Since the 1800s, the insanity defense has assisted mentally ill defendants in avoiding imprisonment on the basis that they were clinically insane upon performing the crime. However, “not guilty” does not equate to being free. Defendants submit an NGI (not guilty by reason of insanity) plea and if they are found insane, they are sent to the custody of a psychiatric facility or mental health institution, frequently for a longer period than defendants sent to prison for the same offense.

The Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act of 2022 (FDORA) includes key revisions that heavily impact the FDA-regulated industry. The act demonstrates substantial potential in ameliorating the treatment of rare diseases through the accelerated approval pathway. As 2023 comes to a close, we begin to see how FDORA has changed the landscape of accelerated drug development for Americans in its first year.

The United Kingdom’s recent Illegal Immigration Act has been a major cause of concern for both the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Human Rights Watch (HRW). The UNHCR’s Fillipo Grandi claims that “this new legislation significantly erodes the legal framework that has protected so many, exposing refugees to grave risks in breach of international law.” The UK government, however, insists that the Act — which was passed in July 202 3— is rooted in good intentions and seeks to deter migrants from taking unsafe passages into the country. Concerns over this issue have been on the rise since November 2021, when 27 migrants died in the English Channel en route to the UK from their pit stop in France. But if the Act aims to mitigate migrant-related tragedies, then why has it been met with such opposition?

The ongoing lawsuit against the Biden Administration involving concerns over First Amendment rights calls attention to the role of online platforms in debates of censorship and free speech. The lawsuit surfaced last year after several individuals claimed they were the victims of online censorship, as the Biden Administration allegedly urged social media platforms to remove certain content. In July 2023, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty issued an injunction that would restrict multiple government agencies and officials' communication with social media companies such as Facebook and Youtube. The most recent development in this case surfaced on October 20, 2023, when the Supreme Court lifted the injunction imposed by the lower court. Plaintiffs are still waiting on an official ruling, which will not be judged until hearings are held in early 2024. This lawsuit bears the burden of setting a precedent for future cases calling government censorship over online platforms into question. To better contextualize this lawsuit, it is important to examine other relevant case law and statutes addressing the First Amendment and the right to free speech…

In just the past two years, the Peach State has seen two high-profile runoff elections for the U.S. Senate. However, before 2021, Georgia’s most recent runoff election for the U.S. Senate was in 2008 and the only one prior to that was in 1992. Runoff elections occur when no candidate reaches the required threshold for victory (for Georgia, this would be 50% of the general election vote for a statewide or congressional district race) and take place in only ten states — eight of those states being in the [South][1]. With the increased attention Georgia’s high-profile runoffs have received in the past few years, debates have increasingly erupted over the validity of these elections. However, one question must be addressed before any conclusions can be reached: why, exactly, is Georgia always running off?

In the coming weeks, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas will rule on Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration: the case that has thrown into question the validity of the FDA’s 20-year-long approval of the mifepristone, the essential medication for U.S. abortion services, which now accounts for 54% of abortions nationally. If the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas rules on the side of the Alliance, access to medical abortion will be limited for all Americans, even those in states where abortion is protected. As the post-Roe landscape in the United States continues to shift, however, one thing is certain: Dobbs was only the beginning.