Legal
Legal matters are a core focus for local and state government agencies, encompassing the creation, interpretation, and enforcement of laws and regulations that govern public affairs. Legal frameworks ensure that government actions are consistent with the rule of law and protect citizens’ rights. Though by no means a perfect system – enforcement inequities continue to make the headlines – local leaders strive to create laws that work fairly for all.
Officer Agdeppa said the suspect attacked him and his partner; Agdeppa said he was in fear for his partner’s life when he shot the suspect
Court rules that under state law, the city of Wickliffe should have held a competitive exam to fill the position
A judge pointed out that the city failed to provide any evidence demonstrating that the officer’s off-duty cannabis use had an impact on her job performance
The city’s police chief calls the cameras in street lights ‘a game changer.’ Critics aren’t so sure, especially given that the program was introduced as a way to save energy and money instead of a way to collect data in public spaces.
Before the 2016 presidential election, when Russian state hackers targeted voting systems across the country, the job of local election officials could have been described as akin to a wedding planner, who keeps track of who will be showing up on Election Day and ensures all the equipment and supplies are in place. Not any more.
A federal judge has ordered the city of Gardendale, Alabama, to pay nearly $740,000 in legal fees to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and another $106,400 in expenses for its 2014 attempt to create a predominantly white school district within city limits.
Across the country, district attorneys are increasingly taking a progressive approach to criminal justice
Police yellow tape and makeshift memorials with flowers, stuffed animals and balloons have become common in some neighborhoods of this deeply segregated city.
Many law enforcement agencies in small communities across the United States are facing questions about how aggressively they pursue reports of sexual violence
State Farm, the largest in the state, Allstate and other insurers declined to renew roughly 350,000 policies in areas at high risk for wildfires since 2015, the California Department of Insurance said back in August.
Just 9% of wage earners in the bottom 25% have access to paid family leave, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That compares to 30% of wage earners in the top 25%
The DOJ will increase the number of federal law enforcement officers in each of the cities and add additional officers to federal task forces
For many counties, rising poverty rates underscore the importance of fully counting residents in next year’s census, since a count of low-income residents will help determine funding available to help them.
The mistaken belief that text messages are private can damage community relationships, and lead to litigation or fines
According to the suit, city commissioners and the mayor openly explained that they were motivated to pass the ordinance by their personal opposition to abortion.
An Olympia doctor is working to spread an opioid addiction treatment philosophy called “medication first.” The surprising approach scraps requirements for counseling, abstinence or even a commitment to recovery. But this may be a tough sell in other parts of the country.
The measure would have required panhandlers to be jailed for two days for the first offense, unless the sentence was suspended by a judge
“The net result, in my opinion,” said Howard Belodoff, the Idaho Legal Aid attorney who represented the Boise homeless residents in the case, “is that local officials and municipalities will have to address the issues surrounding homelessness, and not just make it a crime to sleep.”
Deputy Chief Jan Wright told Burlington’s mayor Monday that she used a fake Facebook account to engage citizens in police policy talk -- just hours after her predecessor resigned over his own use of a fake account.
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