Virginia lawmakers passed the Virginia Values Act, anti-discrimination legislation that protects LGBTQ individuals, on Thursday. This act, currently encapsulated by HB 1049 and SB 868, These two bills both will prohibit discrimination in employment, public accommodation, public contracting, apprenticeship programs, housing, banking, and insurance based on sexual orientation or gender identity.  SB 868 was passed [...]

Indian authorities extended the detention of two former top elected officials of Kashmir on Thursday under the Public Safety Act (PSA), a controversial law that allows authorities to imprison someone for up to two years without trial, officials said on Friday. Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah originally held under a law allowing only a six-month [...]

A three-judge panel of the US District Court for the Fifth Circuit heard oral arguments on Tuesday over the city of Natchitoches’ refusal to allow the Louisiana division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) to carry Confederate flags during the 2015 Christmas Festival. In 2015 Natchitoches Mayor Lee Posey requested that the SCV not [...]

A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Monday indicated support for a class action lawsuit filed by nonprofit organizations alleging that the federal judiciary overcharges the public for access to court documents through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records system (PACER). In 2016 three nonprofit organizations—the National [...]

The United Kingdom officially left the European Union at 11 p.m. on Friday, severing a 47 year long relationship with the world’s largest trading bloc.  In an address to the nation, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated: The most important thing to say tonight is that this is not an end, but a beginning… This [...]

Virginia, Illinois and Nevada—the last three states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)—sued US archivist David Ferriero in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday in a bid to force the addition of the ERA to the US Constitution. The House first passed an equal rights amendment in 1970. The [...]

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced on Monday that Chipotle Mexican Grill had been fined $1.3 million for an estimated 13,253 child labor violations and other state wage and hour violations in Massachusetts. In 2016 a minor employee’s parent complained to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office that the minor had worked well past midnight. This [...]

Polish lawmakers gave final approval on Thursday to legislation that would allow politicians to fire judges who criticize their decisions. Under this new bill, judges who question the independence of council-chosen judges could face punishments, including dismissal. The Sejm, which is the lower house of the Polish parliament, approved this legislation on Thursday. However, the [...]

The Florida Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that judges may impose the death penalty without the unanimous vote of the jurors, overturning the court’s 2016 holding that the Eighth Amendment requires a unanimous jury recommendation of death. The State of Florida appealed to the Florida Supreme Court following a postconviction order that set aside Mark [...]

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a new law on Tuesday that bans the so-called “gay panic” defense for murder, preventing the reduction of murder to manslaughter committed in the heat of passion under certain circumstances. Both houses of the New Jersey legislature overwhelmingly passed the bill. Under previous law, a homicide that would be [...]