The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Tuesday lifted an injunction that blocked a Texas law forbidding any clinic affiliated with abortion providers from receiving public funds. The state of Texas vowed to cut funding for Planned Parenthood after the Fifth Circuit reversed a temporary injunction that allowed state funding for clinics [...]
The Court of Appeal of Singapore ruled Tuesday that a man charged with gross indecency under a provision of the penal code criminalizing sexual acts between men can proceed with a constitutional challenge against the law in court. Known as Section 377A , the law traces its origins to British colonial rule and carries a [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled Tuesday that a poker game operator could not be tried under a federal gambling law essentially because poker is more a game of skill than a game of chance. Judge Jack Weinstein wrote in a 120-page judgment that the Illegal [...]
The Supreme Court of Mexico ruled Tuesday that crimes committed against Mexican civilians by members of the military should be tried in civilian courts rather than military tribunals. Military tribunals have been criticized in the past for failing to try and convict military personnel for alleged crimes and abuses. In its decision the Supreme Court [...]
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Tuesday that it will establish a civil rights unit in Alabama in the wake of the state’s contentious immigration law raising concerns about compliance with federal law. In the speech, Assistant US Attorney General Thomas Perez argued that Alabama’s immigration law threatened the rights of undocumented immigrants [...]
The state of Alaska filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) unconstionally infringes on Alaska’s state sovereignty. In the lawsuit, Alaska argued that Section 5 of the VRA , known as the preclearance requirement, is unconstitutional because it [...]
Chinese psychiatric facilities are detaining hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens against their will each year, and many detainees face abuse and human rights violations in the facilities, a human rights group said in a report released on Wednesday. The report by Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) alleges that Chinese psychiatric facilities regularly detain individuals [...]
The UN International Labor Organization (ILO) announced Tuesday that the Maritime Labor Convention, 2006 has received its final two required ratifications and will go into effect in 12 months. The Convention is a comprehensive range of labor standards and a seafarers’ bill of rights covering decent working conditions and health and safety issues for the [...]
The Australian state of Tasmania moved closer to passing a ban on circumcision after the Tasmania Law Reform Institute (TLRI) issued a report on Tuesday recommending that the state ban circumcision except for well-established religious and ethnic reasons. In the report, the TLRI argued that circumcision should be banned in most instances because it allegedly [...]
Wisconsin Attorney General JB Van Hollen announced on Tuesday that he will ask the Wisconsin Supreme Court to overturn an injunction barring enforcement of the state’s voter identification law in advance of the November elections. A judge for Wisconsin’s Dane County Circuit Court ruled last month that the state’s voter ID law is unconstitutional, issuing [...]
