North Carolina Judge Gregory Weeks ruled Thursday that racial discrimination played a role in jury selection that secured the death sentences of Tilmon Golphin, Christina Walters and Quintel Augustine, commuting their sentences. Under North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act (RJA) , individuals who have received a death sentence may attempt to have that sentence removed by [...]
International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told the UN Security Council Thursday that they are not doing enough to root out Sudanese war criminals. According to Bensouda, the situation in Darfur continues to be of serious concern, and the ongoing violence constitutes war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Bensouda urged the Security [...]
A jury in the US District Court for the District of Delaware found Thursday that Apple Inc. infringed on patents held by MobileMedia Ideas LLC . The three patents at issue in the case relate to the camera phone, call handling and call rejecting. The court has not scheduled when it will determine damages. MobileMedia [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled Wednesday that data stored on personal cell phones is not protected by the Stored Communications Act (SCA) . The court determined that the act does not protect information stored on personal devices such as cell phones, laptops and personal computers. The lawsuit was brought by [...]
The UN Security Council on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution to extend the term of office of five judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) . Justices Mehmet Guney of Turkey, Khalida Rachid Khan of Pakistan, Arlette Ramaroson of Madagascar, Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov of the Russian Federation and Andresia Vaz of Senegal, all permanent [...]
The Honduran National Congress on Wednesday voted to dismiss four justices of the country’s Supreme Court for alleged abuse of their position. The dismissal of the judges came after the justices ruled last week that a police reform bill supported by the congress and President Porfirio Lobo was unconstitutional. Lobo indicated earlier this week that [...]
Opponents of a law allowing the indefinite detention of suspected terrorists on Wednesday filed an emergency appeal with US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to block the law’s enforcement. A group of seven individuals and one organization had challenged the law claiming it would stifle journalists’ free speech and association rights. Judge Katherine Forrest [...]
The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday unanimously dismissed a challenge by former Ivory Coast president and alleged war criminal Laurent Gbagbo that the court lacks jurisdiction to try him. Gbagbo is charged with crimes against humanity relating to violence following the 2010 elections in which Gbagbo lost but refused to [...]
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday ruled that the government of Macedonia is responsible for the torture and degrading maltreatment of a man the ECHR found to be an innocent victim of CIA extraordinary rendition in 2003. Lebanese German citizen Khaled el-Masri was arrested and mistreated for 23 days of interrogation in [...]
Uruguay’s Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday approved a bill to legalize same-sex marriage . The measure passed by a wide margin after eight hours of debate with 81 votes in favor out of 87 lawmakers present. The bill seeks to create a single law granting equal marriage rights to all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation. [...]
