The US Supreme Court ruled Monday in Honeycutt v. United States that forfeiture is limited to property the defendant actually obtained as a result of the crime or “tainted property.” The court held that the Comprehensive Forfeiture Act of 1984 limits property to the definitions within the act and rejected the government’s argument that the [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled Monday in Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton that a church-affiliated hospital’s pension fund is exempt from the federal pension law. The court held that under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) , a defined-benefit pension plan maintained by a church-affiliated organization qualifies as a “church plan,” even though [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday granted certiorari in Carpenter v. United States to determine, “hether the warrantless seizure and search of historical cell phone records revealing the location and movements of a cell phone user over the course of 127 days is permitted by the Fourth Amendment.” The Stored Communications Act (SCA) allows the [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday affirmed a lower court decision striking down a North Carolina state House and Senate redistricting effort as racial gerrymandering that disproportionately impacted black voters. The court affirmed the order by summary disposition. Also Monday the court vacated an order requiring North Carolina to hold special elections, finding that the [...]

Hector Trujillo, a Guatemalan judge who served as general secretary for Guatemala’s soccer federation, pled guilty Friday to fraud and conspiracy in the FIFA scandal. Judge Trujillo entered the plea before US District Judge Pamela Chen in the Eastern District of New York . Trujillo has agreed to pay back $175,000 that he received as [...]

Israel has occupied the West Bank through human rights abuses for the past fifty-years, stated Human Rights Watch (HRW)(advocacy website) Sunday. According to HRW, Israel has violated international humanitarian law during the occupation through “unlawful killings; forced displacement; abusive detention; the closure of the Gaza Strip and other unjustified restrictions on movement; and the development [...]

The United Nations Security Council decided on Friday to expand existing sanctions placed on Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and applied those sanctions to 14 individuals and four organizations. The expansion of resolution 1718 (2006) will impose an asset freeze and travel ban on those that new resolution 2356 (2017) names as being [...]

President Donald Trump made a series of tweets on Saturday to profess the need for his travel ban stemming from the London attack . Trump also phoned British Prime Minister Theresa May to offer condolences and give support if Britain would need it, according to a White House statement. Currently seven people have died from [...]

The California State Assembly passed two bills on Thursday which, if passed by the senate, will strengthen protections for undocumented immigrant students in public schools from kindergarten through college. Assembly Bill 699 passed by a 60-13 vote , with seven members not voting, and will provide numerous protections for students attending K-12 public schools in [...]

The California State Assembly passed a bill on Thursday with the bare minimum 41 out of 80 votes that, if passed by the Senate, will prohibit state and local authorities from assisting federal agencies in the enforcement of marijuana laws without a court order. Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer , who authored and introduced the bill, says [...]