The Attorneys General of 38 states and territories sent a letter to Congress Wednesday urging passage of the SAFE Banking Act, a bill aimed at reforming banking regulations for institutions that handle marijuana-related accounts. Though medical cannabis is legal in the majority of the country and recreational use has been decriminalized in 10 jurisdictions, marijuana [...]
The New York Senate approved two bills on Wednesday aimed at forcing US President Donald Trump to release his tax returns and limiting his power to pardon state criminal offenses. The first, New York Senate Bill S5072A, requires the state’s commissioner of taxation to release state tax return information to certain committees in the US [...]
The US House Committee on the Judiciary voted Wednesday to find Attorney General William Barr in contempt for refusing to comply with a subpoena to produce the full Mueller Report. The vote comes after Barr refused to testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee last week. In response to the proposed vote of contempt, [...]
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced on Wednesday that Iran will no longer keep its enriched uranium and produced heavy water limited, ending compliance with parts of the 2015 nuclear deal. In addition, Iran will take “further actions” if the other signatories of the agreement, EU/E3+2, cannot fulfill their obligations within 60 days to “secure Iran’s [...]
After negotiations following a years-long lawsuit against the District of Columbia (DC), several disability advocacy groups and the district announced a settlement Tuesday, with the district agreeing to a number of significant improvements for thousands of residents and visitors with disabilities. United Spinal Association, DC Center for Independent Living, and two District residents with disabilities [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration may require asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while they await court proceedings in the US. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) in January, citing public safety and national security. MPP applies to those [...]
The New York state Senate on Monday approved a bill closing a gap in healthcare coverage for people with eating disorders by a vote of 53-8. It requires health insurers in the state to “provide coverage for inpatient hospital care and physician services for eating disorders.” The bill defines eating disorder as: “pica, rumination disorder, [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday described the abuse of detainees at a detention center in Cameroon’s capital city of Yaoundé, identifying violations of domestic and international human rights law. Torture and detention have been “endemic in Cameroon’s law enforcement and military system,” carried out by gendarmes and other security forces of the State Defense [...]
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), National Security Archive and Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations filed a complaint in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday against President Donald Trump and the Executive Office of the President for violations of the Presidential Records Act (PRA) and the [...]
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp on Tuesday signed the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act, which prevents an abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected. The bill uses the term “‘detectable human heartbeat’ means embryonic or fetal cardiac activity or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the heart within the gestational sac.” Fetal heartbeats are [...]
