JURIST Contributing Editor Marjorie Cohn of Thomas Jefferson School of Law says that all instances of torture must be investigated as violations of US and international law and a failure to do so will allow impunity for those who authorized these actions… President Barack Obama declared “nobody’s above the law” in 2009, as Congress contemplated [...]
JPMorgan Chase & Co agreed to a $228 million settlement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) over charges that it used fraudulent bidding practices for state and local government investment securities at taxpayers’ expense. As part of the nonprosecution agreement, JPMorgan admits to and takes responsibility for its former employees engaging in anticompetitive practices [...]
An EU official told the Miami Herald Wednesday that Europe is still willing to resettle Guantanamo Bay detainees despite Congress’ efforts to prevent closure and transfers. In a display of commitment to a 2009 agreement with the US, the EU reiterated that detainees would still be accepted on a case-by-case basis. So far, 27 detainees [...]
JURIST Contributing Editor Haider Ala Hamoudi of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law says that the ICC must keep in mind the example of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon as it goes forward with prosecutions referred by the UN Security Council in order to maintain its legitimacy… Criminal trials seem to be all consuming [...]
The Russia Presidential Council on Civil Society and Human Rights urged amnesty for economic crimes in a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Tuesday that would include amnesty for the crimes of former Russian oil executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky . Medvedev was receptive to the granting amnesties with the Council in the South Caucasus city of [...]
David Meyers, Columbia Law School Class of 2013, worked as a staffer to President George W. Bush from 2006 to 2009 and later in the US Senate. He argues that although health care reform may fit within current precedent, the Supreme Court must temper its Commerce Clause jurisprudence to strike down the individual mandate… In [...]
JURIST Contributing Editor Benjamin Davis of the University of Toledo College of Law says that through the recent decision to continue two torture investigations, the country is reaching a turning point where blame will start to flow back up to the commanding officers who ordered torture… The recent announcement that two cases of torture at [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled on Thursday that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) must revise its current media ownership rules, effectively reinstating a ban on owning a television station and newspaper in the same market. The ban, though not dissolved, had been relaxed in recent years. In 2007, the FCC [...]
The UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang spoke Tuesday on the importance of Haiti improving its human rights record , including trying ex-president Jean-Claude Duvalier . Stressing the importance of rebuilding after Haiti’s recent earthquake, Kang said reform must create a new focus on human rights and equality in the nation. A [...]
A Dutch appeals court on Thursday sentenced Joseph Mpambara to life in prison for his role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide . Mpambara, a former member of extremist Hutu militia Interahamwe , which was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Tutsis, was convicted of torture in 2009 and sentenced to 20 years in prison [...]
