Three Alternatives to the Usual Strategies for Collecting Fines and Fees
A report from the Fines and Fees Justice Center lays out alternatives for cities looking to make collection practices more equitable and efficient.
New York Court Officials Complete Rare Review of Cases Handled by Judge Forced Into Retirement by Dementia
A review of dozens of Judge ShawnDya Simpson’s cases found the decisions to be rational, a disappointment for a man whose claims of innocence had been one of the judge’s last cases.
GOP Lawsuits Restrain Governors’ COVID-19 Actions
In most states, judges have tossed out the lawsuits or sided with governors.
OxyContin Manufacturer Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charges in Opioid Lawsuit
STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Iowa misspent $21 million in coronavirus relief funds, audit finds ... California city will launch a pilot program to guarantee income for some residents ... Georgia voters may not know who funded campaigns before casting ballots.
Eleven States Join DOJ in Antitrust Lawsuit Against Google
STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Police in Colorado take off-road vehicles to homeless encampment to provide vaccines and Covid tests … Can city recoup cancelled RNC costs? … Colleges require flu shots.
Federal Judge Rejects Work Requirement Changes in Food Stamp Program
Nineteen states and Washington, D.C., had filed a lawsuit challenging the USDA's changes to food assistance, which would have cut 700,000 adults from the program.
Supreme Court Sides With Trump on Census, Allowing for Immediate End to Count
Enumeration was under lower court order to keep count going through Oct. 31.
Texas Can Limit Counties to a Single Ballot Drop-off Location, Appeals Court Rules
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday ruled that Texas can mandate only one drop-off location for absentee ballots in each county, reversing a lower court ruling on Gov. Greg Abbott's order earlier this month.
A Warning From Michigan
COMMENTARY | The state previews how far Republican judges will go to obstruct Democrats in office.
Maine Hires Lawyers With Criminal Records to Defend Its Poorest Residents
Maine is the only state in the country with no public defender system. Instead, legal services for the poor are left to private attorneys, who face disproportionately high amounts of discipline, and an office that doesn’t supervise them.
In One State, Advocacy Groups Sue Over New Limit on the Number of Ballot Drop-Off Locations
Texas recently changed its election rules, limiting the number of drop-off sites in which voters can deposit their absentee ballots to one per county.
Conservatives Are Challenging Private Grants to Help Local Officials Run Elections
An initiative backed by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg is giving grants to local election offices that face funding shortages as a result of the pandemic. Conservative groups in several states have sued, saying the efforts are meant to boost the Democratic vote.
Plea Bargaining Needs to be More Transparent, Report Argues
Widespread plea bargaining in the criminal justice system may be fueling racial inequities and leading innocent people to plead guilty, says a new report from the Vera Institute of Justice.
Coronavirus Death Toll Passes 200,000
STATE AND LOCAL NEWS ROUNDUP | CDC advises against trick-or-treating ... Wisconsin judge grants voters extra time to return mail-in ballots ... Alaskan dog-sled race will kick off as scheduled despite pandemic.
In a Cross-State Aquifer Spat, a View of a Water-Stressed Future
Mississippi sued Memphis over its use of a deep aquifer. A possibly paradigm-shifting Supreme Court decision looms.
Minnesota Lawsuit is Latest to Challenge a Face Mask Mandate
Across the country, state and local directives imposing face mask requirements have been met with repeated court challenges.
Governor Has Authority to Close Bars During Pandemic, Federal Judge Rules
A federal judge sided with Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards in a lawsuit brought by 10 bar owners who argued that closing their businesses to prevent the spread of Covid-19 violated their constitutional rights.
Cities and Counties Join Lawsuit Challenging Shortened Census Timeline
The Trump administration earlier this month walked back plans to extend the count due to the coronavirus.
State Ban on ‘High Capacity’ Gun Magazines Violates 2nd Amendment, 9th Circuit Rules
The California law, tied up in court since it was approved by voters in 2016, would ban the possession of firearms magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds.
New York Attorney General Seeks to Dissolve National Rifle Association
STATE AND LOCAL NEWS ROUNDUP | Minneapolis voters will not consider proposal to dismantle police department this fall … Governor says positive coronavirus test later came back negative … Houston City Council embraces “walkable” plan.
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies
Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link
If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.
Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.
Cookie List
A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:
Strictly Necessary Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Functional Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Performance Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Sale of Personal Data
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
Social Media Cookies
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
Targeting Cookies
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
Help us tailor content specifically for you: