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OpenAI Sued Over ChatGPT’s ‘Dangerous’ Health Advice
The case appears to be the first to argue that a chatbot’s advice harmed someone seeking guidance about a medical condition.
As Massachusetts codifies science of reading, experts expect results to take a few years
The state’s law takes effect in 2027-28, but one former state education chief doesn’t expect meaningful performance data until three years later.
Opinion: Michigan’s businesses need more CPAs. Lansing shouldn’t delay the solution.
State lawmakers should move quickly to enact legislation creating an additional pathway to CPA licensure.
Hackers Exploit Windmill Flaw to Read Arbitrary Server Files Without Authentication
VulnCheck says attackers are exploiting Windmill CVE-2026-29059 to read server files, with about 170 vulnerable systems exposed in 24 countries.
Health Law Attorney Hannah McSween Cole Rejoins Baker Donelson as Of Counsel in Knoxville
Hannah McSween Cole, an attorney with extensive experience advising health care organizations on mergers and acquisitions, strategic transactions, and operational and compliance matters, has rejoined Baker Donelson as of counsel in the Firm's Health Law Group.
‘If all else fails, sue’: how ultra-processed food firms are using the courts to obstruct health rules
Exclusive: Global investigation reveals 235 lawsuits have been brought against governments in five countries since 2010
Anthropic to Donate $20 Million to US Political Group That Supports AI Regulation
WASHINGTON, July 22 (Reuters) - AI giant Anthropic will donate $20 million to a lobbying organization that supports AI regulation, according to a company statement released on Wednesday, its latest move to influence U.S. policy on the technology. The company is donating to Public First Action,
Appeals court revives radiologist’s lawsuit over his public support for youth trans-care ban
“Today’s decision affirms that speaking honestly to our elected representatives is not misconduct—it is a constitutional right," Wyoming radiologist Eric Cubin, MD, said.
Bengals Get Alarming Joe Burrow Message Before Training Camp
The Cincinnati Bengals put all their chips on the table to end their playoff drought this upcoming 2026 season. After signing free agents Jonathan Allen, Boye Mafe, and Bryan Cook, Cincinnati then made the blockbuster trade for Dexter Lawrence II. After three straight seasons of missing the playoffs, the Bengals made aggressive moves to show […] The post Bengals Get Alarming Joe Burrow Message Before Training Camp appeared first on HEAVY.
Saudis Reach Deal With U.S. That Could Let Them Enrich Nuclear Fuel
U.S. lawmakers and Israeli officials have expressed opposition to such a plan, to be announced Wednesday, fearing that the kingdom could use a civilian nuclear project to develop nuclear weapons.
ANTHC to get $400 million settlement from feds over unpaid healthcare costs
The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium in a 2021 lawsuit contended it was owed about $640 million.
Federal civil rights agency moves to stop requiring demographic data collection after 60 years
The Trump administration is moving to toss aside a 60-year-old requirement for tens of thousands of private sector employers to submit workforce demographic reports each year to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency responsible for enforcing anti-discrimination laws in the workplace.
Providing Contemporary Educational Programming Leads Business Law Section Chair’s Agenda - New York State Bar Association
Luca Melchionna understands the value of education and collaboration through his 30-year career working in higher education and as a transactional attorney. His background is the basis of his initiatives for the upcoming 11 months where his focus will be on increasing engagement through developing cutting-edge programming. “My priority is to connect our members with
Natural Environmental Change Center supports student and faculty research on environmental change and solutions
Grants prioritize environmental change research that involves collaboration in and across disciplines
Trump must divulge financial details about businesses in $10bn BBC lawsuit
US judge’s ruling could open up window into first family’s multiple ventures, in drawback of lawsuit on media
Dixon Q. Dern Dead: Desilu, CAA Lawyer Was 97
He also worked for the animation studio UPA, CBS and United Artists Television, and his clients included Bob Hope, Jackie Gleason and The Jackson 5.
AG James: Owners of Newburgh apartments must make repairs, refund tenants
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a settlement in a lawsuit filed against the owners of the Kenney Apartments.
Dixon Dern Dead: Influential Entertainment Lawyer Was 97
Dixon Dern, a longtime Hollywood attorney who helped shape modern entertainment law, died July 19. He was 97.
House lawmakers question sports prediction markets as tribes defend gaming authority
House lawmakers examined sports prediction markets as tribal leaders argued federally regulated event contracts threaten tribal gaming authority and consumer protections.
Novo Nordisk sues GLP-1 rival Eli Lilly over claims of false advertising
Novo Nordisk filed a lawsuit claiming Eli Lilly ran “false and materially misleading” advertisements that ignore recent data. According to Lilly, though, its message is "truthful" and "grounded in the most direct scientific evidence available."
Nintendo customers have no legal right to tariff refunds, company tells judge
Nintendo says Switch buyers got what they paid for, urges court to dismiss lawsuit.
Sony Music Entertainment files new lawsuit against AI startup Udio
Sony Music Entertainment on Monday filed a new lawsuit against AI startup Udio, alleging the company infringed on the copyrights of more than 30,000 recordings.
Sony Music Entertainment files new lawsuit against AI startup Udio
Sony Music Entertainment on Monday filed a new lawsuit against AI startup Udio, alleging the company infringed on the copyrights of more than 30,000 recordings.
