Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced plans Sunday to temporarily limit asylum from neighboring countries Belarus and Russia, sparking criticism from human rights groups. Tusk stated the plan responds to recent efforts by Russia and Belarus to coordinate the “mass transfer of people” across the Polish border, resulting in security and stability concerns that could [...]
The Supreme Court of Georgia temporarily re-instated an abortion ban while it considers whether the abortion law is unconstitutional. The new law, which took effect at 5 PM October 7, bans abortion following the sixth week of pregnancy when a fetus has a detectable heartbeat. The law, known as HB 481, or the Georgia LIFE [...]
The US District Court for the Eastern District of California on Wednesday granted a preliminary injunction, blocking a law allowing the subjects of election-related deepfakes to sue the creators for damages. The case concerns California Bill 2839, signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom on September 17. The law prohibits the malicious distribution of “materially deceptive [...]
US and Australian officials met to reaffirm a peaceful alliance within the Indo-Pacific region as part of the thirty-fourth Australia-U.S. Ministerial (AUSMIN) Consultations on Tuesday in Annapolis, Maryland. The Indo-Pacific region is comprised of twenty-three countries, including Australia, China, India, and Cambodia. The officials, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, [...]
A Pakistani national with ties to Iran was federally charged in New York for a murder-for-hire plan targeting US government officials, according to a Tuesday announcement from the US Department of Justice. The accused, Asif Merchant, contacted a confidential source under the pretense of selling clothing in the US, later paying the source $5,000 to [...]
US Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer introduced on Thursday the No Kings Act, establishing that US presidents and vice presidents do not enjoy immunity for violating federal criminal law. The bill relies on several provisions of the US Constitution, including the Necessary and Proper Clause under Article 1, Section 8 which gives Congress the authority [...]
US President Joe Biden signed into law the Federal Prison Oversight Act Thursday which established an inspection process and ombudsman in the Department of Justice. The act warrants that inspections conducted may be announced or unannounced, where each facility is assigned a risk score. Higher-risk facilities will receive more frequent inspections than other facilities. After [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reaffirmed Thursday that a section of the Mississippi Constitution that banned felons from voting for life did not violate the Eighth or Fourteenth Amendments to the US Constitution and was thereby constitutional. Dennis Hopkins, a disenfranchised voter, claimed that the Mississippi Constitution created a “cruel and [...]
Arrests following illegal crossings of the US-Mexican border are the lowest of President Joseph Biden’s administration—down 29 percent in June alone—following a Presidential proclamation effectively barring would-be asylum seekers from requesting protection after they have illegally crossed the southern border. The Department of Homeland Security stated that “the Border Patrol’s 7-day average has decreased to [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decided Friday that Emilee Carpenter, a religious wedding photographer seeking an exemption to the New York Human Rights Law under the First Amendment, had enough factual basis for a claim and could proceed to the district court. Carpenter sought a preliminary injunction for the New York [...]