Topics: Your Personal Rights - 191 results

U.S. companies large and small legally deduct the expenses of doing business from their gross profits before paying income tax, but purveyors of marijuana (in states where possession is legal and where prescription marijuana is dispensed) cannot deduct those expenses and thus wind up paying a much higher federal income tax than other businesses. As NPR reported in April, “Section 280E” of the tax code (enacted in 1982 to trap illegal drug traffickers into tax violations) has not been changed …

Legislation signed into law in Kansas last week will sharply restrict women’s access to abortions, part of a nationwide assault on reproductive rights. The language of the bill “declares the life of each human being begins at fertilization, with all state laws to be interpreted and construed to protect the rights, privileges, and immunities of the unborn child, subject only to the U.S. Constitution and the judicial decisions and interpretations of the U.S. Supreme Court.” Although the statute gives a …

The nail-biting manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombing suspect on Apr. 19 led police from door to door in Watertown, Mass., looking for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. How were police able to search people’s homes without warrants?   No Warrant, but Still Need a Reason The Fourth Amendment, of course, requires police to have warrants supported by “probable cause” to conduct searches. But exceptions allow police to make emergency searches without warrants – and sometimes even without probable cause. The “exigent circumstances” …

Warehouse workers subcontracted to Amazon.com can move forward with a lawsuit seeking wages for the time it takes them to pass through a security checkpoint at the end of their shift, a court ruled this month. After the workday is over, employees at Integrity Staffing Solutions who spend the day at a warehouse filling Amazon orders are required to wait in line for a search to make sure they aren’t stealing anything. It takes about 20 to 25 minutes to get …

A jury awarded $11.5 million to a former high school football player accusing helmet maker Riddell Sports, Inc. of causing brain injuries he suffered as a teenager. In 2008, during football practice at Trinidad High School in Trinidad, Colo., Rhett Ridolfi, now 22, suffered a concussion. He wasn’t taken to the hospital right away and is now paralyzed on the left side and has severe brain damage. His parents sued Riddell, alleging the helmet was defective and that the company was …