The Florida Supreme Court ruled Monday that Governor Rick Scott “exceeded his authority by directing the Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission … to submit its nominations to fill” three upcoming Florida Supreme Court vacancies prior to the end of his term. The Florida Supreme Court cited Article 5, Section 11 (c) of the Florida Constitution [...]

An Oregon federal judge on Monday ruled that a group of young Americans can move forward with a lawsuit against the US government for climate change inaction but that President Donald Trump cannot be named as a defendant in the case. The suit was initially filed in 2015 by 21 young people and Our Children’s [...]

The US Supreme Court granted certiorari Friday in a case that will determine whether private operators of public access channels qualify as state actors for First Amendment purposes. In Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck, the Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) suspended producer Jesus Melendez from a leadership program for allegedly harassing an employee. In response, Melendez and [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri ruled Friday that recent parole hearings violated the constitutional rights of inmates who are serving life without parole for juvenile offenses (JLWOP). The plaintiffs in this case are all people in Missouri prisons for homicide offenses committed when they were less than 18 [...]

Several civil rights organizations filed a lawsuit Thursday against Georgia Secretary of State and Republican nominee for governor Brian Kemp to stop enforcement of HB268, an election law that has placed a hold on over 50,000 registered voters. HB268 has a provision that places pending status on any voter that has voter registration information that does not [...]

The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday voted 5-2 to uphold Act 633 of 2017, a voter identification law that requires Arkansas voters to provide ID “that shows the person’s name and photograph” and “is issued by the federal or state government or an accredited postsecondary educational institution in Arkansas.” In 2014 the Arkansas Supreme Court struck [...]

A federal jury in Madison, Wisconsin, on Thursday awarded two transgender state employees $780,500 in damages after a district court found that a ban on insurance coverage for gender-changing surgery amounts to sexual discrimination. In March 2017 the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a complaint on behalf of Alina Boyden, a University of Wisconsin-Madison [...]

The Washington state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state’s death penalty laws are unconstitutional. The opinion comes out of the case of Allen Eugene Gregory, who had previously been convicted of aggravated first degree murder and sentenced to death. Gregory appealed this conviction, and his case was remanded for resentencing. Another jury then sentenced [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Tuesday sentenced Guy Vallerius, also known as “Oxymonster” on the dark web, to 20 years in prison for charges related to drug trafficking and money laundering. The South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force led the investigation that uncovered Vallerius’ [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Tuesday allowed the US Department of Energy (DOE) to halt construction on a mixed oxide fuel (MOX) fabrication facility project in South Carolina. The appeals court granted a motion to stay an injunction granted by the US District Court of South Carolina that had prevented the DOE [...]