For the first time, the federal government has exercised its authority to approve and reject tobacco products, which it had been granted under a 2009 law. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced this week that it had authorized the sale of two new makes of cigarettes, both of them by the Lorillard Tobacco Company. The FDA also rejected four other new tobacco products, but was prevented from releasing any information about them due to the law’s guidelines.   read more

Until Congress does redo the criteria, the Republican Party has its dream situation, one in which states can enact whatever voting procedures they want to limit minority voting without serious threat of reprisal from the federal government. This means that Republicans have absolutely no motivation to cooperate in rewriting the criteria for oversight.   read more

The plaintiff claimed she was subjected to discrimination by a supervisor—whom she defined as someone who controlled her work schedule and performance evaluations. But the supervisor in question did not possess the power to hire, fire and promote workers—and on that basis, the pro-corporate wing of the Supreme Court rejected (pdf) the plaintiff’s argument because the superior was really a coworker in their view.   read more

EPA officials said they will not finalize a 2011 draft study that found contaminants in the groundwater of Pavillion, Wyoming, were consistent with chemicals used in fracking. They also said they will not ask outside experts to review the EPA’s research. Instead, the agency will turn the matter over to the state of Wyoming, which intends to work with Encana, the company that conducted the fracking, to finish the study.   read more

In an under-reported but potentially historic decision last week, a sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-3 to reject the retailers’ argument, ruling that large corporations may force contractors—and potentially consumers and employees—to waive their constitutional right to a jury trial in favor of private arbitration decided by a firm of the corporation’s choice.   read more

Sen. Dianne Feinstein , chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, stated that the FAA had helped thwart “a plot to bomb a downtown Chicago bar” that fall. If that is true, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure would require the government to share the results of the surveillance that led investigators to Daoud, yet prosecutors refuse even to confirm or deny the substance of Feinstein’s comments.   read more

A deficiency balance, also known as the “underwater amount,” is the difference between the amount of the mortgage and the actual property value. In New Jersey, lenders have up to 56 years to collect debts and in Massachusetts 60 years. In Pennsylvania, there is no time limit at all. Lenders often wait several years until the homeowner has recovered financially before the they go after the debt. By this time, significant interest has been added to the original debt amount.   read more

The case centered on a 2003 law intended to combat AIDS and other infectious diseases worldwide. It provided $60 billion in funding for public health NGOs—but only if they renounced prostitution and sex trafficking, which can lead to the spread of diseases. Four NGOs that carry out overseas programs sued the government, saying the law undermined their efforts because they sometimes have to work with those involved in the sex trade in order to fight the spread of AIDS.   read more

A poll conducted in 2012 by the National Opinion Research Center showed that 57% of Americans disapprove of the Supreme Court prohibition against public schools requiring the reading of Bible verses or the Lord’s Prayer, while 39% approve. However, there were sharp regional differences. A majority in the Northeast and the West did approve of the prohibition, while in the South 73% disapproved. In addition, Americans age 18-29 differed from their elders, approving of the prohibition 56% to 38%.   read more

Remaining silent during questioning by police can be used against a person in a court of law, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a startling reinterpretation of Fifth Amendment rights. A narrow majority ruled 5-to-4 in Salinas v. Texas that it was permissible for authorities to present at Genovevo Salinas’ trial that he refused to answer the police’s questions about a fatal shooting because Salinas had already answered some questions prior to being arrested and read his Miranda rights.   read more

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected Arizona’s law requiring residents to prove their citizenship before registering to vote. The ruling, which had only two dissents (Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito), represented the second time that the Supreme Court has overturned an Arizona law targeting illegal immigrants. In both cases, the court said the state had entered legal territory where the federal government and its law are dominant.   read more

Simone Gordon, who worked at the bank from 2007 until early 2012 as a senior collector, told ProPublica that she and other workers “were told to lie to customers and claim that Bank of America had not received documents it had requested.” “We were told that admitting that the Bank received documents ‘would open a can of worms,’” she added. Bank employees “who placed ten or more accounts into foreclosure in a given month received a $500 bonus.”   read more

The government is relying on Section 215 [of the Patriot Act] to collect “metadata” about every phone call made or received by residents of the United States. The practice is akin to snatching every American’s address book—with annotations detailing whom we spoke to, when we talked, for how long, and from where. It gives the government a comprehensive record of our associations and public movements, revealing a wealth of detail about our intimate associations.   read more

Appearing on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal,” Loretta Sanchez said, “I don't know if there are other leaks, if there's more information somewhere, if somebody else is going to step up, but I will tell you that I believe it's the tip of the iceberg,” She added that she was “astounded” by what she heard and that NSA’s surveillance system is “just broader than most people even realize.”   read more

The case centered on Myriad Genetics, a Utah biotech company that held the patents on human breast and ovarian cancer genes (BRCA1 and BRCA2) for two decades. “Myriad did not create anything,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court. “To be sure, it found an important and useful gene, but separating that gene from its surrounding genetic material is not an act of invention.”   read more

With so many companies taking part in America’s spying activity, it is no wonder that private sector workers hold about 22% of all U.S. government security clearances and about 29% of top secret security clearances. The Obama administration promised four years ago to substantially reduce this figure and put more of this highly sensitive work back in the hands of federal employees. That hasn’t happened yet.   read more