WSJ: “The Supreme Court in June overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established the constitutional right to an abortion. The majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization upended nearly five decades of precedent and allowed stronger state restrictions to take effect—including total abortion bans. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle had been preparing for the shift for years, bringing laws forward that further restrict or assert protections for abortion. Now, because of a patchwork of state laws, abortion access varies widely depending on where someone lives. Indiana and West Virginia were the first state legislatures to pass new bans on most abortions since the high court’s decision. About a dozen states are currently enforcing laws that ban nearly all abortions. Seventeen states and Washington, D.C., have approved protections for abortion rights. Some states have overlapping policies.”
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Daily Archives: November 15, 2022
The Constitution’s Disqualification Clause Can Be Enforced Today
POGO: “The attack on the United States Capitol complex to disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election on January 6, 2021, led to the first application of the disqualification clause contained in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment in more than a century. Section 3 prohibits public office holders who have taken an oath… Continue Reading
Lawsuit, Citing EPIC, Alleges Amazon Locks Customers Into Prime Subscriptions With Dark Patterns
EPIC: “A recent class action filed in Washington alleges that Amazon used dark patterns to make cancelling customers’ Prime subscriptions more difficult. Dark patterns “are design features used to deceive, steer, or manipulate users into behavior that is profitable for an online service, but often harmful to users or contrary to their intent.” The lawsuit… Continue Reading
Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report
CDC FluView – “All data are preliminary and may change as more reports are received. A description of the CDC influenza surveillance system, including methodology and detailed descriptions of each data component is available on the surveillance methods page. Additional information on the current and previous influenza seasons for each surveillance component are available on… Continue Reading
Empowering social media users to assess content helps fight misinformation
MIT Technology News: “When fighting the spread of misinformation, social media platforms typically place most users in the passenger seat. Platforms often use machine-learning algorithms or human fact-checkers to flag false or misinforming content for users. “Just because this is the status quo doesn’t mean it is the correct way or the only way to… Continue Reading
The Best Firefox Extensions Everyone Should Use
Lifehacker: “If you use Firefox, you can make it a better browser by installing add-ons. Yes, that’s what Mozilla calls them—they’re talking about what everyone else knows as “extensions.” Whatever you call them, there are good ones out there that can help you do everything from improving your privacy to getting around restrictions you’ll encounter… Continue Reading
USGS – New maps provide carbon stored in wetland soils across the country
USGS – “These datasets represent a revised national scale estimate of wetland soil carbon stock assessments by improving representation of soil organic carbon densities. Carbon storage in wetland soils can have physical influences on water flow, water retention, and biogeochemical cycles and thus are critical to water models that guide decisions that affect downstream users.… Continue Reading
Epic strikes back at Apple’s iOS “security” defense in appeals court
Ars Technica: “It has been over a year now since a US District Court ruled that Apple did not violate antitrust law by forcing iOS developers (like plaintiff and Fortnite-maker Epic Games) to use its App Store and in-app payments systems. But that doesn’t mean the case is settled, as both sides demonstrated Monday during… Continue Reading
The Law of Freedom: The Supreme Court and Democracy (Introduction)
Eisler, Jacob and Eisler, Jacob, The Law of Freedom: The Supreme Court and Democracy (Introduction) (November 10, 2022). Forthcoming Cambridge University Press, 2023, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4215441 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4215441 “The influence of the federal judiciary over democratic process raises a fundamental difficulty. Democracy has unique moral legitimacy as a mode of governance because it directly… Continue Reading
