Voters in six states, including Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina and Oklahoma, voted on Marsy’s law amendments, a model amendment that typically provides a set of constitutional protections for crime victims. The model amendment includes provisions for the right to be notified about and present at proceedings against the perpetrator, the right to be involved [...]

Arkansas and Missouri voted on Tuesday to approve measures raising the states’ minimum wages. In Arkansas, the minimum wage will now gradually raise to $11 per hour by 2021. Arkansas currently has a minimum wage of $8.50 per hour. In Missouri, the minimum wage will now annually increase from $7.85 per hour to $12 per hour by 2023. The final wage can [...]

Washington state voters on Tuesday approved initiative 1639 with 60 percent of the vote, significantly strengthening the state’s firearm laws. The measure will raise the legal age to buy semiautomatic rifles from 18 to 21. To obtain such firearms, potential gun owners will need to pass an enhanced background check, show proof that they completed [...]

Alabama and West Virginia voters passed ballot measures on Tuesday to eliminate taxpayer funded abortions. Oregon, the third State to have an abortion related ballot measure this election cycle, did not receive adequate support to ban abortion funding. Alabama’s state legislature proposed a ballot measure to establish a state policy prohibiting state funds from being used for [...]

The state of West Virginia voted Tuesday to approve a judicial budget oversight amendment.  The amendment allows the West Virginia legislature to reduce the judicial budget by no more than 15 percent. Providing that the total general revenue appropriations to the judiciary may be reduced in the budget bill, and setting fort the required procedures [...]

The Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA) filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) for trademark infringement, resulting from the latter organization’s decision to change the name of its program to “Scouts BSA” and permit girls, ages 11 to 17, to join. The complaint alleges that BSA’s [...]

In the first statewide referendum on transgender rights Tuesday, Massachusetts affirmed the decision to continue to provide legal protections to transgender persons. At current count, two-thirds of the electorate voted yes on ballot question 3. The measure is to keep in place the current law prohibiting gender identity discrimination in places of public accommodation. The [...]

Georgia voters filed a lawsuit Tuesday in the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia , seeking to halt Georgia’s Republican candidate for governor and current Secretary of State, Brian Kemp, from overseeing the election in which he is a candidate. The lawsuit alleges that allowing Kemp to oversee the election and effect [...]

Louisiana voters approved Amendment 2 on Tuesday, which will amend the state’s constitution to require unanimous jury decisions to convict in criminal cases. The measure passed by a margin of 64.4 percent to 35.6 percent. Currently, in order to obtain a conviction, only 10 out of the 12 jurors need to concur. The amendment will [...]

Fifteen states on Tuesday held 20 ballot initiatives related to voting and elections, including statewide measures for new redistributing systems, voting requirements and ballot access, voting rights of felons, and campaign finance initiatives. Voting rights activists saw expansion to voting access, including Florida restoring voting access to felons who have served their sentences and “motor [...]