Inside Higher Education: “A new report from PEN America, “Educational Gag Orders: Legislative Restrictions on the Freedom to Read, Learn, and Teach,” says that in the first nine months of 2021, 24 state legislatures introduced 54 bills that would restrict the teaching and training of subjects including race in K-12 schools, higher education or state… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Legislation
The car becomes the weapon
Boston Globe (paywall) – Demonstrators around the country have been injured and killed by vehicle rammings, but there’s been precious little justice. And new laws could make accountability even scarcer…Given the choice between defending the safety of pedestrians protesting a police murder and the drivers of the vehicles running them down, prosecutors and lawmakers here… Continue Reading
Federal Firearms Laws
CRS Report – Federal Firearms Law: Selected Developments in the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches. November 3, 2021 [42 pages]: “Firearm regulation in the United States is an area of shared authority between the federal, state,and local governments. At the federal level, firearm commerce, possession, and transfers are governed largely by two statutory regimes: the… Continue Reading
55 corporations paid no federal income tax in 2020
“Senators Warren, King, and Wyden Announce Updated Proposal To Prevent The Biggest And Most Profitable Corporations From Paying Nothing In Federal Taxes. The Corporate Profits Minimum Tax Would Raise Hundreds of Billions in Revenue While Creating a Fairer Tax System. Updated Proposal to be Included as a Pay-for in the Build Back Better Plan…” Legislative… Continue Reading
Supreme Court set to hear arguments in two challenges to Texas law that bans most abortions
SCOTUS Blog – Supreme Court set to hear arguments in two challenges to Texas law that bans most abortions: “Two months ago, Texas put in place the most restrictive abortion law since the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade in 1973. The law, which prohibits almost all abortions in the state, has dramatically reduced access… Continue Reading
The Supreme Court case that could gut America’s gun laws, explained
Vox: “For nearly all its history, the Supreme Court kept its distance from gun policy. Now it’s about to decide a case that could radically reduce the government’s power to regulate guns. The Second Amendment states explicitly that it exists to protect “a well regulated Militia,” and until fairly recently, the Court took these four… Continue Reading
A whistleblower’s power: Key takeaways from the Facebook Papers
Follow-up to previous posting – Whistleblower: Facebook is misleading the public on progress against hate speech, violence, misinformation – See Also the Washington Post – “Interviews with dozens of current and former employees and a trove of internal documents show how the social media company inflamed real-world harms.A trove of internal Facebook documents reveals that the… Continue Reading
Report – Plastics To Outpace Coal In Driving Climate Change
Beyond Plastics – Plastics are the New Coal: “Plastics are on track to contribute more climate change emissions than coal plants by 2030, a new report finds. As fossil fuel companies seek to recoup falling profits, they are increasing plastics production and cancelling out greenhouse gas reductions gained from the recent closures of 65 percent… Continue Reading
Controlled Digital Lending: Unlocking the Library’s Full Potential
Kyle K. Courtney / Library Futures: “We are very excited today to announce the release of the Library Futures Foundation’s (LFF) new policy document “Controlled Digital Lending: Unlocking the Library’s Full Potential.” As outlined, controlled digital lending maximizes a library’s ability to loan works, thereby making the entire loaning system more efficient and equitable. Library… Continue Reading
Understanding Federal Legislation: A Section-by-Section Guide to Key Legal Considerations
CRS Report – Understanding Federal Legislation: A Section-by-Section Guide to Key Legal Considerations, September 27, 2021 [91 pages]: “Federal bills are increasingly complex, making them difficult to understand for the average reader and the seasoned practitioner alike. What a congressional drafter understands to be the import of a given provision could later be discussed and… Continue Reading
GPO and Law Library of Congress Make Volumes of Nation’s Most Treasured Publications Digitally Available
“The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO), in collaboration with the Law Library of Congress, has digitized and made available volumes of the United States Congressional Serial Set on GPO’s govinfo, the one-stop shop to information published by the Federal Government. The release comes as part of a large decade-long partnership to digitize more than 15,000… Continue Reading
Harms of AI
NBER – Harms of AI, Daron Acemoglu, Working Paper 29247 DOI 10.3386/w29247 Issue Date September 2021. “This essay discusses several potential economic, political and social costs of the current path of AI technologies. I argue that if AI continues to be deployed along its current trajectory and remains unregulated, it may produce various social, economic… Continue Reading
