The Liberian government must work to improve its generally poor prison conditions, according to an Amnesty International (AI) assessment released Wednesday. “Good Intentions Are Not Enough: The Struggle to Reform Liberia’s Prisons” describes an otherwise determined government’s failure to cope with the needs of its prisoners as it struggles to rebuild a country wracked by [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia Wednesday dismissed a challenge to election monitoring under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) . In a 151-page decision , Judge John Bates rejected the arguments of officials representing Shelby County, Alabama, together with a corps of conservative activists, who claimed it [...]
A Paris prosecutor on Tuesday, asked that the corruption charges against former French president Jacques Chirac be dropped. Additionally, the prosecutor has requested acquittal of the nine other individuals charged with Chirac. The charges against Chirac stem from his time as mayor of the city of Paris and accuse him of using public funds to [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on Friday reinstated a $675,000 verdict against a Boston University student who illegally downloaded 30 songs and then shared them on the Web.The verdict was, at one point, reduced to $67,500, because then-judge Nancy Gertner, who has since retired, found the original penalty “unconstitutionally excessive.” Gertner [...]
US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Tuesday ordered a stay of execution for Cleve Foster , a former Army recruiter and convicted murderer. The execution, which had been scheduled for Tuesday evening, was stayed for the third time and will remain so until the court decides whether to grant certiorari in the case. Foster [...]
Chief US District Judge James Ware of the US District Court for the Northern District of California decided Monday to unseal video recordings from last year’s trial over Proposition 8 , California’s same-sex marriage ban. Unless a higher court overrules the order, it will take effect September 30. In August of this year, Ware held [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday suggested a need for UN intervention in Belarus and demanded the nation free non-violent political prisoners. Although Belarus is an active member of the UN and has ratified many of its human rights policies, Pillay noted a sharp deterioration in human rights since the 2010 [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Monday ended an injunction on damages levied against US oil company Chevron , making the company potentially liable for $18 billion in damages to Ecuadorian citizens for an oil spill in the 1990s. The award will not be granted immediately, pending appeals in Ecuador and [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Charles Adeogun-Phillips of Charles Anthony LLP says that despite concerns surrounding the ability of the new Libyan government to provide Muammar Gaddafi with a fair trial upon capture, it should be allowed the opportunity to establish a hybrid international and domestic court for the purposes of institution building and reconciliation… From all [...]
US Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday President Barack Obama remains committed to closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay , despite political opposition. At the European Parliament in Brussels, Holder stated the administration’s commitment to closing Guantanamo before the next presidential election . Obama has faced criticism for not closing Guantanamo after issuing an [...]
