The Hawaii House of Representatives voted 30-19 Friday to pass a bill legalizing same-sex marriage . A point of contention during the committee hearing was the introduction of religious exemptions to the bill, allowing religious organizations to withhold services if the same-sex marriage would be a violation of thei beliefs. Governor Neil Abercrombie , who [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Friday temporarily blocked the enforcement of the birth control mandate contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) . The companies are challenging the mandate on religious freedom grounds, claiming providing such medical services goes against their religious beliefs against contraceptives. This challenge [...]
Four Idaho couples filed a lawsuit in the Idaho District Court Friday challenging the state’s same-sex marriage ban. The plaintiffs are bringing the lawsuit in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling in US v. Windsor claiming that Idaho’s refusal to recognize valid same-sex marriages from other states violates their constitutional rights. The complaint alleges: [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled Thursday that New York City violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to accommodate the needs of the city’s disabled residents during recent emergencies. The lawsuit certified as a class action in November 2012. According to the opinion [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay warned Friday that continued violence between militias, rebels and government forces in the Central Africa Republic (CAR) threatens to lead the country into renewed conflict. The high commissioner expressed her apprehension caused by recent violent clashes stating that, “he latest clashes between ex-Seleka forces and various self-defense [...]
Lawyers for former Guantanamo Bay inmate Omar Khadr said Friday they are appealing a Canadian court ruling that denied his habeas corpus application and held that his placement in a federal penitentiary is lawful. Khadr’s lawyer, Dennis Edney, argues that Justice John Rooke of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench erred both in fact and [...]
A senior UN official on Thursday urged international donors to provide financial support to Cambodia’s UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) , in order to allow it to continue ongoing trials. The ECCC, a hybrid court established in 2001 to try those accused of the Khmer Rouge regime’s [...]
A European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) prosecutor in the Kosovo Special Prosecution Office filed an indictment against 15 defendants on Friday in the EULEX Mitrovica Basic Court . The individuals are accused of war crimes against civilians that occurred at a Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) detention center in Likovac in 1998. [...]
A Hawaiin judge on Thursday denied a request for a temporary restraining order against lawmakers to prevent the legalization of same-sex marriage. Oahu Circuit Court Judge Karl Sakamoto said he would hear any challenges made against such legislation if passed by the legislature. The suit was brought by Rep. Bob McDermott after Governor Neil Abercrombie [...]
Spain’s National Court in Madrid on Friday ordered nine imprisoned members of the Basque separatist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) released in compliance with a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling made last month. In its order, the court determined that the case of the nine ETA prisoners was identical to that of Ines [...]
