111
votes
Accepted
In most U.S. states, female genital mutilation is illegal. So why is male circumcision legal?
Clitoridectomies are not equivalent to male circumcision. Clitoridectomies are equivalent to removal of the glans (the head of the penis, which contains most of the nerve endings that produce sexual ...
- 65.1k
107
votes
Accepted
How do the Republicans' recent laws make it harder for Democratic voters to vote?
There's a bevy of tools being used but they boil down to a few basic categories:
Close polling stations in key neighborhoods, forcing longer trips and longer lines at polling stations where voters ...
- 16.4k
70
votes
Accepted
Is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact constitutional?
The Interstate State Compact, if it ever was implemented by states representing 270 or more electors would almost certainly be tested in court. Until it is tested in the Supreme Court, nobody can ...
- 113k
56
votes
Accepted
Why are American states permitted to vote their own election laws?
Amendment 10
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Your question assumes a ...
- 113k
51
votes
How do the Republicans' recent laws make it harder for Democratic voters to vote?
One consideration not mentioned so far is the disparate areas in which Republican voters and Democratic voters tend to live, the so-called "Rural-Urban Divide".
People living in more rural ...
- 15.7k
49
votes
What is the rationale behind making it illegal to hand out water to voters in line in Georgia?
The rationalization stems from similar proclamations across multiple states against voter intimidation or vote-buying. Nobody should have the fact that they're stuck in a line be taken advantage-of by ...
- 17k
49
votes
What would happen if an American state didn’t follow a ruling by the Supreme Court?
I don't know if this is the worst case confrontation, but I suppose it ranks pretty high; following Brown v. Board of Education there were numerous attempts to resist, some solved with troops and some ...
- 133k
48
votes
Accepted
In the US, what is the role of and relationship between federal law and state law?
Division of Powers Between State and Federal Governments
There are some powers that are reserved solely to the federal government, some that can only be exercised locally or by the states, and yet ...
- 7,870
48
votes
Why are Kinder Surprise Eggs illegal in the USA?
Note that the manufacturer has worked around this ban by introducing the Kinder Joy
It has plastic egg-shaped packaging that splits into two, one half contains layers of cocoa and milk cream and the ...
- 133k
47
votes
Accepted
Why are Kinder Surprise Eggs illegal in the USA?
They have tiny pieces that are considered to be a choking hazard. There have been some high profile and tragic deaths among children due to choking on toys with small pieces. So the United States is ...
- 89.2k
47
votes
What is the rationale behind making it illegal to hand out water to voters in line in Georgia?
The point is to make voting harder and, therefore, to discourage it. By preventing volunteers from giving out food and water to voters, it makes the wait to vote (which can stretch to hours in some ...
- 25.9k
46
votes
Accepted
Why do so many US States have a relaxed vehicle inspection policy?
There's a few reasons why, but the two largest are
It's effectively a tax on cars (and a regressive tax at that). A Texas legislator noted that when introducing a bill to repeal Texas' law
So let’...
- 44.1k
42
votes
Why is avoidance of judicial review of the Texas abortion law and other future US state laws so concerning to the US department of justice?
In WWH v. Jackson the Court majority concludes that the Texas law is de facto immune to the power of judicial review, for entirely procedural reasons.
They argue that the Court's power of injunction ...
- 16.4k
38
votes
If Roe is overturned, what is the legality of laws prohibiting crossing state lines for abortion?
This law would be unconstitutional. There is a well established constitutional right to travel and relocate. In general, a state can't burden that, partially also under the doctrine known as the ...
- 70.9k
37
votes
Why are American states permitted to vote their own election laws?
US election laws are a mainly left up to the individual states because the Constitution delegates broad election-related powers to the states. The federal government can create certain election laws ...
- 9,587
35
votes
Accepted
Why is bestiality illegal in the United States?
As Wikipedia indicates such state laws seem to have a curiously bimodal distribution. Some are two (or more) centuries old, and some are pretty recent, e.g.