Critical wp2shell WordPress flaws exploited to install webshells
Hackers are exploiting the "wp2shell" critical vulnerability suite (CVE-2026-63030 and CVE-2026-60137) affecting WordPress Core to deploy persistent webshells and install malicious plugins on affected servers.
Columbus seeks to declare Hilltop apartment complex, business public nuisances
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A West Side apartment complex and adjacent business property are under scrutiny by the city attorney’s office after a lawsuit was filed to declare them a public nuisance. Ac…
New Mexico lawmakers express frustration with long process to rebuild behavioral health system
New Mexico lawmakers expressed frustration with the lengthy process of rebuilding the state's behavioral health system across 13 regions.
SEMO Political Science Student Serves as Arcadia Alderman
SEMO political science student Will Erpenbach serves as an Arcadia alderman while earning his degree and preparing for law school and public service.
GW Law Hosts Symposium with Global Blockchain Business Council | GW Law
The Business and Finance Law program and The Bernard Center partnered with the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC) to host a day-long symposium.
A Historic Data-Sharing Agreement Affirms Tribal Authority and Aims to Improve Public Health
Diseases do not recognize borders, but the laws, regulations, and systems governing critical public health data often do. Improving how data is shared across different jurisdictions—including state and Tribal governments—better prepares public health departments to understand and respond to disease outbreaks and other public health issues while advancing the unique issue of Tribal data sovereignty, the right of a Tribal nation to collect and manage its own data.
Holland & Knight Health Dose: July 21, 2026 | Insights
U.S. Congress races toward the August 2026 recess as lawmakers advance healthcare, FDA and CMS priorities, appropriations, transparency measures and reimbursement policy.
SEMO Political Science Student Serves as Arcadia Alderman
SEMO political science student Will Erpenbach serves as an Arcadia alderman while earning his degree and preparing for law school and public service.
Sony Files Another Lawsuit Against AI Music Generator Udio
Sony, the only major music label that has yet to sign a deal with Udio, has sued the AI music generator again.
Nintendo files motion to dismiss consumer lawsuit over tariff refunds
"If a consumer did not want to pay the advertised price, they were free to abstain from purchasing the product or seek out competing products"
Michigan extends key tax breaks for billions of dollars of real estate development in Detroit
Real estate developers are breathing a sigh of relief now that state lawmakers have agreed to an extension of two key property tax abatements used for projects around Michigan.
Defense lawyers in demand amidst health care fraud crackdown
The U.S. Department of Justice is expanding AI-powered health care fraud enforcement as prosecutors target Medicare and Medicaid fraud with advanced analytics nationwide.
Missouri health facility failed to protect kids from sexual abuse, lawsuit says
Two former residents say they were abused by staff, while a third was assaulted under the facility’s care by a nursing home resident, according to the lawsuit.
WordPress wp2shell Exploitation Grows as Public Exploit Fuels Mass Scanning
Attackers are exploiting two WordPress flaws as wp2shell, chaining them for unauthenticated RCE and deploying web shells and malicious plugins.
Vermont Passes Chatbot Mental Health Law That Raises Questions About Therapists Rubber-Stamping AI Advice
Vermont passed a new law on AI and mental health. One aspect to note is whether therapists will rubber-stamp AI. An AI Insider analysis and scoop.
Scientists Find a Way Around a 160-Year-Old Law of Physics to Create Programmable Heat
A 'smarter' way to manipulate heat.
LI business leaders press affordability needs in D.C. visit
A team from the Long Island Association met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to mark the group's 100th anniversary,
Nintendo says it has no legal duty to pass its U.S. tariff refunds on to consumers
Nintendo is asking a court to dismiss a proposed class action suit that was filed this past spring by gamers who say the Mario maker is breaking the law if it doesn’t pass on its U.S. tariff refunds to consumers. Those consumers “received exactly what they bargained and paid for” when buying price-hiked Nintendo goods last year, the company said in a filing on Monday in the case of Hoffert et al v. Nintendo. “Plaintiffs are not entitled to a rebate simply because of intervening legal developments related to tariffs.” Nintendo increased the price of Switch 2 controllers and the original Switch last year, following the imposition of globe-spanning U.S. tariffs (tariffs described by Nintendo’s lawyers on Monday as “sweeping” and “constantly changing”). This past February, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the tariffs were illegal. A month later, Nintendo sued the U.S. government to get a refund. And in April, gamers filed the class action claim against Nintendo in Washington, saying it would be illegally double-dipping if it made money from tariff-hiked sales and then from a refund. The gamers sought relief for anyone in the U.S. who bought price-hiked Nintendo items between February 2025 and February 2026. “The common thread among Plaintiffs’ claims is that it is somehow ‘unfair; that Nintendo has not retroactively adjusted its prices for completed sales in response to the outcome of the tariff litigation,” the company’s lawyers wrote in today’s motion to dismiss. “But that is now how commercial transactions work.
