Welcome to the monthly legal news roundup, where we summarize the most important and relevant developments in the US legal system. Here are some of the highlights from the past month:
– The Supreme Court issued several landmark rulings, including upholding the Affordable Care Act, striking down a restrictive voting law in Arizona, and expanding the scope of religious freedom in employment and education cases.
– The Justice Department announced a sweeping investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department, following the conviction of former officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. The probe will examine whether the department engages in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing.
– The Senate confirmed several key judicial nominees, including Ketanji Brown Jackson to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, Candace Jackson-Akiwumi to the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and Zahid Quraishi to the US District Court for the District of New Jersey. Quraishi is the first Muslim American federal judge in US history.
– The House of Representatives passed a bill to make Juneteenth, the day commemorating the end of slavery in the US, a federal holiday. President Biden signed the bill into law on June 17, making Juneteenth the 12th federal holiday and the first new one since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.
– The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs, a blockchain company that created the cryptocurrency XRP, alleging that it violated federal securities laws by selling unregistered digital assets. Ripple Labs denies the allegations and argues that XRP is not a security but a medium of exchange.
