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.
The new law requires solitary confinement to “only be used as a last resort, in the least restrictive manner and for the shortest period of time safely possible”
The Chula Vista PD was taken to court after it withheld all drone footage under a California Public Record Act exemption that allows investigative material to remain confidential
Police Chief Brian Chaney stated the department “has decided to temporarily focus our priorities on suspects who we believe to be involved in dangerous and violent felony offenses”
All told, the county’s 21 public defenders handled about 4,100 cases during the most recent fiscal year. Even homicide cases piled up — the roughly 60 pending murder cases are assigned to 10 public defenders.
Governors in 42 other states have said they will consent to allowing in more refugees.
“Where do people who are just barely making it go? How about these people who we promised a chance at the American dream?”
House Democrats and several of the hearing’s witnesses said some immigrants and Hispanics may still be afraid to participate in the census this spring
Practically speaking, there’s a big difference between scanning a network for vulnerabilities and actually breaking into it and extracting sensitive information. But that doesn’t mean these efforts don’t undermine the public’s trust.
Three national refugee resettlement agencies argue that Trump’s October executive order allowing local governments to keep new refugees from settling in their jurisdictions illegally conflicts with the Refugee Act and are seeking a preliminary injunction.
The move will have little practical effect as no refugees have been resettled in Beltrami County in the past five years.
Between half and three-quarters of the developable land in much of the state is zoned for single-family housing, making denser growth off-limits there — aside from garage conversions or backyard units.
Firearm manufacturers and dealers are protected from liability when their products are used to commit crimes, but not when they themselves knowingly violate federal gun laws.
The National Rifle Association has placed an ad on an interstate billboard in Richmond warning of a “Northam/Bloomberg Confiscation Plan.” The group has a “confiscation” countdown timer linked to the start of the legislative session on its website.
“We’ve got a president who claims to, pretends to speak for communities like mine: lower-income, industrial, working-class communities. And it’s time for a voice that actually comes from the experience of shaping and guiding one of those communities to be in Washington,” the former mayor said.
Only six states have laws specifically allowing campaign money to be used for child care.
Officer Charles Starks was fired after shooting at Bradley Blackshire at least 15 times through the windshield of a car last February; a spokeswoman for Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott said the city will appeal the ruling
When a school system wants to remove a violent disabled child from those classrooms, the layers of documentation and data-keeping required under the law can take months -- and during that time, other children have been severely injured.
The former mayor made the attention-getting choice of Puerto Rico as his first campaign stop, recited the names of black victims killed in high-profile police shootings and was the first in the field to call for Trump’s impeachment. He also was a leading voice in the field on poverty and ending hunger.
Lawyers for the fire victims have asked the judge to reduce the government agencies’ claims, arguing that the California governor’s office of emergency services can’t recover the costs of carrying out public services such as response to fires.