Linklaters partners handed record £2.5mn payday as Asia business booms
‘Magic circle’ law firm cites Hong Kong listings work and growth in US as it reports bumper payouts for top ranks
SPAN Launches Refrigerant Working Group to Advance Science-Based PFAS Policies
The Sustainable PFAS Action Network (SPAN) announced on July 15, 2026, the formation of its Refrigerant Working Group, “a new initiative focused
First measles case in more than 10 years confirmed in Delaware, health officials say
Heritage Valley Health System seeks to disqualify whistleblower attorney, law firm in case against nurse
Heritage Valley Health System on Monday asked a federal court judge to disqualify the Pittsburgh attorney and law firm that is pursuing a whistleblower...
Colombia's Petro calls on supporters to defend economic reforms in last presidential speech
Outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro called on his supporters to protect his government's social and economic reforms and resist any efforts by the nation’s incoming administration to change labor laws.
AI political ads draw scrutiny in the Tennessee 6th Congressional District race
AI Political Ads in Tennessee's 6th Congressional race raise questions about a state AI Disclosure Law as Johnny Garrett and Van Hilleary use artificial intelligence in campaign videos.
Democrat set to replace Platner in Maine led state Senate with a temper
Troy Jackson, the presumptive Democratic nominee to challenge Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), yelled and cursed at fellow state lawmakers, interviews reveal.
John Droney Jr., prominent Democrat and lawyer, dead at 79
John F. Droney Jr., a Democratic state chairman under Gov. William O’Neill and a strategist for Joseph I. Lieberman, died Sunday.
Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer bans private equity purchases of hospitals, signs bills to improve health care access, affordabilit
Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend says his legislation phases in price caps on hospitals and strengthens primary care access.
Cameron University to host ‘MIGHT Night’ science fair for area youth
Dozens of students will soon get the chance to show off their science skills at Cameron University in Lawton.
Troy Jackson emerges as likely Senate pick for Maine Democrats
Former Maine lawmaker and logger Troy Jackson is set to become the state's Democratic Senate nominee after Graham Platner's exit.
Paramount's WBD deal is on pause after judge orders merger delay
A judge issued a temporary restraining order stopping Paramount Skydance's acquisition of WBD after a lawsuit by California and 11 other states.
Bipartisan Bill Pushes $25M 4D Software for Veterans' Respiratory Health
Lawmakers unveiled a bipartisan bill to invest VA funds into diagnostic scanning software that could detect asthma or lung conditions.
Almost half say Supreme Court rulings on Trump agenda based on politics: Survey
Nearly half of Americans say they believe the Supreme Court is ruling on President Trump’s policies based on ideology instead of the law, according to a new poll. The Washington Post/Ipsos survey, …
Disability inclusion in health systems and emergency management remains uneven across Latin America and the Caribbean, new report finds
Washington, D.C., July 20, 2026 (PAHO) — Despite progress in laws, policies and programs aimed at advancing the rights of persons with disabilities across Latin America and the Caribbean, many continue to face barriers to accessing health services and emergency care on an equal basis with others, according to a new report released by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Inter-American Network of Persons with Disabilities and Their Families (RIADIS).
Hackers are exploiting recently patched WordPress bugs, putting millions of websites at risk
Two critical security flaws in WordPress’ software have given hackers the chance to remotely take over tens of millions of websites, according to an estimate by a cybersecurity researcher.
The one East Coast coastal town I visit every year: Bethany Beach
Bethany Beach, Delaware, is my family's favorite beach town along the East Coast that offers a quaint atmosphere, stunning boardwalk, and great food.
Louisiana communities are left in the dark on toxic air – and industry helped keep it that way
How lawmakers weakened community air monitoring as industry pushed back against greater scrutiny
Shaky political "science": breakdown of the peer review process
[This article is the latest in our “Shaky Political Science” series. In our 38 page report, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting,” released in December 2025, we examined over 40 studies focused on ranked choice voting (RCV). Many of these studies suffered from puzzling research methodologies, poorly constructed surveys, unrealistic simulated elections, cherry picked data and faulty analyses that often were contradicted by results from real-world elections (a link to our full paper is here). Here are links to the first four articles in our series: the first one summarizing the overall results of our report; the second one analyzed a study co-authored by University of Minnesota academic Larry Jacobs, which was one of the most error-prone of all the research we reviewed in our report; a third article showing an admirable example of two political scientists holding two other political scientists accountable for their flawed, sloppy research; and a fourth article that analyzed seven studies sponsored by New America’s political reform program that deployed flawed methodology based on “simulated” elections instead of real-world elections, which when combined with some basic misunderstandings of RCV, produced odd and misleading results]. In this fifth article in our “Shaky Political Science” series, we examine two flawed studies on the impact of RCV on voter turnout authored by San Francisco State University professor Jason McDaniel. McDaniel’s research in these two papers stands out for its puzzling methodology, inadequate and cherry-picked data, and faulty analyses that not only misunderstands ranked choice voting but reflects a basic misunderstanding of politics in general. The first of the McDaniel studies actually passed through a peer review process and then was subsequently published by the Journal of Urban Affairs, despite its obvious errors. It is perplexing that a jury of peer political scientists did not catch the errors and send it back to McDaniel for a rewrite or outright rejection. This calls into