to remove all references to prostitution. Instead, the new law criminalizes commercial sexual exploitation, which is a Class E crime carrying a maximum penalty [...]

The US Attorney for the District of Delaware charged Hunter Biden, US President Joe Biden’s son, on Tuesday with tax and firearm offenses. Biden faces two tax-related charges. Those charges include two violations of 26 U.S.C. § 7203 which criminalizes willfully failing to file a tax return, supply tax information or pay taxes. The first [...]

The Ohio Supreme Court ordered the state’s ballot board on Monday to reword a proposed constitutional amendment set to appear on voters’ ballots this August. The ballot initiative would require amendments to Ohio’s Constitution to garner 60 percent of the votes during an election, increase the number of county electors needed to propose a constitutional [...]

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed a first-of-its-kind bill into law on Monday which eliminates book bans, requiring public libraries in the state to ensure they offer a diverse range of materials. House Bill 2789 obligates all libraries to adopt the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights. This standard prohibits limiting access to materials because of [...]