Gay rights groups Lambda Legal and Garden State Equality filed a lawsuit on Wednesday to force the state of New Jersey to recognize and legalize same-sex marriage as opposed to its current Civil Unions Law . The suit was filed in the Mercer County Superior Court of New Jersey on behalf of eight same-sex couples [...]
The Ohio House of Representatives voted 54-43 on Tuesday to approve legislation that would prohibit abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detectable, which could occur as early as six weeks into the pregnancy. The “heartbeat bill” provides no exceptions for rape, incest or the life or health of the mother. The law effectively challenges the [...]
Ivory Coast Justice Minister Jeannot Ahoussou Kouadio signed an agreement with the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday, allowing an investigation into political violence to proceed and pledging cooperation with the ICC. As the Ivory Coast is not a member state of the ICC because it is not a signatory of the Rome Statute , [...]
The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) on Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit challenging licensing and regulation laws for doctors who provide abortions in Kansas. The suit , filed on behalf of two doctors, alleges that regulations issued by the Kansas Department of Health were intended to shut down the only abortion providers in the state. [...]
Bank of America (BOA) announced Wednesday that it has agreed to pay $8.5 billion to settle claims that it sold bad securities contributing to the housing market collapse. The securities, called first-lien residential mortgage-backed securitization, were issued by the BOA unit Countrywide Financial Corporation, which it purchased for $4 billion in 2008. The settlement is [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Roy Gutterman of Syracuse University says that the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on violent video games, in conjunction with prior First Amendment jurisprudence, maintains necessary constitutional safeguards for speakers and listeners… The beeps and blips of today’s modern video games, complete with graphic and sometimes interactive depictions of violence, warrants First Amendment [...]
John Hardin Young, Counsel for Sandler Reiff Young & Lamb, PC, argues that the recent Supreme Court opinion striking down Arizona’s campaign finance regulations leaves few options for future campaign finance reform…
David Hudson : The US Supreme Court’s violent video games decision in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association continued the Court’s trend of limiting legislative attempts to create new categories of unprotected speech. It rejected the concept of violence as obscenity, refusing to expand that category beyond its sexual moorings. The final result comported with what [...]
US State Department (DOS) legal adviser Harold Koh on Tuesday told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) that President Barack Obama is acting within the law with respect to US military operations in Libya . Koh testified that Obama’s conduct is consistent with the Constitution, the 1973 War Powers Resolution and international law. Specifically, Koh [...]
International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo on Tuesday urged personal aides of Libyan leader Mummar Gaddafi to implement the arrest warrants issued Monday . Moreno-Ocampo called on the aides to arrest Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the “de facto Prime Minister,” and his brother-in-law Abdullah al-Sanussi , the head of intelligence, for [...]
