Former US solicitor general Ted Olson and prominent litigator David Boies announced Wednesday that they have filed suit challenging California's constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage , Proposition 8 , on federal constitutional grounds. The complaint, filed Friday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California , seeks to enjoin enforcement of the [...]
Mexican security forces arrested 27 government officials in Michoacan Tuesday on corruption charges related to the illegal drug trade . Those arrested include 10 mayors, the chief adviser to the Michoacan attorney general, the director of the Michoacan police academy, and the top public security aide to Governor Leonel Godoy . Michoacan is the home [...]
A Tasmanian anti-discrimination court Wednesday upheld an Australian Red Cross policy to refuse blood donations from sexually active homosexual males. Petitioner Michael Cain tried to donate blood in 2004 but his offer was refused after he affirmatively answered an inquiry into whether he "had male-to-male sex" in the past 12 months. Cain challenged the policy [...]
Assistance to Sri Lanka in the promotion and protection of human rights, S-11/1, UN Human Rights Council, May 27, 2009 Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. UNHRC Sri Lanka
Querella causa aforados, Supreme Court of Spain, May 27, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Garzon complaint
Tunisian Minister of Justice and Human Rights Bechir Tekkari announced Tuesday that the country is prepared to accept the return of 10 Tunisians currently detained at Guantanamo Bay . Tekkari said that Tunisia is capable of conducting fair trials and is "entirely happy to welcome and examine their penal situation according to legal procedures and [...]
In re: Samuel B. Kent, the Judicial Council of the Fifth Circuit, May 27, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Kent impeachment certification
US v. Blagojevich, et al., In re: Motion to Disclose Intercepted Communications to the United States Senate Select Committee on Ethics, US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, May 27, 2009 [holding that recorded conversations between the brother of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, Robert Blagojevich, and Illinois Senator Roland Burris could be [...]
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that recorded conversations between the brother of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich , Robert Blagojevich, and Illinois Senator Roland Burris could be released to the US Senate Ethics Committee to be used in the committee's investigation into the appointment of Burris. The recordings, intercepted by the FBI in November during [...]
Jordan should restore its rule of law by ending extrajudicial detentions of crime victims, personal enemies, and persons freed by the courts, according to a report released Tuesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) . Per the 1954 Crime Prevention Law , which is currently in effect, government officials have the power to order administrative detentions [...]
