Dr. Jonathan Schanzer : “Across the Middle East, protest movements are taking hold. While each draws inspiration from the examples of Egypt and Tunisia, each country has a story of its own. In Iran, for example, the world may be witnessing a repeat of the demonstrations that rocked the Islamic Republic in the aftermath of [...]
Farzana Hassan : “Much of the Arab world is in turmoil. The Shia majority in the tiny island kingdom of Bahrain has suffered years of oppression by the ruling Sunni minority and is now demanding freedom. The citizens of newly liberated Egypt and Tunisia suffered economic hardship and repression before revolting against the Mubarak and [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in two cases: one regarding the extent of immunity for a federal official and another regarding the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause. In Ashcroft v. Al-Kidd , former US attorney general John Ashcroft , appealed the decision of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that [...]
The US Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled 6-2 in Pepper v. United States that judges may consider a defendant’s post-sentencing rehabilitation as a permissible factor supporting a downward sentencing variance under 18 USC § 3553(a) . Writing for the majority, Justice Sonia Sotomayor stated that 18 USC § 3742(g)(2) , which barred judges from departing [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) and 32 other organizations on Tuesday filed an amicus curiae brief in the US Supreme Court , supporting a class action discrimination lawsuit filed against Wal-Mart . The suit was filed 10 years ago by a group of female employees claiming systemic discrimination [...]
The International Criminal Court (ICC) said Wednesday that it will launch an investigation into the recent violence in Libya. According to a statement , ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo will make a formal announcement of the investigation Thursday. The Rome Statute enables the ICC to proceed with an investigation unless the crimes committed do not [...]
The US Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled in Snyder v. Phelps that First Amendment protections extend to protesters at military funerals. Reverend Fred Phelps and members of the Westboro Baptist Church have been traveling around the country picketing military funerals in recent years, claiming US soldiers have been killed because America tolerates homosexuals. The suit [...]
The Malaysian Federal Court refused to dismiss a lawsuit Tuesday brought on behalf of indigenous peoples of Borneo who claim the Sarawat state government unconstitutionally took their land and sold it to businesses. The suit claims that the acquisitions , effected pursuant to the Sarawat land code, violate Article 5 of the Malaysian Constitution , [...]
California Attorney General Kamala Harris on Tuesday requested that the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit lift the stay order prohibiting gay couples from marrying while an appeal of the invalidation of Proposition 8 , California’s same-sex marriage ban, is pending. Harris argued that the appeal is unlikely to succeed in light of [...]
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled Tuesday that an EU directive allowing insurance companies to charge men and women different rates in some countries violates the Charter of Fundamental European Rights and must be struck down. Article 5(2) of Directive 2004/113/EC provides that, notwithstanding rules in the directive prohibiting discrimination, EU states may “permit [...]
