Ryan Farrick is a freelance writer and small business advertising consultant based out of mid-Michigan. Passionate about international politics and world affairs, he’s an avid traveler with a keen interest in the connections between South Asia and the United States. Ryan studied neuroscience and has spent the last several years working as an operations manager in transportation logistics.
Tennessee will no longer suspend the driver’s licenses of residents unable to pay court costs. The decision, effected by a Monday court order, marks the first time a federal judge has challenged state laws which penalize drivers for unrelated debts. Calling the verdict a veritable “tour de face,” attorney Claudia Wilner says an estimated 100,000
The Chicagoland city of Waukegan, IL, approved a $9.5 million settlement to end a lawsuit filed by wrongly imprisoned resident Angel Gonzalez. Gonzalez, freed from prison in 2015, spent 20 years behind bars after being convicted for the rape of a local woman. DNA evidence exonerated Gonzalez, whose case prompted city officials to require enhanced
After weeks of turmoil and a tenure ridden with controversy, Environmental Protection Agency Director Scott Pruitt has announced his resignation. The Washington Post interviewed several employees outside the agency’s offices, several of whom expressed relief at Pruitt’s sudden departure. “I am happy,” said a 15-year veteran on his way home. “He was never accepted. If
On Thursday, a federal judge dismissed demands from the Trump administration to block three of California’s sanctuary city laws. POLITICO reports that the court allowed the brunt of the legislation to remain intact while ordering some alterations. Sacramento-based U.S. District Judge John Mendez ‘rejected, for now, the Justice Department’s drive to halt a California law
The Trump administration intends to do away with Obama-era rules on how race can be used in college admissions. The Department of Education’s decision to rescind a set of guidance documents won’t have an impact on affirmative action—but, as CNN notes, the impending departure of Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy leaves the door open
A federal civil rights lawsuit accuses Madera police of killing a mentally ill man who was brandishing a stick. Filed in a California court in late June, the complaint stacks drastically different accounts of the killing against one another. Police say 31-year Sergio Valdovinos was wielding a machete, shovel handle and makeshift shield when he
A jury awarded a Montana man $20,000 after Wells Fargo mistakenly seized his home in 2014. The Jefferson County jury’s verdict may have been more beneficial to the bank than Kevin Moore, whose home was foreclosed when he was in Alaska. Moore had been seeking at least $600,000 in compensatory damages and wanted to see
California is the latest entrant in a series of lawsuit against Navient, the nation’s largest servicer of student loans. On Thursday, state attorney general Xavier Becerra said he’d initiate litigation against the company, accusing of it widespread deception and error. California says Navient’s misdeeds and oversights cost borrowers millions of dollars. As the New York
Five immigrant children are suing President Donald Trump over “jail-like” conditions and cruel treatment they say received in the custody of federal agents. Filed Friday, the complaint claims that policies being pursued by the Office of Refugee Resettlement and the Department of Health and Human Services are “causing grave harm to children,” both psychologically and
On Friday, a federal jury awarded $17 million to Jacques Rivera, a former inmate who says he was framed for a murder he didn’t commit. The long-time detainee accused three Chicago police detectives of coercing a 12-year old boy into fingering him as the killer in a crime with no other witnesses. One of the