All three judges responsible for adjudicating the criminal prosecution of 43 non-governmental organization (NGO) employees withdrew from the case on Tuesday. It is not clear why the judges chose to withdraw , but Egyptian lawyer and rights activist Ahmed Seif al-Islam suggested it could be a result of political pressure. The case, tried in a [...]
Majid Khan , a Guantanamo Bay prisoner who is linked with al Qaeda, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to five terror charges including conspiracy, attempted murder and murder. Per his plea bargain, Khan must testify against fellow “high value” prisoners who are alleged to have been involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks . The list of [...]
A panel of three judges in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas on Tuesday issued new voting maps for use in the 2012 elections. The new maps were issued after the US Supreme Court rejected Texas’s interim redistricting maps in an emergency appeal filed to challenge an interim map drawn up [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases on Tuesday. In Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. , the court heard arguments on whether three oil companies are immune from US lawsuits under the Alien Tort Statute of 1789 (ATS) for alleged torture and international law violations that took place overseas. International law [...]
The UK has begun circulating a proposal for changes to the European Convention on Human Rights , which was leaked to the press on Tuesday. The proposal, entitled the Brighton Declaration , began circulating to member states last week. It is expected to be voted on in April when members states meet to discuss the [...]
The Virginia Senate approved a bill on Tuesday that would require a woman seeking an abortion to have an ultrasound before the procedure. The bill was passed by the Virginia House of Delegates , and is a scaled-back version of a similar bill that was passed earlier this month. The current version of the bill [...]
The Constitutional Council of the French Republic on Tuesday ruled that a French law making it a crime to deny that Armenians suffered a genocide by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 is unconstitutional. Ultimately, the Council found that the law’s provisions allowing the imposition of a €45,000 fine, a one-year prison sentence, or both, on [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to grant an injunction, and denied a petition for writ of certiorari in Michigan v. US Army Corp. of Engineers . Five states petitioned the court in October asking them to overturn a lower court ruling and to require the US Army Corps of Engineers to accelerate a [...]
The Virginia Senate on Monday approved a bill requiring identification from those trying to vote in elections. The bill passed 21-20 after an initial 20-20 deadlock that was broken by Lt. Governor Bill Bolling . The bill requires voters to provide: A current and valid photo identification or a copy of a current utility bill, [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist William G. Ross of Cumberland School of Law says that the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is bound to cause tremendous amounts of litigation and to be challenged as unconstitutional or in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965…