question the credibility of the peer review process itself. The peer review process is supposed to represent the intellectual pinnacle of the profession – a way for academics to certify the quality of each other’s work, and to act as a check against sloppy research. In the case of the McDaniel study, the peer review process failed. Yet his flawed study has been cited dozens of times by other political scientists in their own flawed works — an unvirtuous circle of academic research. Here is the first Jason McDaniel study that we analyzed: “Writing the Rules to Rank the Candidates: Examining the Impact of Instant-Runoff Voting on Racial Group Turnout in San Francisco Mayoral Elections,” by Jason McDaniel, 2016, Journal of Urban Affairs. This study covered San Francisco’s use of ranked choice voting (RCV) in mayoral elections, purporting to show that RCV reduces voter turnout overall, increases voter errors, and has a negative impact on “marginal populations,” i.e. racial minorities, mainly as the result of the alleged complexity of RCV asking voters to rank candidates and having to be familiar with multiple candidates and related dynamics. McDaniel reached these conclusions by examining five San Francisco mayoral elections taking place in odd years (i.e. where there are no federal or state races on the ballot) from 1995 to 2011, comparing three earlier non-RCV races (in 1995, 1999 and 2003) with the later two RCV races (in 2007 and 2011). Only two RCV races were studied, and as McDaniel acknowledged, only the contest in 2011 was “competitive” (that contest in 2007 was the first mayoral election using RCV, and incumbent mayor Gavin Newsom won easily in the first round of counting, earning 74% of first choices and far ahead of the second place candidate who had just 6.3% of first choices). Yet even the allegedly competitive contest in 2011was won by an incumbent with a landslide margin of nearly 20 points. No other elections were studied by McDaniel, even though San Francisco elects 17 other offices besides mayor with RCV, including the 11 seats on the Board of Supervisors (the name for the city council) in even years, and six other citywide offices in odd years. Previous academic research has found that competitive elections can stimulate greater voter involvement and higher turnout. For unexplained reasons, this study ignored at least 34 other RCV races between the years 2004 to 2011, many of which were very competitive and had high voter turnout. Instead, McDaniel’s analysis based its conclusions on data from only a single, marginally-competitive mayor’s race using RCV. These 2007 and 2011 mayoral elections were the only two RCV elections that McDaniel used as the sole basis for his small data set to determine the impact of RCV on voter turnout. Despite having no meaningful data to inform his study, McDaniel nonetheless concluded that RCV lowered turnout when compared to the previous three mayoral non-RCV elections using two-round runoffs. Then, using the same inadequate database of San Francisco elections, McDaniel also found that “Instant-runoff voting is associated with a significant decline in Black voter turnout and White voter turnout…On average, Black voter turnout decreases by 18 points and White voter turnout decreases by 16 points …” But how could he credibly arrive at that conclusion when his study was based on voter turnout in two RCV contests that were not even remotely competitive? Beyond that, McDaniel tacitly admits that the key determining factor driving Black voter turnout was not RCV vs non-RCV elections, but the presence of a viable Black candidate. McDaniel wrote, “Black voter turnout was about 17 percentage points higher for the two elections that featured an African American candidate compared to the three elections that did not” — but one of those three elections did not use RCV. The same dynamic was present for White voter turnout, in which higher turnout was not correlated with RCV vs non-RCV elections, but the presence of a viable White candidate. Beyond that, McDaniel’s voter turnout results, whether correlated with the race of the candidates or RCV vs non-RCV elections, showed no clear patterns. In his Figure 1, he shows low Asian voter turnout in the non-RCV elections in 1999 and 2003 when there was no viable Asian candidate running, but in the 2007 mayoral election using RCV, there is still no viable Asian candidate, yet Asian turnout increases dramatically. For Latinos, voter turnout is virtually the same in 1999 (no viable Latino candidate, non-RCV elections), 2003 (leading Latino candidate, non-RCV elections), 2007 (no viable Latino candidate, RCV elections) and 2011 (leading Latino candidate, RCV elections). Meanwhile White voter turnout increased dramatically from a low in the 2007 mayoral election, in which the leading candidate was a white incumbent, to the 2011 election in which there were no leading white candidates that finished any higher than sixth place with 5.6% of the vote. Clearly other factors were determining voter turnout than either the race of the candidates or RCV vs non-RCV elections. Despite these inconsistent findings, McDaniel boldly marches forth to render conclusions about the impact of RCV on different groups of racial voters, even though his conclusions are not remotely supported by his data. This looks like the worst kind of “data cherry picking” to cover up a puzzling conclusion based on a poor data set involving only two RCV elections, neither of which were remotely competitive. McDaniel’s cherry picking didn’t stop there. In calculating voter turnout for the three non-RCV mayoral elections in 1995, 1999 and 2003, he failed to mention that in each of these years there was a two-round runoff election, with a first round election in November in which no candidate garnered a winning majority of the vote, followed by the decisive runoff in December. So there were two non-RCV elections in each election year. But McDaniel only decided to include one of the two elections in his data set, apparently the December runoff in each year (which had higher turnout in two out of the three mayor’s races, and lower turnout in the third). So he ignored the November 1995 election, the November 1999 election when turnout was only 45 percent, and the November 2003 election when turnout was only 45.7 percent. This is flawed methodology based on blatant cherry picking, since McDaniel simply omitted three elections worth of data that did not fit within his frame. His study should never have made it through a