California Governor Jerry Brown on Wednesday issued a statement directing the California Department of Public Health (DPH) to instruct the state’s counties to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples who are seeking them. The licenses, however, will not be issued until the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit confirms that the stay [...]
The US Supreme Court issued its final orders of the term Thursday, granting certiorari in two cases, and sending several controversial cases back to lower courts for reconsideration. In White v. Woodall the court will consider jury instructions in a death penalty case. Robert Keith Woodall pleaded guilty to murder and chose not to testify [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Kevin Snider, Chief Counsel for the Pacific Justice Institute, reacts to the landmark Supreme Court decision striking down the proponents of Proposition 8 in Hollingsworth v. Perry…
JURIST Guest Columnist Samar Warsi of the Muslim Civil Liberties Union says that the extensive investigative infrastructure devised by the government has greatly eroded vital Fourth Amendment protections…
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged member states to intensify measures against torture in commemoration of the UN’s 15th annual International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (IDSVT) . Ban also encouraged member states to recognize the 25th anniversary of the UN Committee Against Torture , which he characterized as “vital” to furthering [...]
The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Christof Heyns on Wednesday condemned the Nigerian government for the alleged execution of four men in the State of Edo . Heyns voiced his concern “that capital punishment appears to have been imposed without due process safeguards in violation of the International Covenant on Civil [...]
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Wednesday began public hearings in the ongoing legal dispute between Australia and Japan over Japanese whaling near Antarctica. Australia argued at Wednesday’s hearing that Japan is in violation of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling by continuing to hunt whales as scientific research in spite of [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in Sekhar v. United States that attempting to compel a person to recommend that his employer approve an investment does not constitute “the obtaining of property from another” under the Hobbs Act . In this case, Sekhar allegedly threatened the attorney for New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli to gain [...]
Lebanese police forces are targeting and torturing drug users, sex workers and members of LGBT communities, according to a report released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) . The report, released on the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture , included quotes from members of those demographics claiming that various forms of [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled in two landmark same-sex marriage cases Wednesday. In United States v. Windsor , the court ruled 5-4 that Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional. Under DOMA, couples in same-sex marriages legally recognized by a state were denied federal benefits extended to married couples. Affirming [...]
