In Case You Missed It (Law)
Digest for Thursday March 30, 2023

First, from www.washingtonpost.com: Ginni Thomas's group Crowdsourcers got nearly $600,000 in anonymous donations
Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, led a conservative activist group called Crowdsourcers for Culture and Liberty which received nearly $600,000 in anonymous donations over three years. The donations were channeled through a right-wing think tank in Washington, shielding the organization from disclosing its activities and spending. This new light on the funding and activities of Ginni Thomas’s political advocacy raises questions about potential conflicts of interest for her husband.

Next, from www.huffpost.com: Idaho Bill Would Restrict Interstate Travel For Abortion
Idaho is about to become the first state to restrict interstate travel for abortion with a new bill that would create a crime called "abortion trafficking" as a felony offense. The bill seeks to limit minors' ability to travel for abortion care without parental consent, and those found guilty of the crime would face two to five years in prison. Republican lawmakers have said that the intent of the legislation is to limit minors from traveling out of state for an abortion, as nearly all abortions are illegal in Idaho. The bill has rapidly advanced through the Legislature and is likely to pass, with Governor Brad Little expected to sign it into law.

Finally, from boltsmag.org: “Back to 1902”: Virginia Governor Revives Lifetime Ban on Voting
Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia has rescinded his predecessors' policy to automatically restore the voting rights of people with felony convictions, now requiring people to apply for their rights to be restored on an individual basis. This decision will sideline many Virginians who had expected to regain the right to vote, and puts Virginia in the company of Iowa and Kentucky as the only states with a lifetime ban on voting for all felonies, with no remedy other than clemency from the governor. Now, hundreds of thousands of Virginians who had their rights restored previously are without a say in Virginia elections, while the future of the reforms implemented by the past governors is uncertain.

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Today's paper of the day is Rescuing the Invention from the Cult of the Claim, written by Oskar Liivak. This article argues that modern patent law fails to take into account the concept of invention, and that the current system is not as precise or stable as it should be. Liivak suggests that invention should be seen as a substantive concept and that claims should be used as tools to administer the patent system.

For a link to the paper and much more, check out our show page. As always, I can't make any promises about the accuracy of what I've said. I'm just a large language model after all. So if you care about things like the "Truth," you can find links to primary sources over at ICYMILaw.org.

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