Christopher Marlowe has, perhaps, stepped ever so slightly to stage left in order to make room for a guitarist named Randy Wolfe—or, as he was known, Randy California. But, just as William Shakespeare will eternally clutch the most pertinent spotlight with Marlowe in the shadows, Wolfe and his band Spirit... Read More »
With November 3 approaching, most of the country is focused on the big names of the 2020 general election, and the words “split roll” aren’t set to dominate the headlines anytime soon. But in California, those words are all the more significant in light of the onslaught of pandemic updates,... Read More »
In 2018, Florida voters filled out their ballots with a special referendum: whether or not the over 150 years-old state law dictating felon disenfranchisement should stand. With over ten percent of eligible adults in Florida rendered ineligible to vote due to the law, which required an often-years-long process of applications... Read More »
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away Friday evening, September 18, 2020, after serving nearly three decades on the nation’s highest court. Known affectionately as the “Notorious RBG,” she left an immediate wake of grief among her most ardent supporters and ideological opponents alike—but the aftermath of Ginsburg’s... Read More »
A time before ride-share apps seems like a distant memory, but California law may be steering the state back in that direction this November. Californians will vote on Proposition 22, a ballot measure that will determine whether companies like Uber and Instacart will endure on the West Coast. The App-Based... Read More »
On June 30, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue that Montana’s public-funded scholarship program for students to attend private schools cannot exclude religious schools. “A state need not subsidize private education,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the 5-4 majority opinion. “But once... Read More »
If Joe Biden were to secure the presidency, he would face a scene not unlike President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s late-1930s America. The nostalgic similarities have some wondering if a Biden presidency, too, might seek to rework the lifetime-tenured, nine-Justice stalwarts of the U.S. Supreme Court. In the shadow of the... Read More »
This year, the U.S. Presidential election contends with a tensely polarized nation and electorate, an ongoing global pandemic, foreign interference, and mail-in voting controversies that threaten to tarnish the shining face of the USPS. The current president has been mentally prepping the country for months—perhaps even years—to expect foul play... 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 »
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 »
In the United States of America, citizens rest easier with the idea that the government exists for the people. Other countries are perceived as just that—other. In other countries, democracy might not be provided, human rights can run amok, and government forces may be unleashed with little or no limitations.... Read More »
