China released Wang Quanzhang, a human rights lawyer, from jail Sunday according to BBC reports. Wang defended political activists, religious minorities, and victims of land seizure from Chinese prosecution. Though authorities released Wang from jail, he is placed on a mandatory quarantine in the city of Jinan for fourteen days. Chinese officials contend that the [...]

New York passed its 2020-2021 budget Thursday despite COVID-19 uncertainties. The New York State Assembly enacted legislative reforms alongside the budget. The most notable of these reforms include legalizing commercial surrogacy and outlawing the “pink tax.” In legalizing commercial surrogacy, the state created a Surrogates’ Bill of Rights that ensures comprehensive health insurance and pregnancy [...]

The U.S. Supreme Court postponed oral arguments scheduled for April as a result of the coronavirus pandemic on Friday. The court is considering alternative options for handling the various outstanding cases. This announcement comes after the Supreme Court postponed arguments scheduled for its March session. Court spokeswoman, Kathleen Arberg state, “in keeping with the public [...]

Wisconsin Governor, Tony Evers, said on Friday that he wants all registered voters in the state to receive an absentee ballot and have until May 19 to return the ballots, which would effectively delay Tuesday’s election amid the coronavirus crisis. As a result, Evers signed an executive order on Friday, calling for a special session [...]

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied a request by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to order the release from county jails certain classes of persons in response to possible covid-19 outbreaks. The ACLU had filed an application for relief under the court’s King’s Bench jurisdiction, which would allow the court to decide an issue that [...]

3M Corporation released a statement Friday morning suggesting it may not comply with a Trump administration request that it cease exporting N95 respirators to Canada and Latin America. On Thursday the president issued a memorandum ordering the company to prioritize orders from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the respirators. The memorandum formally invoked [...]

Kentucky Circuit Court judges on Tuesday ordered at least four COVID-19 patients to wear GPS ankle monitors for allegedly breaking self-isolation orders. The first order was issued after a patient broke self-quarantine to shop on March 21. On March 27, Judge Charles Cunningham ordered two relatives to wear ankle monitors after one tested positive and [...]

Federal District Judge of the Southern District of Ohio Eastern Division, Michael H. Watson dismissed a complaint that was filed on Monday by voting rights groups declaring that the states’ new primary vote plan violates the National Voter Registration Act and the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit stemmed from the Ohio [...]

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent letters to each member of Congress on Thursday to defend its March 26decision to refrain from penalizing companies that do not monitor pollution during the COVID-19 pandemic. The EPA announced a temporary policy decision on March 26 that it will not seek penalties for noncompliance with routine monitoring [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed class action lawsuit Friday against Major League Baseball, the Houston Astros and the Boston Red Sox. The plaintiffs are five individuals who participated in fantasy baseball contests through DraftKings Inc. The plaintiffs alleged the defendants’ practices of sign-stealing deceived and [...]