US President Joe Biden’s commission to study proposed US Supreme Court reforms released draft materials Thursday addressing the membership and size of the court.  President Biden established a 36-member commission to study US Supreme Court reforms through an executive order issued in April. The commission was created to focus on five topics, including “the genesis of the reform debate, [...]

Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio signed a bill Friday that abolishes the death penalty in the country. The new law makes Sierra Leone the 23rd African country to officially abolish the death penalty.  Previously, the country’s legal regime allowed the death penalty for those convicted of murder, treason, mutiny, or aggravated robbery. Sierra Leone’s [...]

The Waco Division of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas on Wednesday held that Google did not infringe a digital photo frame patent owned by the Texas-based Profectus Technology LLC (“Profectus”). Profectus sued Google in February 2020 alleging that the Google Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max are digital picture display [...]

Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) Thursday adopted the committee’s recommendations on the Digital Services Act. This act comes amongst concerns about user privacy and free speech online. The Digital Services Act imposes stricter regulations for online internet intermediaries and digital platforms. The rules are aimed to better protect consumers and [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit by landlords challenging part of New York’s eviction moratorium statute. In December 2020, New York passed the COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020 to prevent evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Five landlords and a real estate industry trade group in [...]

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation Thursday that creates a system for decertifying police officers for serious misconduct and will increase the transparency of misconduct records. Police misconduct has increasingly been scrutinized in California, as well as throughout the US. In January, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced the launch of a civil rights investigation into an [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet warned Thursday that urgent action is needed to prevent a human rights catastrophe in Myanmar. The UN Human Rights Office issued a new report documenting serious human rights and international humanitarian law violations. This includes violations of the rights of life, liberty and security of person; freedom [...]

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Thursday that his office is suing Senate Republicans in order to stop them from subpoenaing the personal information of voters. The lawsuit alleges that their efforts to subpoena the personal information of nine million Pennsylvanians invades Pennsylvanians’ right to informational privacy under the Pennsylvania Constitution. As part of a “forensic [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Covington & Burling LLP filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging the newly draw legislative districts enacted last week in Ohio. In recent years, Ohio has faced several changes and challenges to its process for drawing legislative districts. In 2018, Ohio primary voters approved an amendment to the state constitution that [...]

The US District Court for the District of Columbia issued Thursday a preliminary injunction blocking the Biden administration from using Title 42 public health protections to expel migrant families at the border.  Title 42 allows US Border Patrol and Customs to prohibit individuals who potentially pose a health risk from entering the country. Both the [...]