The US Supreme Court on Friday granted certiorari in seven cases. In Erica P. John Fund, Inc. v. Halliburton Co. , the court will determine whether investor losses need to be proven by a preponderance of the evidence at the class certification stage prior to full discovery in order for the class action lawsuit to [...]
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeals on Monday ruled that refusal by provincial marriage commissioners to marry same-sex couples violates § 15(1) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms . The decision invalidates a proposed amendment to Saskatchewan’s Marriage Act of 1995 that would allow for marriage commissioners to refuse to solemnize same-sex marriages in service [...]
Prominent Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was sentenced Sunday to 11 years in prison. Sotoudeh was found guilty of “acting against national security” and “making propaganda against the system” for which she will serve five and one years, respectively. The remaining five years of her sentence result from allegations that she was a member [...]
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani announced Sunday that he has no intention of revising the country’s contentious blasphemy laws after Governor Salman Taseer of Punjab province was shot and killed Tuesday apparently due to his opposition to the law. The laws envisage the death penalty for anyone who insults the Prophet Muhammad and have [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday remanded the case of Madison County v. Oneida Indian Nation to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, ordering the lower court to reconsider its ruling. The Second Circuit ruling had found that tribal sovereign immunity prevented county authorities from foreclosing on property belonging to the Oneida [...]
Federal charges were formally filed on Sunday against Jared Loughner, the man is accused of shooting to death Chief Judge John Roll of the US District Court for the District of Arizona and five other people Saturday. Fourteen other people were wounded in the shooting including Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) . Loughner faces one count [...]
JURIST Special Guest Columnist Amanda M. Klasing, of Human Rights Watch says that following the first anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti, the international community and government of Haiti should allow Haitians to participate more in decision-making and increase accountability mechanisms… “What will happen to us?” Guylaine asks me, with quiet resolve in her eyes. [...]
A coalition of six rights groups filed a petition in the US District Court of Arizona on Friday seeking to block to additional elements of the Arizona’s recently passed immigration reform bill SB 1070 . The petition , filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), MALDEF , the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), the [...]
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a decision on Friday ruling against banks in two foreclosure cases that could have important implications on similar cases both inside and outside of the state. In the consolidated decision Justice Ralph Gants ruled that neither US Bank National Association nor Wells Fargo, which were not the original mortgagees, [...]
President Barack Obama on Friday signed a bill barring the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the US for trial. The Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act of 2011 authorizes funding for defense interests abroad, military construction and national security-related energy programs. However, sections 1032 and 1033 impose significant setbacks to the Obama administration’s self-imposed
