Two members of the US House of Representatives introduced a bill Thursday to legalize marijuana nationally and leave regulation to the states. Representatives Barney Frank (D-MA) and Ron Paul (R-TX) wrote the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011 to amend the Controlled Substances Act , removing marijuana, hemp and cannabis from the schedule. Currently, [...]
A Maryland court ruled Thursday that the spousal privilege preventing spouses from being compelled to testify against one another applies to a lesbian couple married in Washington DC, recognizing the rights of
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Thursday condemned a Bahraini court for sentencing 21 human rights advocates, political activists and opposition leaders to harsh punishments. The court sentenced the protestors to lengthy prison sentences, including life terms. Ban urged Bahraini authorities to comply with international human rights obligations such as ensuring the right to due process [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Thursday rejected former US representative Richard Renzi’s (R-AZ) appeal to have an extortion case against him dismissed. Renzi is under indictment for allegedly using his political office to profit from a real estate deal in 2005. He argued that negotiations regarding the deal, entered as [...]
A military court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Thursday sentenced four policemen to death for killing prominent human rights activist Floribert Chebeya last year. Cherbeya, a member of the activist group Voice of the Voiceless, was found dead in his own car in June 2010. Eight men, all DRC policemen, were [...]
Sara Rose, Staff Attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, argues that although the recent Third Circuit ruling on student speech was the right one, it did not go far enough in ensuring the constitutional rights of public school students… A middle-school student, annoyed after being disciplined by her principal for violating the [...]
The International Criminal Court (ICC) said Thursday it will decide whether it will issue arrest warrants for Libyan leader Mummar Gaddafi and two high-ranking officials on allegations of war crimes. The Pre-Trial chamber will deliver is decision on the application for warrants against Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam, and his brother-in-law Abdullah al-Sanussi in a [...]
A Danish court on Wednesday sentenced Somali Islamist Muhideen Mohammed Geele to an additional year in prison for his 2010 attack on Kurt Westergaard, illustrator of the controversial 2005 cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a suicide bomber. Geele had already been sentenced to nine years in prison for the attack. In Denmark, crimes involving [...]
International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo officially requested permission from ICC judges Thursday to begin investigation into the Ivory Coast after determining that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in post-election violence since last November. Moreno-Ocampo said that thousands have been killed and hundreds detained and raped in the months-long [...]
The US Supreme Court on Thursday ruled 5-4 in Freeman v. United States that an individual whose sentence is imposed under a plea agreement may be eligible for a reduced sentence if the US Sentencing Commission (USSC) subsequently alters the sentencing guidelines. The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 (SRA) allows the USSC to create and [...]
