By Cade Novara (PO ’23) For the past eight months, the country has been ravaged by the coronavirus. The lack of a cohesive, coordinated response from the government has left the United States with nearly 8 million cases and 217,000 deaths from the virus. Despite claims that the virus does not discriminate among groups, it has become increasingly evident that this is not the case...
By Jon Burkart (PO ’24) Before a crowd in Pittsburgh, Joe Biden promised voters: “I am not banning fracking. Let me say that again: I am not banning fracking.” It’s no wonder then, that running-mate Senator Kamala Harris was quick to reiterate Biden’s stance during the October 8th Vice-Presidential debate. The industry that employs nearly 32,000 people in Pennsylvania alone has...
By: Elease Willis (PO ’22) As a developed country that places a premium on technological innovation and globalization, the United States has prided itself on having transcended the immediate pressure of satisfying the lower tiers of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, like the physiological need for food. Yet not only is food insecurity a reality for a considerable number of Americans, attaining...
By Rowan McGarry-Williams (PO ’21) Since the 2016 election, California has positioned itself as a site of resistance against the Trump administration. Trump’s recent revocation of California’s authority to set strict auto emissions standards is only the latest escalation in a lengthy conflict, as state Attorney General Xavier Becerra has filed over 50 lawsuits against the administration...
By Savannah Green (CMC ’20) In June of 2018, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the defendant in Wayfair v. South Dakota regarding online sales tax. Prior to this case, the law did not allow states to collect sales tax from online stores unless said stores owned a physical property in the state. The precedent came from a 1992 case, Quill Corporation v. North Dakota, that had long given...
Until this year, out of the ten largest metropolitan areas in the Untied States, Los Angeles was the only city where selling food or merchandise on the streets could still be charged with a criminal misdemeanor.[1] Under the current LA Municipal Code, the use of sidewalks for vending anything other than items protected under the First Amendment is banned.[2] The Trump administration’s...
