The US Supreme Court ruled Monday that an expert’s refusal to disclose private data will not result in the preclusion of her testimony. In the case at hand the Social Security Administration (SSA) utilized an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) to assess the merits of a Social Security claim. The Petitioner, Michael Biestek, was a former [...]
The New Zealand government introduced the Arms Amendment Bill Monday to reduce and restrict the number of semi-automatic and “military style” firearms, like the ones used by the recent Christchurch Mosque shooter. The legislation bans the use of semi-automatic rifles including detachable parts including detachable magazines and pump-action shotguns that can hold more than five [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday added one new case, Kansas v. Glover, to next term’s merits docket. The court will decide, for the purposes of an investigative stop under the Fourth Amendment, whether it is reasonable for a police officer to suspect that the person driving a car is the is also the registered [...]
Germany’s health minister, Jens Spahn, on Monday proposed a bill to tackle a shortage of donor organs with a reform that would make everyone a potential organ donor unless they have expressly “opted-out.” The organ donation rates are low in Germany since people currently opt in to the registry voluntarily. Last year, there was a [...]
Georgia’s lawmakers voted 92-78 to secure passage of a heartbeat abortion bill on Friday. The legislation would prohibit abortions once a vital heartbeat is detected reducing the number of weeks a woman can receive a legal abortion from 20 to almost six weeks. Following abortion bans in other states like Utah and Kentucky, this would become [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday denied a request from the anti-abortion Center for Medical Progress (CMP) to throw out a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood for breaking the law by secretly recording its employees. The original suit, brought by Planned Parenthood in January 2016, was in response to the release of a series of heavily [...]
In a 5-4 decision, the US Supreme Court on Monday rejected Russell Bucklew’s challenge regarding the use of lethal injection in the execution for his murder conviction in Missouri. Two weeks before his scheduled execution, Bucklew raised the issue of his rare medical condition, cavernous hemangioma, claiming the use of pentobarbital, a chemical found in [...]
Singapore’s parliament on Monday tackled the escalation of fake news by introducing legislation that would restrict individuals from communicating a “false statement of fact” that would harm Singapore’s “public interest.” The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill aims to prevent the communication of false statements and to enable measures to detect, control and safeguard against [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday ruled that attempts to expand access to health insurance plans that do not satisfy Affordable Care Act (ACA) regulations are unreasonable and illegal. US District Judge John Bates concluded that attempts to increase access to Association Health Plans, which provide fewer [...]
The US House of Representatives approved a nonbinding resolution Thursday by a vote of 238-185 to block the Trump administration’s restrictions on transgender individuals serving in the military. The non-binding resolution seeks to block the Pentagon from implementing Trump’s policy to bar most transgender individuals from serving in the military. According to Congressman Joseph Kennedy [...]
