The US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit on Friday against the State of California claiming that a new banning the operation of private prisons is invalid because the State cannot dictate with whom the Federal Government can contract. Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32), which became effective on January 1, 2020, bans the operation of [...]
The Kansas Supreme Court ruled Friday that a dwelling must be inhabited to provide a burglary conviction for a break-in. In the case, a woman broke into a farmhouse used for storage. No person had lived in the farmhouse for years prior to the break-in. The court ruled that such an uninhabited structure could not [...]
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 [...]
Virginia’s House’s Courts of Justice – Criminal Subcommittee passed HB 995, raising the required amount for the crime from $500 to $1000 to qualify for Grand Larceny. This along with numerous other proposed and passed bills add to Gov. Ralph Northam’s criminal justice initiative. Supporters of the bill emphasized that felony convictions carry a lifetime [...]
Virginia’s House advanced HB33 with a 52 to 45 vote on Friday that supports Gov. Ralph Northam’s criminal justice reform initiative. This particular bill addresses a long debated issue of parole in Virginia. Parole was abolished in Virginia in 1995, but no jury was informed of this change when deliberating sentences until 2000 after 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 [...]
The Kentucky Senate passed Senate Bill 2 on Thursday, requiring voters to have a photo ID to cast a ballot. The bill narrows the types of ID that can be used when a citizen casts their ballot. The bill was created to protect against voter fraud before the 2020 election. The types of IDs that [...]
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 [...]
The Iowa Senate advanced two bills (SF 116 and SF 459) that would allow Iowa residents to carry guns at their workplace and at school on Thursday. One subcommittee signed off on SF 459, which would allow Iowa residents who have a valid permit to carry a gun at their workplace so long as the [...]
