The US Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled in SCA Hygiene Products Aktiebolag v. First Quality Baby Products, LLC —a patent infringement case—vacating a portion of the opinion and remanding it to a lower court. In SCA Hygiene , the defendant, who is accused of infringing on a patented adult hygiene product design, was attempting to [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein marked the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Tuesday by making a statement emphasizing the importance of curtailing hate speech. Highlighting the racially motivated atrocities occurring worldwide, Zeid noted how several reputable organizations have reported an increase in hate crimes, potentially due to [...]
The Texas Senate approved bills on Wednesday that would prevent doctors from encouraging abortions to avoid lawsuits from birth defects and to require doctors to ensure a fetus is deceased before performing certain procedures. Texas Bills 25 and 415 now move to the Texas House of Representatives . The bills have been met with protests [...]
Utah Governor Gary Herbert on Monday signed amendments to SB 196 , repealing language that barred “advocacy of homosexuality” in Utah public schools. The bill was amended to bar advocacy of “any premarital or extramarital sexual activity,” and continues to bar public school teachers from encouraging students to use contraceptives. The bill’s signing was celebrated [...]
The Ganges and Yumana rivers were granted the same legal rights as people by the high court in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand on Monday. The two rivers are considered sacred by Indians but have faced harm from widespread pollution. The court cited New Zealand’s recent granting of legal person rights to the Whanganui [...]
Republican lawmakers on Monday released two amendments to the American Health Care Act (AHCA) , the proposed replacement for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) , in an effort to appeal to both conservative and liberal critics. Besides some technical and policy changes , the bill also incorporates recommendations from Republican officials and the House Budget [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that acting officers of federal agencies who were appointed by the president to fill a vacancy temporarily cannot act in that capacity after being officially nominated to the vacant position. In NLRB v. SW General, Inc. of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable seizure can continue after the legal process has concluded. In Manuel v. City of Joliet , the court reversed the lower court in a 6-2 decision. The case arose when police found a vitamin bottle containing pills when searching Elijah Manuel at a [...]
The Maryland House of Delegates approved legislation on Monday to bar police statewide from checking the immigration status of individuals they arrest or from stopping an individual for the purposes of suspected immigration violations. The bill would also prevent police from detaining these individuals longer than otherwise warranted at the request of federal agents seeking [...]
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 Michael Lynk warned Tuesday of worsening conditions for human rights workers in the region. Lynk called on the Israeli government to improve its treatment of rights workers, saying, “hey have experienced sophisticated interference with their vital work, and [...]
