Montana governor Steve Bullock signed an executive order on Monday that will make companies provide nondiscriminatory internet services in order to obtain a contract within the state. The executive order takes effect starting July 1, 2018. Soon, Montana telecommunications providers are not to: block lawful content, speed-up or slow-down certain web pages, allow companies to [...]
Vermont became the ninth state to legalize recreational marijuana and the first to do so by legislation on Monday after Phil Scott signed the bill passed earlier this month. The law legalized possession of marijuana equal to one ounce or less, two mature plants, or four immature plants for those 21 years and older. The [...]
The Supreme Court of Spain on Monday refused to reissue the arrest warrant for Catalan ex-president Carles Puigdemont. Puigdemont fled Spain in October after the Spanish government overtook Catalonia. He “faces possible charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds over his role in the push to split Catalonia from Spain.” The prosecution requested [...]
Military judge James Pohl ruled on Friday that no wrongdoing occurred when the prosecution destroyed a CIA secret prison, or “black site,” on Pohl’s orders. At the time Pohl gave the prosecution permission to destroy the site, the judge had a public protection order on any remains from the CIA black sites. According to Pohl, [...]
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on Monday struck down the Congressional Redistricting Act of 2011 as violating the state constitution. The plaintiffs in the League of Women Voters v. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania accused the General Assembly of unfairly drawing voting districts to discriminate against Democratic voters. The court is giving the Pennsylvania General Assembly [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday in National Association of Manufacturers v. Department of Defense that cases litigating the Clean Water Act should be heard by federal district courts. At issue is the Obama-era Clean Water Rule, which expanded the definition of “waters of the United States” to include intermittent streams, wetlands and floodplains [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Monday in Artis v. District of Columbia that the “instruction to ‘toll’ a state limitations period means to hold it in abeyance, i.e., to stop the clock.” The court was asked to determine how long the federal supplemental jurisdiction statute gives plaintiffs to refile in state court. Specifically, whether [...]
The US Supreme Court granted certiorari on Monday in an environmental case. Weyerhaeuser Co. v. US Fish & Wildlife Service concerns the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to preserve the the “dusky gopher frog.” Currently the dusky gopher frog has a critical habitat in areas of Mississippi, where it is located. However, the frog also has [...]
A former Department of Energy (DOE) has filed a whistleblower complaint claiming that he was fired after releasing controversial photographs of Energy Secretary Rick Perry embracing coal executive Robert Murray during a private meeting last March. During the meeting, Simon Edelman also took photographs of a memo that allegedly outlined the steps coal executives hoped [...]
The US Supreme Court held Monday in District of Columbia v. Wesby that DC police officers acted reasonably when they arrested 21 people for unlawful entry during a house party in 2008, given that the owner was not present and it was unclear if the guests had been given permission to enter the house. The [...]
