AP and CNHI report finds US sunshine laws put transparency request burden on private citizens
An AP and CNHI News report published Sunday found that less than a third of US states have agencies to resolve citizen disputes regarding access to public records or open meetings. The only recourse for resolving transparency-related disputes in these states is for citizens to engage in expensive litigation. While some states like Arizona do [...]
US federal judge upholds most provisions of Arizona voting laws requiring proof of citizenship
A federal judge in Arizona upheld two state laws on Thursday that require voters to provide documentation to prove their US citizenship before registering to vote. US District Judge Susan Bolton’s decision upheld HB 2492 and 2243. After a 10-day bench trial, Bolton issued a 109-page opinion upholding the laws. However, Bolton found that 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 [...]
The United States Constitution was signed by the members of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787. We have entered the 237th year of our national Constitution, which continues its legacy as the oldest written constitution in the world. Yes, we have the immense good fortune to live in the oldest constitutional democracy [...]
US Supreme Court vacates pause of Boy Scouts of America sexual abuse cases
The US Supreme Court vacated an order by Justice Samuel Alito on Thursday that paused the dispute between the terms of a $2.46 billion settlement between sexual abuse victims and the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). BSA declared bankruptcy in 2020 amid thousands of lawsuits for sexual abuse against Scout Leaders. Abused in Scouting, a group dedicated to litigating sexual [...]
US Supreme Court pauses bankruptcy settlement in Boy Scouts of America sexual abuse cases
US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito granted a stay order Friday to appellants contesting the terms of a $2.46 billion settlement between sexual abuse victims and the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). BSA declared bankruptcy in 2020 amid thousands of lawsuits for sexual abuse against Scout Leaders. A settlement was approved by a bankruptcy judge [...]
The Unconscionable Nazi Legacies of Executions by Gas and Lethal Injection
Alabama’s experimental use of gas to torture to death Kenneth Smith on January 25th — like all executions by lethal injection — has perpetuated a horrific Nazi legacy in the United States and is a traumatizing affront to many in the Jewish community. The fact that this torment was blindly carried out just ahead of [...]
The US Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments this week in a landmark case that will determine whether states are entitled to remove former president and current Republican frontrunner Donald Trump from election ballots over his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, when the US Capitol was stormed by protesters. In anticipation of the [...]
In what proved to be a constitutionally fraught week, the Governor of the State of Texas, Greg Abbott, stated on January 26 he will oppose any measure to infringe on Texas’s placing of razor wire on the US-Mexico border, a move that has bolstered Texas nationalists and increased calls that Texas should secede from the [...]
The Republican-majority Wisconsin State Assembly passed AB 975 by a 53-46 vote on Thursday, which would add a referendum to the April 2024 election to ban most abortions after 14 weeks of pregnancy. Under current Wisconsin law, most abortions are prohibited after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Under the proposed bill, abortions would be prohibited in [...]
