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Category Archives: Legislation

‘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

A wave of anti-vaccine legislation is sweeping the United States

Vox: “The anti-vaccine movement is gaining strength even after 1 million Americans have died of Covid-19. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, does not mince words when describing the scientific legacy of the Covid-19 vaccines: The mRNA shots, he said, are “the greatest scientific achievement in my… Continue Reading

Exploring gaps in city climate planning and the need for regional action

Brookings: “The growing threats from climate change leave the global population no choice: We must decarbonize human activity as soon as possible. That includes changing how we build, travel, generate power, and more to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Achieving such transformative change will require a mix of policy reforms, new technologies, and significant capital… Continue Reading

Falling Behind: A Report Card on EPA’s Progress on 10 Important Power Sector Rules

“Analysis by Evergreen Action shows that EPA is falling behind on eight key climate change and air quality regulations for the power sector, with only two rules on track. After several delays and missed deadlines, EPA must go further, faster to finalize these rules during President Biden’s first term and keep our climate and environmental… Continue Reading

Chocolate Report Released regarding Lead and Cadmium

National Law Review: “As You Sow and the National Confectioners Association released a report on August 18, 2022 that determines the predominant sources of lead and cadmium in chocolate products and how best to reduce these levels.  A multi-disciplinary panel of four experts have been investigating the matter for three years.  The report is part of… Continue Reading