The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday dealt a blow to Democratic governor Tony Evers when it struck down his statewide mask mandate. Under state law, the governor can declare a state of emergency for 60 days, after which it can only be extended by a joint resolution by the state legislature. The legislature can also, [...]
A New York judge on Monday ordered the state to offer vaccines to prisoners. The order instructs New York to amend COVID-19 vaccine priority category 1b to include incarcerated individuals as a whole group. Previously only incarcerated individuals who were over 65 years old or had certain medical conditions could receive the vaccine. As determined [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Monday denied the federal government’s motion to stay a district court decision striking down the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eviction moratorium. In response to COVID-19, the CDC ordered a nationwide moratorium on residential evictions last fall. This moratorium covered tenants if they [...]
A Texas district judge denied the Texas attorney general’s request for a temporary injunction against the city of Austin’s mask mandate on Friday. The denial is another setback for Ken Paxton, who filed suit against the city on March 11 for not complying with the governor’s order ending the state’s COVID-19 mask mandate. City and [...]
Caesars Entertainment, one of the largest gaming companies in the United States owning more than 50 properties globally, sued more than 36 of its insurers on Monday in US federal court in the District of Nevada. The complaint alleges that each of the named insurers provided “all risk” coverage to Caesars Entertainment but have not [...]
The Kansas Board of Regents recently voted to endorse a policy making it easier to terminate tenured faculty members. Under existing policy, a Kansas state university first must recognize a “financial exigency.” If implemented, under the new policy a university could reduce tenured faculty positions without that declaration. This would make termination of a tenured [...]
With the continuing pandemic – and expiring housing and unemployment benefits across the country – millions of people may have their utilities cut off soon. Meanwhile, at least 13 states currently have expired moratoriums on water shut-offs. Many notable COVID-19 hotspot states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma) never implemented any moratorium on utility shut-offs. For those facing [...]
The U.S. Supreme Court last week issued its first ruling against coronavirus containment measures, invoking the First Amendment’s guarantee of free exercise of religion to enjoin an executive order by New York’s governor limiting attendance at religious services to 10 or 25 persons in areas classified as having a high risk for infections. The Court’s [...]
Nationwide protests in response to the brutal murder of George Floyd have put a spotlight on the profound injustices of the criminal legal system. Much of the criticism has rightly focused on the abuses in policing and incarceration. But along with abusive policing, another urgent threat that impoverished communities face under this system is the [...]
As the COVID-19 cases continue to rise at an exponential pace in India even after the sweeping federal lockdown, the Parliament of the country has commenced the Monsoon Session which runs from 14th September to 1st October this year. The decision by the Secretariats of both the Houses of the Indian Parliament to dispense with the [...]
