 On Thursday, October 26, 2023, a Georgia federal judge issued a 516-page opinion that has already prompted the Governor to call a Special Session of the Georgia General Assembly to redraw the maps for Georgia's 14 congressional districts and state House and Senate districts. The opinion may compel realignment of political forces across the northwestern part of the state as a new map will likely create a majority-Black district northwest of Atlanta.
 This article was written by Thomas Bundy and Andrew D. Herman and first appeared in Maryland Matters.
Shortly after his inauguration, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) visited a research institute addressing artificial intelligence, machine learning, and virtual and augmented reality. He touted the project as “a perfect example of how Maryland can become more economically competitive by creating opportunities through innovative partnerships.” As the state embraces the promise of AI, however, it must also address the risks presented by the technology.  This morning, in a 6-3 decision, the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, finding in favor of the owner of a website design business who sued the state of Colorado because she feared Colorado’s public accommodation law would force her to convey website messages inconsistent with her belief that marriage should be reserved to unions between one man and one woman. The Court held that the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment protected and excepted the owner from complying with Colorado’s law, reasoning Colorado could not require a website designer to create expressive designs that “defy her conscience” or “speak messages with which [she] disagrees.” With concern for the implications of the majority’s holding, the dissent wrote: “Today, the Court, for the first time in its history, grants a business open to the public a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class.”
 Yesterday, in Groff v. DeJoy, a unanimous Supreme Court jettisoned the standard that courts and employers have relied on for decades to determine the existence of an “undue hardship” as a basis to reject religious accommodation requests. After Groff, an employer can reject a religious accommodation request as an undue burden only if granting the accommodation would result in “substantial increased costs” for the employer.
 Today, the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, deciding two companion cases challenging race-based admissions practices at Harvard College and the University of North Carolina. As many predicted, the Court held that using race as a factor in public college admissions violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and, when carried out by institutions receiving federal funding, violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
 During his campaign for Governor of Maryland, Wes Moore’s platform emphasized raising the minimum wage, addressing other employment-related policies, and pledging to foster economic innovation in the state. Since taking office in January, Governor Moore has moved quickly to implement aspects of his platform, signing several new bills into law. Some of these laws significantly affect companies and their employees in the state, while others, and a new executive order, aim to attract new industries to Maryland. On the economic development front, it remains to be seen whether the Governor’s action will bolster Maryland’s business climate and if such changes will come at the expense of other states.
 According to a recent study by the Society for Human Resource Management, nearly 80% of HR departments using AI and other algorithm-based tools rely on these tools during the hiring process, and over 10% use these tools when making promotion or succession planning decisions.
 Though it’s not exactly new, the corporate ESG movement has gained significant momentum in recent years, as corporations and their stakeholders prioritize sustainable and responsible investment decisions.
 Two years ago, Georgia made political history, as Joe Biden became the first Democrat to win Georgia’s electoral votes since Bill Clinton in 1992 — and Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff became the only Democrats ever to win election in a federal runoff in Georgia.
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