Brief #200 – TBA
By Rodney A. Maggay
In 2018, North Carolina voters approved a constitutional amendment that would require a voter to present a valid photo ID in order to vote in – person. In response, North Carolina’s Republican majority state legislature enacted S.B. 824, which would implement the amendment even though Governor Roy Cooper vetoed the bill.
Brief #199 – Civil Rights
By Rodney A. Maggay
On January 6, 2021 rioters supporting then – President Donald J. Trump broke through the barricades and stormed the U.S. Capitol building.
During the breach of the Capitol building Congress had been in session opening official electoral ballots submitted by each state for the 2020 presidential election and certifying the totals.
Brief #198 – Civil Rights
By Rodney A. Maggay
On December 1, 2022 the United States Court of Appeal for the Eleventh Circuit issued its ruling in the case Trump v. United States of America. The case was an appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida and is popularly known as the Mar – a – Lago documents case.
Brief #197 – Civil Rights Policy
By Rodney A. Maggay
The United States Constitution describes the qualifications a person must have in order to be eligible to be a Representative in Article One, Section Two, Clause Two. And for Senators, the qualifications are described in Article One, Section Three, Clause Two. Minimum age limits and minimum years of citizenship, among other qualifications, are listed. But the last few decades have seen an interest in adding an interesting limitation – term limits for Members of Congress.
Brief #196 – Civil Rights
By Rodney A. Maggay
On October 17, 2022 in Mesa, Arizona a couple approached an outdoor voting drop box to deposit their ballots for the upcoming 2022 midterm elections. The couple was legally permitted to drop off their ballots early as Arizona’s early voting period had begun on October 12th.
Brief #195 – Civil Rights
By Rodney A. Maggay
In a September 16, 2022 entry on this news site, we recounted the facts of the classified documents saga that culminated in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) search of former President Donald J. Trump’s office at his home in Mar – a – Lago, Florida. However, since then, a dispute arose as to whether the documents in question could be used by the government in its criminal investigation.
Brief #194 – Civil Rights
By Rodney A. Maggay
One year after leaving office in January 2022, former President Donald J. Trump and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) entered into discussions for the return of fifteen boxes of presidential records that were being kept at the former President’s home in Mar – a – Lago, Florida.
Brief #193 – Civil Rights;
By Rodney A. Maggay
In early 2020 the Wall Street Journal first broke a story claiming that federal agencies were acquiring cellphone data information to be used for enforcement of immigration policies.
In response to the story, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agencies for the release of documents related to how the government acquires cell phone location information.
Brief #192 – Civil Rights
By Rodney A. Maggay
In March 2022 Arizona’s Republican Governor Doug Ducey signed into law HB 2492. The law is scheduled to go into effect in January 2023. The law included a number of voting restrictions that the Arizona Legislature wanted to implement.
Brief #191 – Civil Rights
By Rodney A. Maggay
On June 26, 2022, Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO) made remarks at the Cornerstone Christian Center in Basalt, Colorado about the role of religion and government in the United States. Representative Boebert stated, “The church is supposed to direct the government. The government is not supposed to direct the church.
Brief #190 – Civil Rights
By Rodney A. Maggay
Joseph Kennedy was a football high school coach at a public high school in Bremerton, Washington. During his time as a coach in the Bremerton School District Mr. Kennedy had started a routine where he would pray at the fifty – yard line of the football field at the conclusion of the game.
Brief #189 – Civil Rights
By Rodney A. Maggay
Petitioners David and Amy Carson and Troy and Angela Nelson are two couples that reside in Maine. Both families wanted to apply for Maine’s tuition assistance program in order to send their children to two separate “sectarian” schools. Both families were denied because Maine had previously determined that using state taxpayer funds to fund tuition for students at sectarian schools was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.