US Senators Richard Blumenthal, Sheldon Whitehouse and Mazie Hiron dropped a lawsuit Tuesday that challenged the constitutionality of former acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker’s appointment, which was made without the Senate’s consent. The complaint, filed in November, alleged that Whitaker and President Donald Trump violated the Constitution’s Appointments Clause, which requires Congress’s “advice and consent” before principal federal Officers [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging US President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency in efforts to fund the construction of a border wall between the US and Mexico. The organization, alongside the Sierra Club, claims that the use of taxpayer dollars in this manner is unconstitutional and urges [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in Return Mail Inc. v. United States Postal Service, which will determine if the government is able to initiate review proceedings for patents. Return Mail Inc. had filed a patent infringement suit against the US Postal Service (USPS). USPS initiated a review proceeding with the Patent Trial [...]
The New York City Commission on Human Rights released a guidance document on Monday detailing the implications of the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL), which protects New Yorkers from hair-based discrimination. The Commission stated that anti-black bias and racism includes discrimination based on characteristics that are associated with being black. This manifests in [...]
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed the death penalty sentence of Bobby James Moore for the second time, again finding that he lacks the mental capacity to be subjected to capital punishment. Moore was convicted of the murder of a grocery store clerk during a botched robbery in 1980 and sentenced to death. His [...]
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear arguments about the indirect movement of pollutants through groundwater to navigable waters. The case, County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, previously made its way through the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, where the court was asked to determine whether nonpoint sources of pollution [...]
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds confirmed Monday in a press release that she will not appeal a judge’s ruling that struck down the state’s “fetal heartbeat” abortion law. The law would have been one of the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in the country. Reynolds noted that while she disagrees with the judgement, she ultimately accepts the [...]
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear Maryland’s bid to revive a 2017 law aimed at reining in prescription drug costs. The law, aimed specifically at the practice of price gouging by pharmaceutical companies, was enacted after several high-profile price increases. In particular, Turing Pharmaceuticals in 2015 increased the price of its anti-parasitic [...]
Judge Thomas Wingate of the Franklin Circuit Court in Kentucky on Monday denied secretary of state candidate Carl Neff’s request to appear on the 2019 Primary Election ballot under the nickname “Trump,” saying it would give an unfair advantage. The decision upholds Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes’ position that Neff offered the nickname “in [...]
A 16-state coalition filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday, requesting the court to issue a judicial determination that Trump’s national emergency declaration over the southern border wall is unconstitutional. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced the lawsuit, saying Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the border is unlawful and constitutional. “Unlawful [...]
