The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers Friday released a finalized definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) in the context of the country’s Clean Water Act (CWA). The CWA was first enacted in 1972, and multiple administrations have since attempted to revise what protectable waters entail and who defines [...]
US President Biden Friday signed a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill which consists of two key legal provisions for pregnant and nursing workers. First, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act necessitates employers to provide “reasonable workplace accommodations for workers whose ability to perform the functions of a job are limited by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical [...]
The UN General Assembly Friday asked its highest judicial authority, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), to provide an opinion on the legality of Israeli settlements located on Palestinian territory. The General Assembly passed the resolution by a vote of 87 to 26 with 53 abstentions. The ICJ is expected to consider Israel’s occupation and [...]
The outgoing government of Brazillian President Jair Bolsonaro Friday lifted a ban on Venezuelan officials from entering Brazil, as per a decision published in the government’s Official Gazette. This move was preceded by the Thursday revocation of a 2019 ordinance signed by then Justice Minister Sergio Moro which banned Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and officials [...]
President Biden Friday pardoned five people convicted of drug- or alcohol-related offenses and one woman who murdered her allegedly abusive husband. All who were pardoned had completed their sentences, and many of them were served decades ago. Those pardoned have built careers and been personally involved with community service since serving their sentences. Biden pardoned [...]
A Hong Kong court Thursday ruled a law that prohibits encouraging others not to vote in an election or to cast an invalid vote is constitutional, the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) reported. The decision came during the prosecution of Jacky So Tsun-Fung, who was charged with one count of evading s27A(1) of [...]
In a virtual hearing Thursday, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court considered whether to intervene in the impeachment of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner. Lawyers for Krasner urged the court to declare the proceedings legally baseless. A four judge panel, evenly split between democrats and republicans, is hearing the case. The panel did not say when they [...]
The US House Ways and Means Committee Friday released six years of former President Donald Trump’s individual income tax returns, as well as filings from multiple Trump business entities. The release followed a committee vote to publish its investigation into the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Mandatory Audit Program, which was supposed to audit Trump’s tax [...]
Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Thursday summoned the Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria, Eleonora Mitrofanova, to protest investigative journalist Christo Grozevon’s inclusion on the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs’ wanted list. Grozev is the Executive Director of Bellingcat, a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group which specializes in professional and citizen reporting on human rights abuses. It is [...]
The Ohio Supreme Court Thursday ruled that Ohio courts do not have to defer to a state agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous law. The judgment arose from a dispute as to whether an engineering firm in Ohio is required to appoint an employee, instead of an independent contractor, to be in “responsible charge” of the [...]
