Update: Following the developments reported below, the House Oversight Committee released an additional 20,000 documents related to the case.  Democrats of the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday released emails in which the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein appeared to discuss President Donald Trump’s knowledge of his criminal activities, escalating congressional scrutiny of the administration’s [...]

The US must place human rights at the forefront of its diplomatic agenda as Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits Washington this week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Monday. “Saudi Arabia’s crown prince is trying to rebrand himself as a global statesman, but the reality at home is mass repression, record numbers of [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a case that could dramatically impact mail-in voting practices in over two dozen states. The case, Watson v. Republican National Committee, challenges a Mississippi law that allows mail-in ballots postmarked by election day to be counted if received within five business days after an election. The [...]

The US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal on Monday that sought to overturn the decade-old landmark decision legalizing same-sex marriage. The appeal was filed by Kim Davis, a former Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2015, defying a court order. Davis asked the Supreme Court to [...]

US officials demanded Sunday that states “undo” full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits that were paid out last week under court orders. Patrick Penn, deputy under secretary of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), released a memorandum that called for states to “immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November [...]

A US federal judge has ruled that the Department of Education violated the First Amendment by changing the out-of-office email messages of several employees without their consent. The emails set by the agency included partisan language that blamed the Democratic Party for the government shutdown. In his decision, issued Friday, US District Judge Christopher Cooper [...]

US District Judge Sara Ellis on Friday ordered federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to limit use force, prohibiting riot-control weapons against journalists or protestors except under specific and narrow conditions.  The preliminary injunction is the latest in an ongoing court battle that started with a class action suit alleging First Amendment violations, filed [...]

Cornell University announced on Friday that it has reached a settlement with US President Donald Trump’s administration to adopt the administration’s interpretation of federal civil rights laws, and to pay $60 million. In exchange, the federal government will restore Cornell’s federal research funding and end ongoing investigations. President Michael I. Kotlikoff wrote: “The decades-long research [...]

A US federal judge in Oregon on Friday evening ruled that President Donald Trump unlawfully seized control of state National Guard units to police protests in Portland, issuing a sweeping injunction that sharply curtails the White House’s claimed power to deploy guard troops over a state’s objection. In a 106-page opinion, US District Judge Karin [...]

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on Friday granted the federal government a temporary reprieve from a lower court order mandating full funding of food assistance benefits for November. Last month, the USDA announced it would suspend all Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for November due to the government shutdown, which had endured for 37 [...]