The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday announced a practice or pattern investigation into the city of Phoenix and its police department to determine whether Phoenix Police Department (“PPD”) uses excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment, whether PPD engages in discriminatory policing practices in violation of federal laws and the Constitution, and whether [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Wednesday ruled in favor of an Ocean City law banning women from sunbathing topless. Ocean City, a Maryland beach town, passed the ban in 2017 after Chelsea Eline, one of the plaintiffs, called the town police claiming she had the right to be topless at [...]
The government of Mexico filed a complaint on Wednesday against eight gun manufacturers, holding companies and distributors, alleging tort claims based on a “deadly flood of military-style and other particularly lethal guns” across the border from the US into Mexico. The complaint named several major gun manufacturers as defendants, including Smith & Wesson, Barrett, Beretta, Century, [...]
The Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, on Wednesday ordered a judge-led investigation into the alleged rape, murder and forced cremation of a nine-year-old girl. The girl belonged to the Dalit caste, which has historically endured oppression, deprivation and extreme discrimination at the hands of India’s upper-caste Hindus. The Delhi police arrested four individuals in connection with [...]
The UN expressed concern on Wednesday for the safety of civilians in the southern Afghanistan city of Lashkar Gah, where tens of thousands of people are believed to be trapped by fighting between Afghan government forces and the Taliban, which has stepped up its campaign to defeat the US-backed government since April. UN Secretary-General Spokesperson [...]
Missouri Governor Mike Parson announced on Tuesday that he pardoned Mark and Patricia McCloskey, a couple who gained notoriety for pointing guns at peaceful protestors as they marched past their luxury home in St. Louis last year. Videos and photographs from June 2020 showed Mark McCloskey holding an AR-15-style rifle and Patricia McCloskey holding a [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Monday upheld an Indiana law requiring medical providers to report complications “arising from” abortions to the state. The law requires doctors or other medical providers to report any one of a list of 25 “abortion complications,” including incidents such as uterine perforation, cervical laceration, shock, [...]
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed four new bills into law on Monday that in effect end immigration detention by expanding protections for immigrants and refugees. In an attempt to establish “Illinois as the most welcoming state in the nation,” he also issued an executive order creating the Welcoming Illinois Office. In an official press release, [...]
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a new federal moratorium on evictions on Tuesday in counties with heightened levels of community transmission amid “unexpected developments in the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the rise of the Delta variant.” The CDC’s previous moratorium on evictions expired Saturday and with the Supreme Court’s [...]
Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on Monday charged pro-democracy activist Au Nok-hin and 59-year-old singer Wong Yiu-ming with “corrupt conduct” for allegedly breaching election laws by having Wong perform two songs at a 2018 election rally to induce people to vote for Au in a legislative by-election. Wong Yiu-ming, aka Anthony Wong, and [...]
