Florida governor signs restrictive social media ban for minors
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed one of the country’s most restrictive social media bans for minors into law on Monday. The law bans social media accounts for children under the age of 14 and requires parental permission for accounts for children between the ages of 14 and 15. The law is set to take effect [...]
US Supreme Court allows challenge against No Fly List placement to proceed
The US Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Yonas Fikre’s challenge to his previous placement on the No Fly List can proceed, rejecting the government’s claim that his removal from the list rendered the lawsuit void. The court unanimously decided that the government failed to demonstrate the case was moot, finding it was possible the government [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Tuesday blocked enforcement of Texas’s law criminalizing illegal entry into the state from other countries, hours after a divided US Supreme Court allowed the law to go into effect. The appeals court will hear oral arguments regarding whether a lower court’s injunction against the law [...]
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in NRA v. Vullo on Monday. In this case, the NRA accuses a New York State official of improperly using regulatory authority to pressure banks and insurers to cut ties with the group in the aftermath of the Parkland High School shooting. The case arose out of a series [...]
Mississippi House of Representatives passes bill seeking to define sex in binary terms
The Mississippi House of Representatives passed on Wednesday a bill that seeks to define sex in strictly binary terms, impacting the recognition of transgender individuals’ identities within the state. The Mississippi Women’s Bill of Rights reflects a broader trend among Republican-controlled legislatures in the US to address and restrict the legal acknowledgement of transgender and [...]
The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) announced Tuesday a proposed emergency rule that would disallow the use of “X” as a substitute for male or female on state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards. In its filing, the DRA asserted that the emergency rule is necessary for the Office of Driver Services (Office) to [...]
Alabama House approves amended anti-DEI and absentee ballot restrictions bills
Alabama’s House of Representatives approved two bills on Thursday, including one that would restrict public funding for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The other bill passed by the Republican-led house would restrict absentee ballot assistance by charging individuals for helping others with absentee voting. The first bill, SB-129, sponsored by Senator Will Barfoot (R), [...]
US Supreme Court temporarily blocks Texas law criminalizing immigration offenses
The US Supreme Court temporarily blocked Senate Bill (SB) 4 on Monday, a strict, new Texas immigration law criminalizing various immigration offenses. The Court’s order was in response to an administrative stay granted by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Saturday, allowing the law to be enforced. The applicants, the [...]
Oregon Senate passes bill to recriminalize certain drug possession crimes
The Oregon Senate passed House Bill 4002 by a vote of 21-8 Friday, which recriminalizes certain drug possession charges that Oregon voters voted to decriminalize in 2020. Under the bill, individuals charged with possession of small amounts of drugs like methamphetamine or fentanyl will face misdemeanor charges that can result in jail time. Additionally, the [...]
US federal judge suspends enforcement of Texas law criminalizing illegal entry from abroad
A Texas federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Thursday suspending enforcement of a Texas state law that criminalized illegal entry to the US from abroad. The law, SB4, criminalized a number of immigration offenses under state law and empowered state law enforcement to make arrests and hold people in detention. SB4 will now be [...]
