The US government and Amnesty International (AI) on Wednesday criticized Cuba for the arrest and detention of more than 40 activists who were attending the funeral of prominent dissident Oswaldo Jose Paya Sardinas who died on Sunday in a car crash. The White House released a statement condemning Cuba’s repressive action against activists and urged [...]
The New York Police Department (NYPD) used excessive force and violated the rights of protesters who participated in the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City, a report issued by a coalition of legal rights organizations said. The report alleges that police frequently used excessive force against protesters indiscriminately, sometimes for no apparent reason. [...]
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a brief with the US Supreme Court on Tuesday challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) . DOMA denies federal recognition of same-sex marriages , which are legally recognized by the State of New York . The amicus brief was filed in the case of [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Angela Perone, Staff Attorney for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, argues that there has been a drastic change in public opinion in favor of same-sex marriage and that courts are more willing to recognize marriage equality for all couples…
A Kenyan court on Wednesday lifted the ban on a group that campaigns for the independence of a coastal strip surrounding the city of Mombasa. The three judges for the country’s High Court held that there is no evidence demonstrating the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) , which was outlawed by the government in 2010 along [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday agreed to rehear a case challenging a California law requiring police to conduct buccal mouth swabs to extract DNA samples from any adult arrested or charged with a felony in California. Plaintiffs challenging the law have argued that the DNA collection is a violation [...]
Amnesty International (AI) on Wednesday accused government forces and rebels in Syria of summarily capturing and killing opposition forces in violation of international humanitarian law. The AI report came after 19 bodies were found, including unarmed men and one child, in Damascus earlier this week. The bodies reportedly bore markings indicating that torture took place [...]
The UK Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that the right not to hold political opinions should be protected in the same manner as the right to affirmatively hold a political, religious or other belief. With the unanimous seven-justice ruling the court held that asylum seekers should not be expected or required to lie about their [...]
Massachusetts officials on Tuesday filed two documents in the US Supreme Court challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) . Attorney General Martha Coakley argued in her brief that Section 3 of DOMA violates the Tenth Amendment as well as the Spending Clause (Article I, Section 8) . In addition, state officials filed another petition [...]
A Sudanese court on Wednesday charged two men with terrorism in connection with anti-government protests last month. The two men, including one US resident, were charged with forming a terrorist organization after police allegedly found materials calling for protests and a new government in their homes. Theirs is the first trial for demonstrators arrested during [...]
