West Virginia State Senator Mike Azinger introduced a slew of bills targeting transgender people on Wednesday, including a bill to classify transgender people as “obscene matter” and a bill banning gender-affirming care for people under the age of 21. Senate Bill 195 amends the state’s indecent exposure law to criminalize engaging in “obscene matter.” It [...]
Search Results for: Fourth Circuit
US Supreme Court refuses to block Illinois assault rifle ban, again
The US Supreme Court refused to block Illinois’ assault weapon and high-capacity magazine ban on Thursday. This decision comes after the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit allowed the ban to go into effect in November. In a one-page order the Supreme Court stated, “The application for a writ of injunction pending certiorari [...]
This Day in History: The Law of Gobblers and Other Tasty Sides
It is Thanksgiving Day. The aroma of turkey; of dressing; candied sweet potatoes; green bean casserole; cranberry sauce; freshly baked yeast rolls; giblet gravy, and of pies emanating from the kitchen fills our nostrils. Home is the place to be today. But have you ever given thought to the law of the gobbler? This Day in [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit struck down part of Maryland’s Firearm Safety Act of 2013, which the Maryland General Assembly passed in response to the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting. This decision partially reverses a decision from the US District Court for the District of Maryland at Baltimore. Following oral arguments, [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction on Friday against the Illinois assault weapon ban passed earlier this year. This allows the ban to go into effect. Circuit Judge Diane Wood authored the 2-1 majority opinion of the court. Wood noted that, under the precedent of the Supreme Court [...]
US Supreme Court declines North Carolina appeal in undercover investigations case
The US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from North Carolina on Monday over the constitutionality of a state law allowing employers to sue employees working as undercover investigators. The denial leaves in place a lower federal court ruling that the law violated First Amendment rights when enforced against “newsgathering activities.” The denial from [...]
Parents filed a petition on Monday asking the US Supreme Court to decide whether an elite public high school, known as the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST), discriminates based on race in their admissions policy. The petition comes nearly two months after the court found that Harvard University’s consideration of race [...]
US appeals court dismisses challenge to Maryland public school transgender student support plans
On Monday, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit dismissed a challenge to a Maryland public school support plan for transgender and gender-nonconforming students that does not require the consent of the student’s parents. The case is an appeal from the US District Court for the District of Maryland at Greenbelt. Circuit Judge [...]
Mountain Valley Pipeline asks US Supreme Court to lift stay on pipeline construction
Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) LLC asked Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday to vacate a stay imposed by the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit halting the construction of one of the last portions of a 303-mile natural gas pipeline running from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia. MVP asserts that the Fourth [...]
US Supreme Court declines to hear case on charter school's skirt mandate
The US Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a case asking whether a North Carolina charter school mandating girls wear skirts should be held to the same standard as public schools, which does not permit such a practice. The case, Charter Day School, Inc. v. Peltier centers around a question of civil rights laws as [...]