Arkansas has it since 1819
Alabama has it ...
- 133k
33
votes
In most U.S. states, female genital mutilation is illegal. So why is male circumcision legal?
It takes time for things to change. 200 years ago slavery was legal. 50 years ago genital mutilation was acceptable, and so was electroshock therapy for gay people. Today those things sound like ...
- 2,344
33
votes
Accepted
How do states with no state income tax like Florida or Texas generate tax revenue?
You can find revenue breakdowns online, as this is generally all public information. It mainly only gets confusing depending on how the breakdown is done and the names given to them (e.g. sales tax, ...
- 16.5k
32
votes
How do the Republicans' recent laws make it harder for Democratic voters to vote?
affect the Democratic base, but not their own constituents
Besides the fact that you're using the word "constituents" incorrectly (everyone who is eligible to vote for you is your ...
- 7,859
31
votes
Accepted
Has any US state passed a law in a language other than English?
Louisiana's civil code was originally (before statehood) written in French and translated into English. Even after statehood, however, the code was bilingual for several decades:
The first Louisiana ...
- 17.3k
29
votes
How do the Republicans' recent laws make it harder for Democratic voters to vote?
I think this whole issue would be clearer if people understood that the GOP goal here isn't voter suppression; the GOP goal is voter attrition. Every hoop to jump, every obstacle to navigate, every ...
- 65.1k
28
votes
Accepted
Georgia Secretary of State's power to enforce the 14th amendment of the US constitution re. deny Marjorie Taylor Green's right to run for re-election?
The relevant statute in Georgia is GA Code § 21-2-5 (2020) - it’s a bit long to reproduce here, but the general gist of the law is to first establish that all candidates for election must meet the ...
CDJB♦
- 102k
27
votes
Why is bestiality illegal in the United States?
The Law
Bestiality is not a crime, per se, in five states, although in some cases it may constitute animal cruelty.
In Colorado (where the enactment was fairly recent), bestiality is per se an act ...
- 70.9k
27
votes
How can grand jury secrecy rules block release of Trump financial records?
Just Me's answer covered the ruling pretty well, so I'll focus on the specifics of a grand jury.
A grand jury proceeding is nothing like a jury trial. It is an investigative tool for the prosecution ...
- 20.8k
26
votes
Accepted
What would happen if every state had a law requiring it hold the nations first primary?
For the purposes of this answer I’ll only look at the rules for the democratic party (mostly because they were easier to find).
In short, the DNC will not recognize any primary or caucus held before ...
- 2,717
23
votes
Accepted
Why are drinking laws so strict in the USA?
The "frame challenge" aspect of this answer is to note that, while the USA is stricter than many European countries, it is less strict than many other countries. Many majority Muslim countries ban ...
- 113k
22
votes
Accepted
What arguments have been made to support the Texas abortion law's private enforcement provisions, beyond evading review?
I haven't come across supporters of the bill disclaiming the charge that the private enforcement clause is intended to evade immediate judicial review - the sponsor of the bill, Senator Bryan Hughes, ...
CDJB♦
- 102k
21
votes
Accepted
If every legal challenge that Trump has mounted since the election succeeds, could he win the presidency?
Trump would need to achieve a result changing outcome in three of the following six states: NV, AZ, PA, MI, WI and GA. Some are more vulnerable to challenge than others by virtue of involving smaller ...
- 70.9k
20
votes
Why are Kinder Surprise Eggs illegal in the USA?
As described in other answers, the United States has banned the sale of candy with embedded toys since 1938. This photo of a poster from the FDA History Office (apologies for the low quality) explains ...
- 301
20
votes
Why is avoidance of judicial review of the Texas abortion law and other future US state laws so concerning to the US department of justice?
Question: Why is avoidance of judicial review of the Texas abortion law and in the future to other US state laws so concerning to the US department of justice? What is the nature of this "greater,...
- 1,371
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible