In our modern age of camera-equipped cellphones and laptops, ubiquitous social media websites, and constant GPS tracking that everyone seems to use to go anywhere, you are not paranoid if you worry that Big Brother—the government—along with companies like Google and Facebook, are recording your every move. If the allegations made by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are true, you can add automobile insurance companies and a host of third-party app developers to that list. That is according to a lawsuit filed by Paxton that brings up shades of George Orwell’s book “1984” and the constant surveillance of citizens he describes in the mythical country of Oceania. The lawsuit he filed in Texas state court is against Allstate Insurance and several of its subsidiaries. It claims that the insurer has violated the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act as well as other provisions of the Texas business and insurance code.

A Texas federal judge Thursday ruled Idaho, Kansas and Missouri can join a case challenging access to the abortion pill. Trump-appointed Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk allowed the states to pursue legal action in Texas that seeks to prohibit the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from allowing online prescriptions for Mifepristone over concerns that it could “undermine state abortion laws and frustrate state law enforcement,” according to court documents. A coalition of doctors previously challenged the FDA’s regulations of the pill due to concerns that several safety standards were ignored in order to rush its approval, but the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the FDA in 2024.

The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear parents’ challenge to a school district requirement forcing kids to participate in story times featuring books on gender and sexuality. In their petition, parents asked the Supreme Court to consider whether Montgomery County Board of Education’s decision to ignore their religious objections violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine picked Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted as Ohio’s next senator. “The person who is suited to be the next United States Senator is a person who has been close to me the last six years. A person who almost daily I work with,” DeWine said. “And that person is Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted.”

Polling released on Thursday shows the majority of Virginians continue to hold a positive view of the performance by Glenn Youngkin as Governor of Virginia, though suggested voters may nonetheless vote for a Democrat to succeed him when casting ballots in November. The survey, released by Christopher Newport University's Wason Center for Civic Leadership and conducted between January 6-13, found 53 percent of Virginia voters continue to approve of Youngkin's performance as governor, including 87 percent of Republicans, 54 percent of independents, and 19 percent of the commonwealth's Democratic voters.