In order to avoid large groups of people and help slow the spread of COVID-19, churches have been forced to close down and not offer in-person services. Many churches responded with live streams of their services as an alternative. With some states slowly reopening, some churches are now providing in-person... Read More »
With the new school year starting amid the COVID-19 pandemic, states are scrambling to decide the safest way to open schools, whether in person, virtually, or through a hybrid of in-person and virtual instruction. Parents are also struggling with the decision of whether to send their students back to school... Read More »
Presidential elections in the United States use a system referred to as the Electoral College. Under this system, elections are not determined based on which candidate received the most votes, but rather on which candidate secured the largest number of Electoral College votes. Each state is assigned a certain number... Read More »
A St. Louis prosecutor filed charges against a local couple after the pair brandished firearms at protesters. Footage of the scuffle, which began after the agitators swarmed onto the couple's lawn, was widely circulated on social media. "It is illegal to wave weapons in a threatening manner — that is... Read More »
COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on the U.S. incarceration system. Multiple COVID-related lawsuits, brought forth by prisoners, are percolating through courts across the country. At the center of theses suits lie allegations that prison workers are neglecting inmates' safety and exposing them to unsafe conditions. Officials claim that they're doing their... Read More »
The power of the press, a cornerstone of holding the government accountable, is considered sacred in witnessing injustice and informing the public without government limitation through censorship or exertion of influence. Throughout global history, particularly in times of war and national strife, political corruption walks hand-in-hand with the suppression of... Read More »
So far, in the indisputably turbulent year of 2020, Tennessee has already seen several controversies bring its legislators into the national spotlight. Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally posted (and subsequently deleted) a menacing “warning” to the Black Lives Matter community. The state Supreme Court made headlines when it ruled that fear... Read More »
Donald Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum on September 2, 2020, ordering a review of hundreds of billions of dollars in annual federal funding for state and local governments that do not embrace his “law and order” agenda wholeheartedly. Months of ongoing protests since the death of George Floyd have put... Read More »
With the majority of states currently requiring their citizens to wear masks in public, there has been pushback. People against mask mandates are saying that the government cannot make the public wear masks because there is no legal basis for it, and therefore it is not constitutional. However, is this... Read More »
With concerns regarding COVID-19, there has been discussion of giving people the option to mail in ballots instead of going in person to vote. Forty-six states are providing some form of mail-in voting. Twenty-four of these states have a Democratic governor, and 22 of these states have a Republican governor,... Read More »
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, movie theaters closed down to help stop the spread. These closures have caused many movies to delay their release dates and left movie sets deserted. Some movie theaters did drive-in style movies in order to keep some type of revenue flow. Now, movie theaters are... Read More »
The Trump Administration is currently engaged in a legal battle with the short-form video app TikTok. The popular app, which 100 million U.S. residents use, is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. The order bans TikTok if that company fails to sell to an American based company within 45 days-... Read More »
On April 20, 2020, the Supreme Court deemed it unconstitutional to convict a criminal in state court without a unanimous jury in its ruling on Ramos v. Louisiana. According to the decision, the Sixth Amendment of the Bill of Rights requires trial “by an impartial jury.” Therefore, it necessitates a... Read More »
On April 23, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Barton v. Barr, holding that the “stop-time rule” made Andre Barton, a Jamaican national and U.S. Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR), ineligible to apply for relief from deportation. Barton was admitted into the United States in 1989 and became a lawful... Read More »
America is watching the lawmaking process with the same attention as would ordinarily be dedicated to the sports that have long been absent from the country under the weight of the coronavirus pandemic. On July 27, 2020, Republican Texas Senator John Cornyn introduced the newest effort to provide comprehensive federal... Read More »
