Archive for March 2015
Ohio: State databases lacked thousands of county criminal records
It was recently discovered that, for months, several counties in Ohio were having computer issues that prevented counties from providing arrest and criminal disposition records to a statewide database that law-enforcement officers use when making traffic stops. This miscommunication caused a lack of complete records for state and city police, and had the errors not…
Read MoreFebruary 2015: mining industry sees decrease in jobs, unemployment rate continues to drop
the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate has decreased slightly since January. The unemployment rate is now 5.5 percent, leaving 8.7 million people out of work. In February, 295,000 new jobs were added across several fields, including healthcare, food and drinking establishments and business services. Only an average of 266,000 jobs were created per…
Read MoreJamaica making dramatic changes in drug testing for the 2016 Olympics
spent some time in Jamaica recently to check on the status of the country’s rebuilt drug-testing program, after it was discovered in 2013 that, in the six months before the 2012 Olympic Games in London, no out-of-competition drug screening was conducted on any of the country’s athletes. Jamaica has taken home 28 medals in track…
Read MoreCould the federal government overturn its medical marijuana ban?
attempt to end the federal government’s blanket ban on marijuana. The concern is that — while the current administration is fairly lax about enforcing the drug’s ban, allowing the states to determine if medical marijuana can or should be legalized — future administrations may crack down on federal bans and overturn all existing (and future)…
Read MoreKansas revokes Executive Order preventing sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination
President Obama’s Executive Order Final Rule, which was intended to prevent federal contractors from discriminating against potential employees on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Meanwhile, just last month Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback chose to rescind an Executive Order that was signed in 2007 by former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, which prohibited Kansas state…
Read MoreFingerprint background checks to crack down on all kinds of crimes in this profession
Florida recently passed a state law requiring all licensed massage therapists to undergo mandatory criminal background checks and fingerprint checks. The intent of the law is to prevent crime, as human traffickers often use massage parlors as fronts for trafficking sex workers. The state intends to use the fingerprint checks to “ferret out” massage therapists…
Read MoreScreening required for airport passengers, why not personnel?
Air travel in the U.S. requires an extensive passenger screening process; between pat-downs and X-ray machines, random hand-swabbing and required removal of belts and shoes, you’d expect the airport to be an incredibly secure place. However, in light of a Delta Airlines employee who was charged with smuggling guns onto planes in Atlanta, there has…
Read MoreGeorgia and Virginia consider ban-the-box legislation
Gov. Nathan Deal signed an Executive Order to remove criminal history questions from job applications in the state of Georgia. This move makes Georgia the fourteenth state in the U.S. to pass statewide ban-the-box legislation. (Both the city of Atlanta and Fulton County already had ban-the-box policies in place.) “[Ban-the-box] policies allow returning citizens an…
Read MoreWashington: Users of medical marijuana may now have more rights than ever
Senate Bill 5052 would allow those who utilize medical marijuana — per their doctors’ orders — to possess quantities of the drug up to three times larger than those who only use marijuana recreationally. The bill also included a number of provisions for medical marijuana users. In addition to allowing patients to grow their own…
Read MoreEEOC: Ruby Tuesday discriminated against men in job listing
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a class-action lawsuit against restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday for stating in a job listing that only female employees would be considered for summer positions at its location in a resort town in Utah. The job posting, according to the EEOC, violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act…
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