The New York City Council introduced a new bill on Thursday that would allow green card holders and nonresident aliens with a work visa to vote in municipal elections. In order to be able to vote, an individcual must be a resident of New York City for at least 30 days before voting. Currently, about [...]

Transparency International’s released its annual index Thursday, finding that most countries showed little to no improvement in fighting corruption since last year. Somalia was ranked as the most corrupt country, while Denmark and New Zealand were found to be the least corrupt countries in the world. The index ranks 180 countries and territories according to [...]

The US State Department gave visa officers more power to block pregnant women from visiting the US on Thursday. This power will allow officers to prohibit any women believed to be traveling to the US for the “primary purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship for a child by giving birth in the United States—an activity commonly [...]

US President Donald Trump approved a Puerto Rico Disaster Declaration on Thursday. This declaration acknowledges that a major disaster exists in Puerto Rico and federal assistance is necessary in order to alleviate the effects of both the earthquake and hurricane that detrimentally affected the island. Prior to this declaration, Puerto Rico was awaiting funding that [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a ruling on Friday that blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to discharge members of the Air Force due to their HIV positive status. The ruling, written by Judge James Wynn, highlights what he describes as the failure of the US government to take into consideration [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reached a settlement with California Friday for the right to a criminal defense lawyer in all 58 counties. This settlement will allow California to expand and overhaul the public defense system by providing $14 million to this system in the state’s annual budget The original complaint was filed in [...]

The Trump administration on Thursday proposed scaling back an environmental law to reduce the time it takes to assess the environmental impact of major federal projects. The proposed rules would alter the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which requires federal agencies to both assess public opinion in regards to major projects and assess the environmental [...]

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the reinstatement of a whistleblower lawsuit against neurosurgeons at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). The original lawsuit, which was filed in 2012, was later dismissed by US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania Judge Cathy Bissoon in 2018. In September 2019, the UPMC employees [...]

The US Senate unanimously approved a bill Thursday to crackdown on robocalls, sending it to President Donald Trump for executive approval. The Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (TRACED) is designed improve enforcement of the Communications Act of 1934. The act both imposes strict penalties for individuals who directly violate it and ensures [...]

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the federal government is entitled to proceeds from former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden’s new memoir and several speeches because he did not submit the material to federal agencies in advance. Snowden formerly worked as a contract employee of both the Central Intelligence (CIA) Agency and the National Security Agency [...]