The Alabama Board of Education has decided to ban public schools in the state from teaching the Marxist-invented critical race theory, which critics say holds that white people and the nation itself are inherently racist. The move comes as public resistance to critical race theory (CRT) grows and intensifies among parents in communities across the nation who are fighting back by protesting and taking over local school boards. In 26 state legislatures, bills have been introduced or other steps have been taken to prevent CRT from being taught, Education Week reported. Critical race theory spreads a false and hateful narrative about U.S. history … Continue reading Alabama Board of Education bans teaching critical race theory

Chemicals giant Bayer AG announced on Aug. 16 it would ask the Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court ruling that upheld damages to a customer blaming his cancer on Roundup, a glyphosate-based weed-killer that has been on the market since the 1970s, in a move aimed at stemming a potential wave of cancer-related lawsuits against it. Bayer reached a settlement deal in principle with plaintiffs last year but failed to secure court approval for a separate agreement on how to handle future cases, Reuters reports. The petition in the case known as Monsanto Company v. Hardeman was filed with the Supreme Court … Continue reading Bayer takes Roundup case to Supreme Court

Depriving someone of his truck when it serves as his home constitutes an excessive fine that is forbidden by the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled. The case is City of Seattle v. Long, court file 98824-2; it was decided on Aug. 12. In 2016, Steven Gregory Long, at the time a 56-year-old member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation, parked his truck for more than 72 hours on land owned by Seattle, a violation of the Seattle Municipal Code. Long worked as a general tradesman and stored work tools along with personal effects … Continue reading Washington state supreme court rules in favor of Seattle man living in his truck

Independent truckers in California are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate an unusually restrictive and possibly unconstitutional state law that virtually outlaws independent contracting. Independent truckers say the California law known as AB5, which took effect Jan. 1, 2020, will kill their industry by preventing companies from hiring them. The law was temporarily enjoined as to motor carriers by U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez of the Southern District of California the day before it took effect, as The Epoch Times previously reported. That injunction has been left in place temporarily by a federal appeals court. The statute, which was pushed by organized … Continue reading California truckers take fight against anti-gig law to Supreme Court

Antique dealers are challenging a law that makes it nearly impossible to market some of their wares in New York state that are otherwise legal to sell in the United States. The case is Art and Antique Dealers League of America Inc. v. Seggos, pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. Basil Seggos is the commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Also listed as defendants–appellees in the case are the Humane Society of the United States, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Wildlife Conservation Society. The plaintiffs–appellants are … Continue reading Antique dealers challenge New York’s ivory overreach

A Christian mission in Seattle is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court after the Washington Supreme Court ruled it doesn’t have the right to refuse to hire someone who disagrees with its beliefs. “Churches and religious organizations have the First Amendment right to hire those who share their beliefs without being punished by the government,” said John Bursch, a former Michigan solicitor general who is now senior counsel and vice president of appellate advocacy with the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a public interest law firm that’s representing the mission. “Courts have consistently recognized that a religious organization’s purpose will be undermined if … Continue reading Seattle mission asks Supreme Court to uphold right to hire co-religionists

The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled that a state law requiring individuals to possess a permit to carry a handgun in public is constitutional and doesn’t contravene the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The ruling comes as President Joe Biden presses for a ban on so-called assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and for more background checks, as Biden’s controversial nomination of anti-gun activist David Chipman to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives flounders in the U.S. Senate. On Aug. 7, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) implored Biden to withdraw the nomination, saying the Senate “has spent quite … Continue reading Minnesota Supreme Court upholds state’s gun-carrying law

A public interest law firm in Minnesota has filed a series of lawsuits on behalf of victims of critical race theory-based discrimination and retaliation as the grassroots movement against the ideology continues to grow. “Our clients are bravely confronting CRT-inspired bullying, indoctrination, and retaliation, which is not ‘training’ or persuasion,” Doug Seaton, president of Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC), said in a statement. “They have been insulted, lied about, threatened, demoted, and fired, simply for refusing to submit to this ideology. But the U.S. Constitution, the federal Civil Rights laws, and their Minnesota counterparts don’t permit this race-based discrimination, retaliation, compelled speech, and invasion … Continue reading Minnesota public interest law firm takes on critical race theory