peer review process, and it is an embarrassment to political science that not only was it approved for publication, but it has been uncritically cited by dozens of other political scientists. Share A “study” without wider context or credible data Lacking a data set that included even a single competitive RCV mayoral race, McDaniel declared that RCV lowered voter turnout in 2011, when turnout was 42.5 percent. But he also ignored -- or did not realize -- that voter turnout in mayoral elections during 2011 had sharply declined in all big cities, including far more steeply in nearby Los Angeles and other cities. In fact, San Francisco’s election in 2011 had the second highest turnout of any mayoral election in the nation’s 22 largest cities from 2008-2011. Was 2011 just a particularly low turnout year all across the country, perhaps because the country was still reeling from the aftermath of the housing market collapse in 2008-2010? McDaniel ignored this factor and did not search for alternative explanations beyond his flawed thesis. Furthermore, while McDaniel suggested that RCV leads to more “overvotes” – which is an invalidated ballot in which a voter, in either a non-RCV or RCV race, makes a mistake and selects two candidates for a single choice – he failed to address that in the June 2012 US Senate primary contest, which used the typical “one-choice” plurality method and did not use RCV, there was more than five times as many overvotes in San Francisco and Oakland than in the RCV mayoral elections in those cities. Additionally, turnout had been significantly higher and more representative in RCV elections for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors races -- that McDaniel didn’t even bother to study -- as compared to previous “delayed two-round runoffs” for those offices, often higher by as much as 40% in the RCV races. Perhaps the most surprising irony was that an earlier study co-authored by McDaniel (Overvoting and the Equality of Voice under Instant-Runoff Voting in San Francisco by Francis Neely and Jason McDaniel, 2015, California Journal of Politics and Policy) found that overvotes are often more common in lower-income precincts, but that the pattern of overvoting is similar in both RCV and non-RCV contests. Wrote Neely and McDaniel: “[Overvote] errors appear to be a function of complexity in general and not IRV per se…. the pattern of overvoting is similar in both IRV and non-IRV contests…Even among votes cast in a top-of-the-ticket race like U.S. Senate, overvoting occurs in an uneven fashion” (IRV, or ‘instant runoff voting,’ is another name for ranked choice voting in single-winner contests). So McDaniel not only contradicted his own conclusion in his earlier study with Neely, but the earlier study had been an important corrective for one of the most frequently made mistakes made by anti-RCV political scientists – a continual failure to provide crucial context by pairing a comparative analysis of real world RCV elections with an analysis of real world plurality or other electoral methods. Unfortunately McDaniel’s earlier study does not get cited much by other researchers, and McDaniel did not even cite it in his own flawed study analyzed above. Incredibly, McDaniel cherrypicked McDaniel, even as his flawed study has been cited dozens of times. Despite being a textbook example of poor political “science,” featuring both inadequate as well as cherrypicked data, the shelf life of McDaniel’s study has been extended endlessly by other political scientists and media outlets who have cited it uncritically. Equally troubling, the Journal of Urban Affairs put this paper through its peer review process and published it despite its numerous flaws. McDaniel gets it wrong, Part II Not content with producing one shoddy, confused paper, McDaniel produced another one a few years later, here is the link: Electoral Rules and Voter Turnout in Mayoral Elections: An Analysis of Ranked-Choice Voting by Jason McDaniel. San Francisco State Univ. (McDaniel, 2019). In this paper, McDaniel extended his previous flawed research focused on San Francisco, about voter turnout and voter impact, to multiple RCV cities through the 2018 elections. In his data set he included San Francisco, Minneapolis, St Paul, Oakland, Berkeley, San Leandro and Santa Fe. He then compared their turnout in mayoral elections to non-RCV cities, and to mayoral elections in those cities held before first RCV usage, and concluded “a significant decrease in voter turnout of approximately 3–5 percentage points in RCV cities after the implementation of RCV.” But he replicated many of the same mistakes as his first study presented above. While in this study McDaniel attempted to distinguish between various factors, such as odd year vs. even year elections, competitive races vs. noncompetitive, contests with open seats and other factors, the analysis is superficial and inadequate. He attempts to incorporate so many often-conflicting variables that his conclusions are once again unsupported by the actual data, and ultimately unconvincing (this second study never underwent a peer review process). For example, McDaniel declared that for RCV cities “in elections that are more competitive than average (margin of victory less than 20%), there is no significant RCV effect on voter turnout.” Yet McDaniel is a professor in a city, San Francisco, in which the 2018 special election using RCV to fill a mayoral vacancy was exceedingly close, decided by a margin of only one percentage point, and resulted in the second highest turnout in San Francisco history for a mayoral election. Illustrating the complexity involved in assessing the critical factors in turnout, that special election was held on the same election day as federal and state offices, which tends to boost turnout. Yet more voters participated in that RCV mayoral election than voted on the same day in the non-RCV primary for governor in which former San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom was running. Even more puzzling, in this study McDaniel inaccurately cited his own previous study from 2015 with Neely. McDaniel wrote, “Neely and McDaniel (2015) examine individual ballot image files within a natural experiment, and find higher rates of ballot errors in RCV elections compared to non-RCV elections” (emphasis added). However, we quoted from that 2015 study several paragraphs above, and in actual fact Neely and McDaniel actually concluded the opposite -- that the pattern of overvoting – which is the most common form