New York Supreme Court Judge Kevin Bryant invalidated Thursday the state’s laws regulating the marketing of recreational cannabis, clarifying a ruling that appeared to strike down all cannabis regulations as unconstitutionally vague. Judge Bryant criticized the regulatory process and chastised the New York State Office of Cannabis Management for failing to show that the regulations [...]
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Advocacy groups file lawsuit to block Alabama law criminalizing absentee voting assistance
Several advocacy groups on Thursday sued Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, Alabama’s 42 District Attorneys, and Alabama Secretary of Stae Wes Allen to block the state’s recently enacted Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), which would directly target, restrict, and severely penalize certain engagement measures that would enable broader access to the right to vote. SB [...]
Idaho Senate passes bill to restrict availability of books 'harmful to minors' in public libraries
The Idaho Senate approved House Bill No. 710 Wednesday, which declares that a school or public library shall not promote or make available any conduct that is deemed harmful to minors. The bill, which is known as the Children’s School and Library Protection Act, could make libraries and schools subject to possible lawsuits based upon [...]
New York legislature votes to abolish adultery law from 1907
New York’s Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill to repeal a largely unused law from 1907 that made adultery a criminal offense. The bill, which passed the State Assembly earlier this year, now goes to New York Governor Kathy Hochul. If signed, the adultery statute will be immediately repealed. Senate Bill S8744 repeals New [...]
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost admitted on Friday in a court filing that the state’s ban on most abortions is unconstitutional after voters passed an amendment to the Ohio Constitution in November 2023 enshrining access to abortion. The issue in the pending litigation is a law passed by the Ohio legislature and signed by former [...]
The Georgia state legislature advanced SB 189 Thursday, which contains new rules on which presidential candidates can appear on the state ballot and probable cause to challenge voter registration ahead of the 2024 elections. Under the proposed law, presidential candidates can appear on the state ballot if their political party “has obtained ballot access in [...]
US federal judge orders New Jersey to stop using unique ballot design in primary elections
A federal judge in New Jersey on Friday ordered the state to replace its current ballot design for the upcoming June primary elections. Judge Zahid N. Quraishi ruled that the state’s design raises freedom of association concerns under the First Amendment to the US Constitution because candidates need an endorsement from their party to get a [...]
Senators decry solitary confinement of immigrants in US as ‘violation of international norms’
A dozen senators on Friday urged the US Department of Homeland Security to reform its system of placing detained immigrants in solitary confinement, referring to the practice as a “clear violation of international norms” in a heated letter. The senators wrote that in recent years, solitary confinement has been on the rise in Immigration and [...]
A panel of federal judges in South Carolina issued an order Thursday reinstating a congressional map that was declared unconstitutional racial gerrymander in 2023 due to concerns that it would be impractical to adopt a new map so close to the 2024 election season. In their five-page opinion, the three-judge panel, all appointed by Democrat [...]
The French National Assembly passed a bill on Thursday banning discrimination over the texture, length, color or style of a person’s hair on first reading. The bill will now go to the Senate for further approval. The proposed bill aims to amend the wording of existing anti-discrimination measures adopted in the labor code, penal code and [...]