The categorical ban that prevents illegal aliens from possessing firearms doesn’t violate the Second Amendment, a federal appeals court held. The ruling by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit came July 29 in United States v. Perez, court file 19-620-cr. Cam Edwards writes at Bearing Arms that the ruling is “an odd decision, in that the judges didn’t actually rule on whether or not the Second Amendment protects the rights of illegal aliens to possess a firearm.” In the case, the defendant, Javier Perez, appealed from a conviction for possessing a firearm and ammunition while unlawfully present in the United States. … Continue reading Appeals court upholds federal ban on illegal aliens having guns

The best way to fight social media censorship is to promote model state legislation all across the country that gives users the right to sue when a tech platform engages in discrimination, John Hinderaker, president of Minnesota’s Center for the American Experiment, told The Epoch Times in an exclusive interview. In a July 30 column at the Power Line blog, Hinderaker contends that creating a private cause of action allowing users to sue when a social media platform practices viewpoint discrimination, instead of diving deep into the minutiae of Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act (CDA) as many conservatives favor, could help restore free … Continue reading Fight social media censorship by suing for discrimination, think tank head urges

Three groups are asking the Supreme Court to allow them to intervene in litigation aimed at making the Biden administration adhere to a Trump administration rule that guarantees students accused of sexual improprieties procedural safeguards in administrative proceedings. The case, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) v. Victim Rights Law Center, was docketed on July 21. The petitioners are three nonprofit organizations that promote free speech and due process on college campuses: FIRE; Independent Women’s Law Center; and Speech First Inc. Among the governmental respondents are Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and the Department of Education. The other respondents are … Continue reading Group seeks to compel Education Department to require procedural safeguards in alleged sex offenses

A man of Middle Eastern origin twice denied firearms purchases by the federal government’s background check system is asking the Supreme Court to hear his appeal. The case, Turaani v. Wray, court file 21-72, was docketed July 20. FBI Director Christopher Wray is one of three respondents; the others are Charles H. Kable IV, director of the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center, and an individual FBI agent. The FBI administers the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to carry out background checks for firearm purchases. When it receives a background check request, the FBI isn’t allowed to disclose details of … Continue reading Man denied gun purchases appeals to Supreme Court

Americans United for Life filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the Supreme Court on behalf of 228 federal lawmakers urging the court to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion. Abortion opponents are optimistic that the 6–3 conservative majority created on the court with the addition last year of Justice Amy Coney Barrett creates an opportunity to return the regulation of abortion to the states, as had been the case before Roe. The high court is expected to reexamine Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, court file 19-1392, which will be heard at some point in the … Continue reading 228 federal lawmakers urge Supreme Court to reverse Roe v. Wade

Americans believe race relations between blacks and whites are at their lowest point in more than two decades, according to a survey by the polling organization Gallup. For the second consecutive year, U.S. adults’ positive ratings of relations between black and white Americans are at their worst in years of measurement. At present, 42 percent of Americans say relations between the two groups are “very” or “somewhat” good, while 57 percent say they are “somewhat” or “very” bad. At the same time, only a third of black Americans currently view race relations in a positive light and hopes “for a solution to … Continue reading Black-white race relations remain at a low point, pollster says

Voters in the nation’s capital made history by electing a convicted murderer who is still behind bars for his crime to an Advisory Neighborhood Commission, or ANC, which counsels the local government on neighborhood issues such as garbage collection, police patrols, liquor licenses, zoning, and parking. Joel Caston, 44, has been imprisoned for 26 years following a first-degree murder conviction in the August 14, 1994 killing of 18-year-old Rafiq Washington. Victim and shooter knew each other and there was some unspecified animus between them that cannot easily be divined from online court records. Caston, who was elected June 15, will … Continue reading D.C. elects imprisoned murderer: What could go wrong?

A home music studio owner in Nashville, Tennessee, is taking his long-running appeal of aggressive local zoning restrictions against home-based businesses to the Tennessee Supreme Court after the court recently agreed to hear his case. The court decided on July 12 to hear the appeal from record producer Elijah “Lij” Shaw and hairstylist Pat Raynor, who sued the city in 2017 after it ordered their home businesses shuttered. The two plaintiffs are represented by the Institute for Justice and the Beacon Center of Tennessee. For years, Shaw, a Grammy Award-winning music producer, had run his Toy Box Studio recording business … Continue reading Nashville home studio ban goes to Tennessee Supreme Court