California Governor Jerry Brown late on Sunday signed legislation to restore open internet protections known as net neutrality in the state after the Trump administration repealed the rules late last year. According to Reuters, the bill sets up a clash with the Federal Communications Commission, which said in repealing the Obama-era rules that … [Read more...]
Small DACA Victory for Wrong Reason?
Proponents of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), which has been a top story in the news on and off for almost two years, enjoyed a small victory recently when a federal judge in Texas declined to order a halt to the Obama-era program that has been fought tooth and nail by the Trump administration. But this victory is … [Read more...]
Guilty or Not Guilty? Must We All Agree?
Opinion In April of this year, the Senate in Louisiana approved, in a 27-10 vote, a constitutional amendment that would require a unanimous jury verdict in felony cases. The vote count is significant because it was approved by one single vote more than required. The Senate needed to approve the amendment by a two-thirds majority. That means that … [Read more...]
Pope Issues New Catechism, Death Penalty is Not Pro-Life
Pope Francis’ New Catechism Calls for End to Death Penalty; Kavanagh Finds Death Penalty Consistent with His Pro-Life Position Pope Francis’ recent declaration that he is revising the Catholic Catechism--the church’s book of moral and religious teachings-- to say the death penalty is inadmissible in all cases “because it is an attack on the … [Read more...]
The End of Federal Marijuana Prohibition?
Schumer Introduces Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act “The time to decriminalize marijuana is now,” said U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer. In early August, the Democratic Senator from New York introduced the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act. With marijuana in a sort of legal limbo throughout many states, Schumer’s bill would result in the … [Read more...]
Courts Differ over Felons’ Right to Smoke Pot without Government Interference
“Legal adjudication has no natural or even constitutional basis; instead it comes down to weighing questions of social advantage according to the exigencies of the age.” ~ Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Two distinct cases decided in July, 2018, as to whether felons who are on supervised release can smoke marijuana, demonstrate how out of … [Read more...]
The Country Attempts to Pass More Gun Control Legislation
Following the tragic Parkland shooting and the more recent event at a high school in Texas , state and local governments throughout the country have been scrambling to pass gun control legislation. Students in the US have taken to the streets, staging die-ins and other protests to make their voices heard. They seem to want one thing: more gun … [Read more...]
18 States File Lawsuit Against the EPA Over Emissions Standards
In April, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced plans to revisit the Obama-era emissions standards, which if implemented would require cars and light trucks to operate at efficiency levels of 50 miles per gallon by 2025. According Pruitt, these standards are “too stringent” and go well beyond the necessary limit, as they are allegedly based on … [Read more...]
Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment Is Now Much Stronger
When in 2013 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rescinded certain provisions of the state’s oil and gas laws, the landscape of environmental law fundamentally shifted, turning away from 40 years of accepted case law. In Robinson Township v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a four-Justice majority rejected Sections 3215(b)(4), 3215(d), 3303, and 3304 of … [Read more...]
States Take Environmental Matters into Their Own Hands
It seems that certain states may begin to push back against the Trump administration’s anti-regulatory position. In December, the administration decided to delay action on proposed rules pertaining to the regulation of dangerous chemicals known as TCE, NMP and Methylene Chloride. The EPA announced the decision as part of an overarching … [Read more...]
