In December 2020, a police officer chasing a driver who had left the scene of a traffic stop rammed the vehicle in an effort to get the driver to pull over. This caused the vehicle being pursued to roll, resulting in the death of one of the passengers, the driver’s... Read More »
The Food and Drug Administration has recently approved a new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. The drug is the first in 18 years to receive FDA approval for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, but has attracted controversy over its efficacy and high cost. Experts estimate that the drug could cost the federal... Read More »
The US Supreme Court has rejected a challenge by Republican state governors that would have invalidated the individual mandate included in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), otherwise known as Obamacare. The court ruled that the parties challenging the law lacked a legally required basis to sue, known as standing. This... Read More »
On June 7, 2021, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a bill that makes it illegal for any Texas business or government entity to require the provision of any evidence that an individual has received a COVID-19 vaccine. Texas has now joined a number of states, including Florida and... Read More »
Bill would expand LGBTQ rights without an exemption for religious groups, overriding the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). As the Equality Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives in February, this proposed amendment to the Civil Rights Act elicited concern from Republicans and religious conservatives. Now, as the bill comes... Read More »
Special state laws give personal injury victims an extra means of compensation after a drunk driving car accident. Drunk driving accidents can be violent and destructive. The victims of these accidents can be left with exorbitant costs, sometimes suffering a permanent loss of physical mobility or even a traumatic brain... Read More »
Defendants can face exceedingly high damages for conduct that goes beyond negligence and shows a conscious disregard for other’s safety. Punitive damages are one of several forms of relief available to plaintiffs in California, but only certain types of cases and certain plaintiffs are eligible to seek and receive this... Read More »
Court allows penalties for public employees under state’s Private Attorneys General Act, but only where code provides for a monetary penalty. In a newly-published decision by the California Court of Appeals, First District, the Court of Appeals has resolved a longstanding question of whether California public entities are subject to... Read More »
The state of Arkansas has become the first in the US to outlaw certain medical treatments for transgender persons under the age of 18. House Bill 1570 became law on Tuesday, April 6, but only after the state’s legislature voted to override Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s veto of the bill... Read More »
Asa Hutchinson, the governor of Arkansas, has recently signed into law a bill that will permit medical professionals to refuse to treat patients based on religious or moral objections. Critics assert that the law will give doctors sweeping abilities to turn away LGBTQ patients. The Medical Ethics and Diversity Act,... Read More »
Stanley the Giraffe, star of the silver screen and locally-beloved attraction, has now been officially classified as evidence in a case being prosecuted by the District Attorney of Los Angeles County. Criminal charges against the Semler family, the owners of Saddlerock Ranch in Malibu, California, have resulted in Stanley being... Read More »
A group of eight Los Angeles County Sheriffs’ Deputies have amended their civil rights and workplace harassment lawsuit filed against fellow deputies to include another 47 members of the Sheriff’s department. The addition of these defendants marks a significant expansion of the suit, which was initially filed against only four... Read More »
After changing his version of events on multiple occasions and providing unconvincing explanations of damning evidence, 24-year-old Diego Hernandez has been convicted by a jury of deliberate homicide in a recent trial in Yellowstone County, Montana. Testimony at trial offered by detectives, forensic experts, and witnesses depicted a series of... Read More »
Motorized scooters, such as those placed on street corners by Lime, Jump, and Bird, have sparked controversy everywhere they’ve landed. The scooters arrived long before local government agencies had the opportunity to put safety or traffic regulations in place that would provide limits on how, when, and by whom the... Read More »
The vaping industry is having a bad autumn. Between mysterious lung illnesses and the skyrocketing rate of teen e-cigarette use, e-cigarette makers like Juul are seeing massive losses. Several states and cities are now developing laws to limit the growing popularity of vaping among children and teens, while the federal... Read More »