of ballot error – is similar in both RCV and non-RCV contests. McDaniel also ignored the fact that in Bay Area RCV elections held in even years – at the same time as federal and state elections, when turnout is highest -- the “undervote” (that is, the dropoff in ballots cast for governor or mayor) has declined, which contradicts his thesis that the act of ranking ballots in RCV elections is too complex and presents a barrier for certain demographics of voters. To his credit, McDaniel actually acknowledged another contradiction in his own paper, which found a negative RCV turnout effect in some odd-year elections but not others, admitting that “may present a challenge to the theory that increased complexity [from RCV] will have a marginal negative effect on voter turnout.” But he tried to wallpaper over that contradiction by blaming it on an unlikely source -- bad election administration. McDaniels wrote, “This would suggest that the negative impact of RCV on voter participation may be alleviated by high quality election administration,” without presenting any data or even anecdotes to support such an unfounded theory. While competent election administration of any election, whether RCV or non-RCV, is crucially important, there is no credible research that supports the far-fetched notion that the quality of election administration has much of an impact on voter turnout in US elections, whether using RCV or otherwise. Upgrade to a $5 subscription The unvirtuous circle of academic research It is puzzling how McDaniel’s first study could have survived the peer review process for the Journal of Urban Affairs. The mistakes in McDaniel’s first study above should have been obvious to anyone with a basic understanding of ranked choice voting as well as elections in general, and elections in San Francisco specifically. It undermines faith in the credibility of the peer review process to think that a jury of peer political scientists did not catch the egregious errors and reject McDaniel’s sloppy research and paper. And it remains a black mark on political science that this thoroughly discredited study has been cited dozens of times by other researchers. Indeed, in our research paper it became apparent that many political scientists cite each other’s flawed research to pad their list of citations and to legitimize their own flawed research, creating an unvirtuous circle of political science. More broadly, McDaniel’s voter turnout studies, like other studies evaluating RCV’s impact on turnout, lacked a recognition that no credible opinion or research can claim that RCV increases voter turnout merely because so many voters are excited to vote for their favorite candidates instead of “lesser evil” candidates without worrying about spoilers. Instead, with respect to turnout, the advantage of RCV has always been that, in most places where it has been used, it has eliminated a pre-November primary or post-November runoff, which usually saw about half the turnout of the November general election. This is especially true during even years when there are state and federal elections on the ballot which substantially drive turnout more than local contests. Any study that does not adequately account for this non-November primary/runoff vs November general election dynamic, or odd year vs even year election factors, is simply not credible. Both of McDaniel’s studies largely failed on those grounds. Steven Hill and Paul Haughey Share Upgrade to a $5 subscription Thanks for reading DemocracySOS…your digital portal for the pro-democracy movement. Subscribe for only $5 per month to receive full benefits and to support our work. Subscribe
Troy Jackson gains momentum to replace Platner
Former Maine lawmaker Troy Jackson has moved into a strong position to replace Graham Platner as the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine after several of his opponents dropped out of the race.
Most California lawmakers never buck their party. These few do
In California's lockstep Legislature, breaking party ranks is rare. Meet the handful of mavericks who do it anyway
Gears of War Designer Cliff Bleszinski Reveals Struggle With Alcoholism, Discusses the Failure of LawBreakers and Potential Return to Video Game Development
Video game developer Cliff Bleszinski has revealed his struggle with alcoholism and how it affected not just his work on Gears of War but contributed to the failure of hero shooter LawBreakers and his studio, Boss Key Productions.
Beacon Hill lawmakers are mostly poised for a relaxing summer — excerpt in parts of Boston
Most House and Senate seats on Beacon Hill won't see competition in the Sept. 1 primary elections. But that's not the case in two Boston-area Senate districts.
Severely ill prisoners granted early release are left stuck behind bars
Prisoners with severe medical conditions can be granted compassionate release, but without a long-term care facility willing to accept them, many continue to wait in prison as their conditions worsen.
The cyclosporiasis outbreak lawsuits have begun
At least four lawsuits were filed late last week after health officials identified the source of the cyclosporiasis outbreak spreading across the US.
'I just wanted to give up': Disabled patients face Medicaid denials from IT errors
Complex computer systems that decide whether people get Medicaid benefits have a history of errors. Now changes to comply with Trump's tax and domestic policy law are inundating those systems.
Op-Ed: School employees' health costs are everyone's problem
As premiums soar by more than a third, lawmakers have an opportunity to change how we bargain for coverage
Troy Jackson gains momentum to replace Platner as Democrats' Senate candidate in Maine
Former Maine lawmaker Troy Jackson has moved into a strong position to replace Graham Platner as the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine after several of his opponents dropped out of the race
Troy Jackson gains momentum to replace Platner as Democrats' Senate candidate in Maine
Former Maine lawmaker Troy Jackson has moved into a strong position to replace Graham Platner as the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine after several of his opponents dropped out of the race.
Troy Jackson gains momentum to replace Platner as Democrats' Senate candidate in Maine
Former Maine lawmaker Troy Jackson has moved into a strong position to replace Graham Platner as the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine after several of his opponents dropped out of the race.
