Frank Yiannas, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for food policy and response, didn’t learn about a whistleblower complaint alleging safety issues at a baby formula plant until four months later, according to Yiannas and and others knowledgeable about the …
Author: Kimberly Kindy
State constitutions loom as the next front in abortion battle
Several states are asking voters in coming months to amend state constitutions in hopes of permanently changing abortion rights.
Okla. stakes out new battleground on LGBTQ rights: Birth certificates
On Tuesday, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) signed a bill prohibiting nonbinary markers on birth certificates for people who don’t identify as male or female — the first law of its kind in the United States, according to legal experts.
GOP lawmakers push historic wave of bills targeting rights of LGBTQ teens, children and their families
At least 168 measures are pending in state legislatures across the nation that seek to erode protections for transgender and gay youth or to restrict discussion of LGBTQ topics in schools.
The Supreme Court created a ‘vigilante’ loophole. Both parties are rushing to take advantage.
When the U.S. Supreme Court declined in December to temporarily block the Texas abortion law, which established a minimum $10,000 court award, it essentially gave lawmakers a new tool to use: the ability to let citizens sue each other as a way to impos…
States rushed to loosen alcohol laws in the pandemic. Heavy drinking went up, some studies say.
Seeking to help restaurants, brewers and distillers, dozens of states have made it easier to bring alcohol home since 2020.
With federal oversight in short supply, state AGs step in to probe troubled police
Four state attorneys general were recently empowered to investigate civil rights abuses in local departments.
Boosted by the pandemic, ‘constitutional sheriffs’ are a political force
Their stances, often involving opposition to mask and vaccine mandates, are a topic in numerous local elections.
Supreme Court reaffirms police protection by qualified immunity, a legal doctrine targeted in protests
The court’s rulings in favor of police in two cases suggest new political battles to come over the doctrine, advocates said
Dozens of states have tried to end qualified immunity. Police officers and unions helped beat nearly every bill.
Only Colorado has passed legislation allowing residents to name individual officers in lawsuits — but even there, police wouldn’t have to pay the judgment.