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Category Archives: Government Documents

Commercial Zones

Data is Plural: “Byeonghwa Jeong et al. have constructed a dataset estimating the geographic boundaries of 23,000+ commercial zones in 69 metro areas in the US and Canada. To build it, they used data on retail and office locations from OpenStreetMap, and on job density from the US Census Bureau’s Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics program (DIP… Continue Reading

2024 State Scorecard on Women’s Health and Reproductive Care

The Commonwealth Fund: Our Scorecard ranks every state’s health care system based on how well it provides high-quality, accessible, and equitable health care. Read the report to see health care rankings by state. Scorecard Highlights: Massachusetts, Vermont, and Rhode Island top the rankings for the 2024 State Scorecard on Women’s Health and Reproductive Care, which… Continue Reading

New website devoted to preserving and presenting the history of the Court

How Appealing, Howard Bashman: “Chief Judge Michael A. Chagares of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit announced the launch today of a new website devoted to preserving and presenting the history of the Court.” So begins a news release that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued today.… Continue Reading

Warren Leads Senate Response to End of Chevron Doctrine

Truthout: “A group of senators led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) has introduced a bill to combat the Supreme Court’s seismic pro-corporate decision last month to overturn a precedent known as Chevron deference that has enabled federal agencies to issue regulations for decades. Ten senators joined Warren on Tuesday in introducing the bill that would… Continue Reading

New York Times, Washington Post compete with meme accounts for chance to be first with big headline

NiemanLab: “The ways people hear about big news these days; “into a million pieces,” says source. It’s not often that massive political news breaks on a Sunday afternoon — especially one in steamy late July, the leading edge of the Greater August vacation season. But break news Joe Biden most certainly did with this tweet… Continue Reading

Donald Trump wants to reinstate a spoils system in federal government by hiring political loyalists regardless of competence

Via LLRX – Donald Trump wants to reinstate a spoils system in federal government by hiring political loyalists regardless of competence – If elected to serve a second term, Donald Trump says he supports a spoils system, a plan that would give him the authority to fire as many as 50,000 civil servants and replace them… Continue Reading

UN Cybercrime Draft Convention Dangerously Expands State Surveillance Powers

EFF –This is the third post in a series highlighting flaws in the proposed UN Cybercrime Convention. Check out Part I, our detailed analysis on the criminalization of security research activities, and Part II, an analysis of the human rights safeguards. “As we near the final negotiating session for the proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty, countries… Continue Reading

Tell Congress: Don’t Let Anyone Own The Law

EFF: “Court after court has recognized that no one can own the text of the law. But the Pro Codes Act is a deceptive power grab that will help giant industry associations ration access to huge swaths of U.S. laws. Tell Congress not to fall for it. A large portion of the regulations we all… Continue Reading

The FOIA.gov Search Tool Updated

“FOIA.gov, the government’s central resource for information about the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) now includes additional functionality to help users locate commonly requested law enforcement and related records. The FOIA.gov Search Tool was updated to add a “Law Enforcement records” pre-defined user journey that helps the public more quickly locate commonly requested information. This user journey… Continue Reading

Voice-cloning technology brings key Supreme Court moment to ‘life’

AP: “Seventy years ago on Friday, no one outside of the U.S. Supreme Court building heard it when Chief Justice Earl Warren announced the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision on school desegregation. Now, through the use of an innovative voice-cloning technology, it is becoming possible for people to “hear” Warren read the decision… Continue Reading

Ransomware Attack Takes Down Computer System for America’s Largest Trial Court

AP: “A ransomware attack has shut down the computer system of the largest trial court in the country, officials with the Superior Court of Los Angeles County said. The cybersecurity attack began early Friday and is not believed to be related to the faulty CrowdStrike software update that has disrupted airlines, hospitals and governments around… Continue Reading

US financial regulators, banks, industry groups remain cautious on Supreme Court’s “Chevron” deference ruling

Thomson Reuters: “The Supreme Court’s recent decision that overturns the decades-old “Chevron deference” doctrine will likely have an enormous impact on the financial industry, and only time will tell how it fully plays out US financial institutions, the regulators who oversee them, and the industry groups that advocate for them have largely maintained a curious… Continue Reading