2 men sue hospital for sending them home with each other’s families as newborns almost 40 years ago
Of all the blunders for which a hospital can get sued, switching babies at birth has to rank among the least worried-about by lawyers and risk managers. That doesn’t mean it never happens.
The New York Times
Packing light is a science, and if you're the list-making type, the 5-4-3-2-1 method is a great place to start. Here’s what it suggests for a weeklong trip: https://nyti.ms/4ffe1pc
Critical NGINX Vulnerability Can Crash Workers and May Allow Remote Code Execution
F5 patches CVE-2026-42533, a regex map heap overflow that crashes nginx workers and may allow RCE in specific configurations.
2nd victim to die in Upper East Side Legionnaires' outbreak was Air Force veteran
The law firm that represents the victim said he is an 88-year-old man who was a businessman and an Air Force veteran.
Cliff Bleszinski Blames Ego And Alcohol For Boss Key’s Failure
Following a seizure this year, the former rock star of game development opens up about his infamous exit from the industry, taking responsibility for the studio’s inability to create a hit
Why Mega Mergers Like Paramount-Warner Bros Are Big Business for Big Law
A decision by the EU on the Paramount-WMD megadeal is expected this week. Mandates like Paramount’s bid for Warner Bros. are challenging and the reason that Brussels has the highest saturation rate of Global 200 firms present of any European city.
Small Businesses Adopted AI Faster Than They Wrote Rules For It
Most small businesses run on AI with no written policy. EU disclosure rules and state laws are coming. The one-page AI policy that answers regulators and clients.
Hawai‘i comes in first — at being worst state for business
The fix for a bad business climate isn’t more bureaucracy. It’s less. Reducing taxes and regulations help revitalize the economy. If only our lawmakers would embrace those policies more often.
Hawai‘i comes in first — at being worst state for business
The fix for a bad business climate isn’t more bureaucracy. It’s less. Reducing taxes and regulations help revitalize the economy. If only our lawmakers would embrace those policies more often.
Governance Fragmentation and Collapsing Health in Wartime Yemen
Humanitarian groups need international support to overcome funding shortages and the country’s divided politics.
Republican lawmaker Ralph Norman to join race to succeed Lindsey Graham in South Carolina
Congressman to run for seat despite Donald Trump backing Graham’s sister Darline, should she choose to run
New Stanton, business owner clash over surge of public records requests
The public records requests began in earnest in January, arriving a few times a month afterward. The handwritten filings sought New Stanton records under the state’s Right-to-Know Law. The borough received seven requests in April and about twice as many in May, according to records obtained by the Trib. Submissions
Florida politics Re-Cap: Voter data, campaign cash and two lawmakers in court
The week brought major courtroom developments for two state lawmakers, a new fundraising milestone in Florida’s U.S. Senate race & another looming legal fight over the Republican primary for governor.
WordPress Core "wp2shell" RCE flaws get public exploits, patch now
Public exploits have been released for the critical "wp2shell" remote code execution vulnerabilities affecting WordPress Core, making it imperative that administrators patch their sites immediately.
Surrogacy Scandal Upends German Politics
Jens Spahn, a top leader of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s party, resigned his post after announcing having had a baby by surrogate, which is outlawed in Germany
These 16 Democrats Voted to Stop Israel Aid. AIPAC Took Action.
After 103 Democrats voted to eliminate aid to Israel, the lobbying group closed off online donations for more than a dozen Democratic lawmakers it had endorsed.
Why stadium food is so expensive
Food and drinks at most sports stadiums cost significantly more than they do outside the venue, but new laws could make concessions more affordable.
Mamdani Says He May Still Order Netanyahu’s Arrest in ‘The Interview’
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was in “an active conversation” with New York City’s Law Department on whether he had the authority to arrest the Israeli leader.
Say More: I’m heartbroken my in-laws have chosen guns over grandkid visits
Not taking the kids to visit their grandparents until they get a gun safe is the right call, but it doesn’t make it any less painful for the letter writer.
WATCH: Lawmakers reveal where they stand on congressional term limits after recent health scares
Ted Cruz says he authored a constitutional amendment to limit senators to two terms and House members to three as Congress debates term limits.
The Kansas Office of the State Bank Commissioner closed Small Business Bank in Lenexa on Friday
The Small Business Bank in Lenexa was closed Friday by the Kansas Office of the State Bank Commissioner after "ongoing operating losses resulted in the bank’s capital becoming critically undercapitalized under federal and state law."
N.Y. lawmakers react to Trump's election speech
“He didn't release anything that hasn't already been made available to the intelligence community and to members of the legislature," Morelle said.
Rabid bat found in Seattle near the University of Washington
A rabid bat was found in Seattle on July 15, 2026, on the sidewalk on University Way Northeast, between NE 41st and NE 42nd streets. This is near Parrington Lawn, on the University of Washington campus, and is a busy area with many businesses. Anyone who might have had physical contact with this bat (even if not bitten) could be at risk and should seek medical evaluation immediately or call Public Health at 206-296-4774 to determine if rabies preventative treatment is necessary.
