After more than a year of debate, the Ohio Senate on Tuesday approved a sweeping criminal-sentencing reform bill that would reclassify most nonviolent drug possession felonies as misdemeanors. The bill, known as SB3, was passed 25-4 as a bipartisan effort with the unanimous support of every Democrat and most Republicans. SB3 reduces felony charges for [...]

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a bill into law that requires written parental consent for all minors having abortions and makes it a third-degree felony to violate the law. The bill was passed in February of this year after the state legislature voted 75-43 along party lines. Republican legislators argued that parents need to [...]

Since murder is a horrible wrong, preventing a murder must be a good thing, right? Truth be told, it can get complicated. Among the many questions raised by the killing of George Floyd, we should pause to consider what would have happened if a bystander had actually been successful in rescuing Floyd from the knee [...]

The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled 6-1 that a provision in the state’s appropriations bill that deprived Planned Parenthood of millions of dollars for medical services reimbursements, is unconstitutional. The suit challenged House Bill 2011, which was the Department of Social Services appropriations bill for 2019. The law states that “No funds shall be [...]

Judge Mitchell Turner issued a temporary injunction Tuesday blocking enforcement of an Iowa law requiring a 24-hour waiting period for abortions. The injunction was granted while the court hears arguments in a suit challenging the law brought by Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Iowa. Turner wrote that “This court is [...]

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress in Beijing on Tuesday passed a new national security law (English) dramatically restricting freedom and autonomy within the region. The law remained unpublished until only an hour before it went into effect on Wednesday, and several arrests under the new regulations have already been made. Generally, the [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin won a referendum vote on Thursday, allowing him to stay in office through 2036. Putin’s constitutional amendments garnered close to 78 percent of the votes. Approximately 65 percent of voters turned out. The constitutional amendments in the referendum already cleared the national parliament in Moscow and were ratified by regional legislatures [...]

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves on Tuesday signed a bill into law removing the Confederate battle emblem from the Mississippi state flag. The state legislature fast-tracked House Bill No. 1796 over the weekend and forwarded it to the Governor’s office on Monday. With his signature, Reeves established a new Commission for the “sole purpose of developing, [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet stated Tuesday that the Human Rights Council should consider new accountability measures in the Philippines’ “war on drugs.” Bachelet said that the laws created to counter national security threats and illegal drugs severely impacted human rights, resulting in killings, detentions and vilification. Between 2015 and 2019, more [...]