Howe on the Court: “In 2003, the Supreme Court ruled in Grutter v. Bollinger that universities may consider race in their admissions processes as part of their efforts to achieve diversity on campus. On Oct. 31, the justices will hear oral arguments in a pair of cases asking them to overturn Grutter and outlaw race-based… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Legislation
Committee Releases Report on Insurer and PBM Compliance with Affordable Care Act’s Birth Control Coverage Requirement
(Oct. 25, 2022)—”Today, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, released a staff report entitled, Barriers to Birth Control: An Analysis of Contraceptive Coverage and Costs for Patients with Private Insurance. The report presents findings from the Committee’s review of birth control coverage offered by five of the nation’s… Continue Reading
A new definition of crypto comes from the IRS
Coin Telegraph: “…No matter how much attention the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or Commodity Futures Trading Commission gets in the crypto industry, for individual traders and investors, it often comes down to the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) position — and how much tax one owes. Last week, the IRS last week released… Continue Reading
Texas AG Sues Google for its Unauthorized Capture and Use of Biometric Data and Violation of Texans’ Privacy
“Attorney General Paxton has sued Google, alleging that the tech giant has unlawfully captured and used the biometric data of millions of Texans without properly obtaining their informed consent to do so. The lawsuit alleges that Google, in yet another violation of Texans’ privacy, has collected millions of biometric identifiers, including voiceprints and records of… Continue Reading
‘Independent State Legislature Theory’
Brennan Center – Who Protects Your Vote?: “The “independent state legislature theory” is a misreading of the Constitution, advanced in recent years by a small group of right-wing advocates, that would give state legislatures wide authority to gerrymander electoral maps and pass voter suppression laws. It has even been used as political cover to try… Continue Reading
Martin-Quinn Scores – Ideology of every Supreme Court
“Measuring the relative location of U.S. Supreme Court justices on an ideological continuum allows us to better understand the politics of the high court. In addition, such measures are an important building blocking of statistical models of the Supreme Court, the separation of powers system, and the judicial hierarchy. This website contains the so-called “Martin-Quinn”… Continue Reading
Home solar panel adoption continues to rise in the U.S.
Pew: “President Joe Biden recently signed into law new legislation that includes larger investments in renewable energy and measures to address climate change. Among its provisions is a 30% solar tax credit that could spur more Americans to “go solar” over the next decade. While residential solar power currently generates just a fraction of the… Continue Reading
Data Protection and Privacy Law: An Introduction
CRS in Focus – Data Protection and PrivacyLaw: An Introduction, Updated October 12, 2022 – “Recent controversy surrounding how third parties protect the privacy of individuals in the digital age has raised national concerns over legal protections of Americans’ electronic data. The current legislative paradigms governing cybersecurity and data privacy are complex and technical and… Continue Reading
The Supreme Court and social media platform liability
Brookings: “Over a quarter of a century after its 1996 enactment, the liability shield known as Section 230 is heading to the Supreme Court. Section 230(c)(1) provides, with some exceptions, that “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information… Continue Reading
Internet Archive Files Final Reply Brief in Lawsuit Defending Controlled Digital Lending
Internet Archive Blogs: “On Friday, October 7, the Internet Archive filed a reply brief against the four publishers that sued Internet Archive in June 2020: Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, John Wiley & Sons, and Penguin Random House. This is the final brief in support of our motion for summary judgment (our previous motions can… Continue Reading
Threats to the US Midterm Elections Have Been Building for Years
Freedom House – The festering problems that erupted after the last presidential election are still unresolved. “As the United States heads toward midterm elections on November 8, the political environment remains haunted by the coup attempt that culminated in a violent attack on the Capitol in January 2021. Social and mainstream media are overrun with… Continue Reading
This common item is on the way out at California grocery stores
Mercury News: “For most grocery shoppers, they are as familiar as carts with wobbly wheels, aisles of cereal boxes and checkout stands full of juicy celebrity tabloids. But in California their days are numbered. Big rolls of thin plastic bags, often used only once to hold fruit and vegetables, or to put around packages of… Continue Reading
