The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Friday ruled against the city of Flint and several Michigan state officials for violation of its residents’ rights to bodily integrity as guaranteed by the Substantive Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The court found that defendants’ decisions during the Flint Water Crises caused [...]
The Supreme Court of Florida rejected a lawsuit on Friday that claimed the state was failing to provide constitutionally mandated “high quality” education for all. The lawsuit, which was filed nearly a decade ago by parents, students and advocacy groups, claimed the state wasn’t properly funding schools as outlined in a 1998 amendment approved by [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled Monday that blocking a critic on a politician’s public Facebook page is a violation of the First Amendment. Brian Davison brought suit against Phyllis Randall, the Chair of the Loudoun County, Virginia, Board of Supervisors, for removing his comment on the politician’s official Facebook page. After [...]
The Supreme Court issued an unsigned opinion Monday in Shoop v. Hill, an Ohio death penalty case, vacating a Sixth Circuit decision that Danny Hill should not be subject to the death penalty because of an intellectual disability. In 1985 Hill was convicted of the rape and murder of 12-year old Raymond Fife and sentenced [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the appeal in the Exxon Mobil Corporation v. Healy case. This gives Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy the right to proceed with her investigation and request records from Exxon on their prior knowledge of the damaging relationship between fossil fuel consumption and climate change. The case [...]
Venezuelan Supreme Court Justice Christian Zerpa has fled to the US to protest President Nicolás Maduro, according to Monday reports. Maduro was recently reelected to a second term in May 2018. The election was widely criticized with the opposition party boycotting the vote and a number of countries including the US, Canada, the EU and [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday allowed the Trump administration’s restrictions on transgender service members. The order lifts an injunction that had been put in place and upheld by the lower court. However, the ruling has no immediate effect, as orders in three other cases still block the [...]
The US Supreme Court agreed Friday once again to take up partisan gerrymandering cases from Maryland and North Carolina. The court postponed further consideration of the question of jurisdiction in Rucho v. Common Cause, the North Carolina case, and Lamone v. Benisek, the Maryland case, and set arguments for March. Both cases have been before [...]
The Russian Federation formally charged US citizen Paul Whelan with espionage Thursday, according to Russian news agency Interfax. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) arrested Whelan on December 28. Under Article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, espionage is punishable by 10-20 years in prison. The family of Whelan, a retired US Marine, [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Thursday rejected an appeal by the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge Number 7, blocking them from intervening in the court-ordered reform program aimed at combating the Chicago police’s pattern of unconstitutional use of force. In January 2017 the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released a [...]
