Three days into a conspiracy trial in New York, a juror tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The judge said the trial must go on and replaced the infected juror with an alternate. In Pittsburgh, trials are going on but courtrooms are closed. When one judge denied a watchdog nonprofit... Read More about COVID Concerns Continue to Confuse Courts
Two Arizona laws were brought before the Supreme Court for oral argument to decide if they violate the Voting Rights Act. Those laws are 1) a bar against counting ballots that were cast at the wrong precinct, and 2) a prohibition on absentee ballots being collected by voter-turnout groups (a... Read More about Supreme Court Ponders Minority Voter Suppression in Arizona
Now that the Senate parliamentarian has removed consideration of the $15 per hour minimum wage from the “American Rescue Plan,” many people wonder what comes next. While President Biden and congressional leaders try to figure out a legislative strategy for genuine COVID-19 relief, American workers are trying to figure out... Read More about Challenges Ahead for Federal Minimum Wage Law Likely to Far Exceed States’ Current Rules
On February 25, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act in a 224 - 206 vote with the support of all Democrats and three Republicans. The Act, which has been the center of controversy, aims to expand the rights and protections of LGBTQ individuals. When the bill was... Read More about Equality Act Passes U.S. House in Sweeping Vote
A Labor Department rule keeps many retirement plans from including socially-focused funds. Money managers want to change that. The Trump-era rule, which was announced in October, limited what can and can’t be offered as 401(k) funds through one’s company. One of the sequellae of this rule is that funds without... Read More about Trump-era Rule Overreaches; Wall Street Lobbies to Bring More ESG Funds Into 401(k)s
After being offline for a month, the Parler app is now up and running again. It was shut down in January after the Jan. 6 protests at the United States Capitol. According to a statement given by Mark Meckler, the interim CEO of Parler, "Parler was built to offer a... Read More about Parler Back Online After a Month
Fred Eshelman, North Carolina financier, saw Trump’s supposed lead in battleground states disappear overnight. The day after the election, he and his advisers contacted a conservative Texas nonprofit group that was trying to expose voter fraud. After a 20-minute conversation with True the Vote’s president, Eshelman donated $2 million. He... Read More about $2.5 Million for a Voter Fraud Investigation That Fizzled? The Donor Wants His Money Back
Just as the country was hit by the worst winter storm of the season, Toro recalled its Power Max 826 OHAE 252cc Two-Stage Electric Start Gas Snow Blower. The recall covers some 6,700 machines from late 2020 and early 2021 with model number 37802. The recalled machines were a new... Read More about Toro recalls snow blowers due to amputation risk
COVID-19 is causing massive unemployment. Unemployment often makes it impossible for tenants to pay their rent. Landlords evict. Tenants became homeless, often threatening public health and safety. To avoid this downward spiral, both Presidents Trump and Biden issued moratoriums on tenant evictions. But a federal judge in Texas blocked the... Read More about Federal Judge Blocks Eviction Moratorium –DOJ Appeals
A half dozen accidents involving Piper Aircraft Inc. planes with steering difficulties prompted U.S. crash investigators to get involved. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) probe focuses on six incidents between December 2019 and January 2021. In those accidents, pilots of high-end Piper M600 aircraft had trouble with directional control... Read More about Piper Private Planes - Expensive Ones - Have Steering Problems
Texas Federal Judge Drew Tipton blocked President Joe Biden’s new deportation order after the Lone Star State sued the White House administration. Biden proposed the new 100-day moratorium on most immigrant deportations on inauguration day as part of a slew of new orders. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Biden's... Read More about Texas Federal Judge Blocks Biden's 100-day Deportation Order
Representative Bennie Thompson, D-MS and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is suing Trump and Giuliani, along with two far-right groups - the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys — for the January 6 riot, alleging conspiracy to incite deadly violence at the U.S. Capitol. Other Democratic Congresspersons, including... Read More about Congressman Sues Trump and Giuliani for Capitol Riot Under 1871 KKK Act
An agreement signed on the last day of President Trump’s administration that would allow a federal labor union representing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) employees “the ability to indefinitely delay the implementation of agency policies” has been disapproved by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) incoming leadership under President... Read More about Last-Minute Agreement Granting ICE Union Veto Power Disapproved by Incoming Secretary of Homeland Security
Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill that would eliminate the use of cash bail for inmates who are waiting for their trial date. This legislation makes Illinois the first state in the nation to abolish the practice. The legislation, titled the Pretrial Fairness Act, is one of several criminal... Read More about Illinois Becomes First State to Abolish Cash Bail Payment
In 1991, Willie B. Smith III and others abducted 22-year-old Sharma Ruth Johnson at gunpoint from an ATM, used her card to steal $80 from her account, and took her to a cemetery where Smith shot her in the back of the head. Johnson was the sister of a police... Read More about Alabama Failed to Allow Death Row Inmate Clergy at Execution - Supreme Court Said They Must