The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases on Tuesday. In US v. Jones , the court will decide whether the government’s warrantless use of a global positioning systems (GPS) tracking device on respondent’s vehicle to monitor its movements on public streets violated the Fourth Amendment . The government argued that under US [...]

A UK court ruled Tuesday that Catholic priests qualify as employees, meaning that the Catholic church could be held liable for sexual abuse by clergy members . A 47-year-old woman filed suit against the Portsmouth Roman Catholic Diocesan Trust claiming that she was sexually abused by the Reverend Wilfred Baldwin during her childhood in a [...]

The UN-backed Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on Monday ruled that Ieng Sary , former deputy foreign minister of the Khmer Rouge regime is not protected from genocide charges by a 15-year-old royal pardon and amnesty. The court ruled that his amnesty does not apply to the crimes of genocide, torture or [...]

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) announced Tuesday that the death toll of Syrian protesters has exceeded 3,500 despite last week’s signing of a peace plan sponsored by the League of Arab States . In the past week alone, approximately 60 people have been killed by military and security personnel, included [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on Tuesday refused to dismiss a lawsuit against a former Somali military colonel. The defendant, Abdi Aden Magan, who now lives in Ohio, is charged with torture in connection with actions that allegedly occurred during the military dictatorship of Mohammad Siad Barre. [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday in Greene v. Fisher that, for purposes of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), “clearly established federal law” is limited to Supreme Court decisions “as of the time of the relevant state-court adjudication on the merits.” Petitioner Eric Greene was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment [...]

The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) announced Tuesday that more than 5,000 Haitian cholera victims are seeking damages from the UN and the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) for its role in the introduction of the cholera virus into the country. Since the virus was introduced into Haiti in October 2010, [...]

The US Department of Defense on Monday released a guidebook detailing the procedures to be followed in military commissions . Changes to procedures introduced by the regulations include a provision that allows the judge in a military trial to approve the costs of a “learned counsel” in cases involving the possibility of capital punishment. Non-party [...]

The Australian Senate voted 36-32 Tuesday to approve legislation that will impose a price on carbon emissions in an effort to improve the environment and the country’s economy. The new law will put a fixed rate of A$23 per ton on carbon units with limits on how many can be auctioned and given out. The [...]

A senior judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Monday gave final approval to a $410 million settlement in the class action suit against Bank of America (BOA) for overdraft fees that affected more than 13 million people. Judge James Lawrence King found this agreement to be fair and [...]