Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed a bill into law Thursday that decriminalizes personal marijuana possession. The bill, SB 2, assigns a civil rather than criminal penalty for simple marijuana possession. SB 2 presumes marijuana possession in measurements of an ounce or less as simple possession. A summary of the bill as enacted by the governor’s [...]

A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that the US military can construct a base in Okinawa, Japan, despite environmental activists’ concerns over the base’s construction threatening the local dugong population. The activists filed suit under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). A panel of federal judges heard the case. The panel concluded that the base’s [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) dropped its charges Thursday against Michael Flynn, the former National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump, for falsifying statements to the FBI. The DOJ dropped the case after determining that Flynn’s statements were not “‘material’ to the underlying investigation.” Flynn made the statements during the FBI’s investigation of Russian [...]

The US Supreme Court denied requests Friday from New York, Connecticut, and Vermont to temporarily lift or modify the controversial “public charge” immigration rule during the COVID-19 pandemic. The “public charge” rule allows the Department of Homeland Security to refuse citizenship for immigrants who rely on monetary or nonmonetary government assistance. The US Supreme Court [...]

The US Department of the Treasury granted airlines an additional $9.5 billion Saturday for payroll during the COVID-19 crisis. The Treasury has disbursed a total of $12.4 billion in aid to airlines for economic relief associated with COVID-19 loses. The Department of the Treasury announced the disbursements on Saturday: Since announcing the first Payroll Support [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld Texas’ COVID-19 pandemic abortion ban Monday. The ban includes medication-induced abortions. Texas has banned the abortions citing concerns over the procedures causing a personal protection equipment (PPE) shortage during the COVID-19 crisis. Texas Governor Greg Abbot issued Executive Order GA-09 on March 22, 2020. The [...]

The US Supreme court granted certiorari Monday for a case concerning whether accessing authorized computer information for improper purposes is a crime. The case, Van Buren v. United States, involves police sergeant Nathan Van Buren of Cumming, Georgia. Van Buren contacted a local man associated with criminal activity for a personal loan. In a sting [...]

A federal judge ruled Friday against Twitter revealing the scope of Department of Justice (DOJ) surveillance requests. The suit concerned Twitter’s Draft Transparency Report that describes the amount of security processes that Twitter received from the DOJ between July 1, 2013, and December 31, 2013. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers decided the case. Rogers concluded that [...]

A federal judge on Friday blocked Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s executive order to limit surgical abortions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Abortion providers, Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit after Lee promulgated Executive Order 25 on April 8. The order aimed to limit non-essential procedures to ensure abundant personal protective equipment (PPE) [...]

The El Salvador Legislative Assembly extended its COVID-19 state of emergency law Sunday by a 68-12 vote despite human rights concerns. The extension is effective until April 16. The state of emergency law allows the El Salvador government to detain those who violate lockdown orders. This provision has concerned human rights groups. According to the [...]