North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue vetoed legislation Monday that would have required a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion . The “Woman’s Right to Know Act” would also have required women seeking an abortion to view an ultrasound of the fetus prior to the procedure. Supporters argued that the bill was necessary in order for [...]
The Texas legislature on Monday passed a pair of bills that criminalize enhanced airport security pat-downs if they involve touching a passenger’s “private” areas. The Texas House of Representatives passed HB 41 while the Senate simultaneously passed SB 29 , both seeking to reduce “groping” during airport security screening processes. A person acting in violation [...]
The US Supreme Court granted certiorari in two additional cases Tuesday including a case similar to one decided last week involving whether the Confrontation Clause case blocks the admissibility of lab test data when the analyst who conducted the tests is not called to testify. In Williams v. Illinois the court will decide whether a [...]
A former contractor for Blackwater , now known as Xe Services , was sentenced Monday to two-and-a-half years in prison for the 2009 shooting of an unarmed Afghan civilian in Kabul. Justin Cannon was convicted in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Norfolk, VA in March, along with Christopher Drotleff, [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday denied certiorari in Philip Morris v. Jackson , declining to determine whether a state court erred in certifying a class of smokers who sued four tobacco companies, claiming that cigarettes containing nicotine are defective products. Despite the fact that the Louisiana state court found that cigarettes containing nicotine are [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on Monday blocked two sections of the state’s controversial immigration bill that was signed into law last month . Judge Thomas Thrash issued a preliminary injunction at the request of the plaintiffs, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the National Immigration [...]
Uruguay President Jose Mujica is removing 80 administrative acts blocking investigations into crimes committed by the military junta that ruled between 1973-85, Secretary of the Presidency Alberto Breccia announced Monday. Mujica, who fought the military rule as a guerilla fighter , will issue a decree later this week revoking administrative acts issued by the executive [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Ashley Savage of Northumbria University Law School in the UK says that in light of recent leaks to the media and through the Internet, there must be more robust protections for whistleblowers and more effective systems for addressing their concerns internally… The case of former senior National Security Agency (NSA) official Thomas [...]
A jury in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on Monday convicted former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich on 17 of 20 counts including attempting to sell the US Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama. The jury convicted Blagojevich of right counts of wire fraud and on counts of extortion conspiracy, [...]
The US Supreme Court , ruled Monday in a per curiam opinion in US v. Juvenile Male that the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had no authority to rule that the requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act of 2006 (SORNA) violate the ex post facto clause of the Constitution [...]