DOJ case seeing N.Y. voters personal information dismissed
The League of Women Voters of New York State was among the organizations who sought to intervene in the DOJ’s lawsuit.
Florida politics weekly recap: Voter data, campaign cash and 2 lawmakers in court
President Donald Trump's national address renewed the debate over election security this week, while newly released intelligence records put a spotlight on publicly available Florida voter-registration data.
Trump raises election concerns, drawing pushback from Kentucky lawmakers
Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., and two Kentucky congressmen are pushing back on President Donald Trump’s speech Thursday night.
Ranking Member Markey, Senator Hirono Reject Trump’s SBA Policy Proposal that Harms Underserved Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs
Letter (PDF) (Washington, July 17) – Ranking Member Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) submitted a comment letter to the Small Business Administration (SBA) opposing a proposed rule change by Trump’s SBA to the 8(a) Business Development Program that would harm underserved small business owners and entrepreneurs. The 8(a) Business Development Program was created by Congress more than 50 years ago to level the playing field for small business owners and entrepreneurs who have faced discrimination in starting and operating their businesses. The SBA’s proposed change ignores the existence of historic discrimination that minority and underserved small businesses have faced and continue to face. In the letter, the lawmakers wrote, “SBA’s proposed rule ignores present-day barriers that entrepreneurs from minority and underserved communities face. Discrimination is not dead; minority entrepreneurs continue to face reduced access to contracting opportunities and capital, as well as racial threats and targeting, including unequal treatment, refusal by others to work with minority-owned firms, being called racial slurs, and bias in the workplace. These barriers lead to wide underutilization of, and less revenue for, minority-owned businesses compared to majority-owned businesses, as supported by decades of disparity studies. The proposed rule diminishes the history of systemic racial and ethnic discrimination in the United States by claiming that remedies for discrimination create discrimination in and of themselves.” The lawmakers continued, “The program has always been open to anyone who can prove they have experienced prejudice or cultural bias in education, employment, entrepreneurship, and other facets of our society. Nonetheless SBA has moved forward with the proposed rule. It lacks a reasoned basis, purporting that the federal government has discriminated against White Americans, but offering no substantive qualitative or quantitative data or research in support. If the examples provided in the proposed rule are the only basis for what constitutes discrimination to the agency, they are woefully insufficient. The final rule must provide strong evidence that there is discrimination against White individuals and show how the rule is narrowly tailored to address it. The record remains devoid of evidence of discrimination against White individuals on the basis of race.” Ranking Member Markey is fighting to protect federal programs that address historic discrimination against small business owners from minority and underserved communities, and for a small business agenda that ensures economic opportunity for all. In June, Ranking Member Markey released a statement condemning the SBA’s proposed changes to the 8(a) Business Development Program. Also in June, Ranking Markey released a new report highlighting Trump’s drastic reduction in federal contracting dollars awarded to American small businesses, including minority-owned small businesses. In February, Ranking Member Markey, alongside Senators Hirono and Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Representative Ayanna Pressley (MA-7), introduced the Strengthening Place-based Access, Resources, and Knowledge (SPARK) Act to spur entrepreneurship and increase access to capital and resources for underserved entrepreneurs nationwide. Ranking Member Markey previously held a field hearing in Roxbury, Massachusetts, to discuss how government and the private sector can come together to make entrepreneurship more accessible for underserved communities. Earlier in February, Ranking Member Markey secured funding with the Appropriations Committee for Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers, SCORE Chapters, and Veterans Business Outreach Centers and provisions to rein in the Administration’s attempts to eliminate programs that support women, veterans, and underserved entrepreneurs. In January, Ranking Member Markey sent a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to oppose rule changes that would gut protections against discriminatory lending practices that harm small businesses. In December 2025, Ranking Member Markey sent a letter to SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler expressing significant concerns with the SBA’s overly burdensome request and unclear guidance for extensive financial documentation over the holidays, as a part of their sweeping attempts to dismantle the 8(a) Business Development Program. In July and December 2025, Ranking Member Markey sent letters to the SBA Administrator demanding answers about the Trump administration’s efforts to limit economic opportunity for American entrepreneurs, including immigrants. In May 2025, Ranking Member Markey sent a letter to the SBA Administrator rejecting President Trump’s FY 2026 budget proposal and calling on SBA to immediately release funding for the entrepreneurial development programs, which include programs like the Women’s Business Centers and the Veteran’s Business Development Centers that support underserved small business owners. In April 2025, Ranking Member Markey introduced the New Start Act of 2025 to establish a five-year pilot program providing grants to support entrepreneurial development training for currently or formerly incarcerated individuals. In February 2025, Ranking Member Markey sent letters to the SBA Administrator and Government Accountability Office (GAO) condemning President Trump’s war on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) policies and asking how the SBA intends to implement Trump’s anti-DEIA executive orders. ###
New wp2shell WordPress Core Flaw Lets Unauthenticated Attackers Run Code
WordPress 6.9.5 and 7.0.2 patch wp2shell, a pre-auth core RCE that lets anonymous attackers run code on default installs, even with no plugins.
Senator says key piece of college sports legislation 'probably' has 60 votes to clear upper chamber
A lawmaker sponsoring a key piece of federal college sports legislation says he believes the bill likely has the support it needs to make it through the upper chamber