Chinese human rights lawyer Zhou Shifeng was sentenced to seven years in prison Thursday for his role as director of Beijing’s Fengrui Law Firm. Zhou was accused of opposing China’s government and political system. The verdict stated that Zhou encouraged lawyers to highlight sensitive cases and hired protestors to disturb the judicial system. This is [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Thursday denied a motion by North Carolina officials to stay an earlier order striking down the state’s voter ID law. The law was overturned last week after a finding of discriminatory intent. The state filed the motion to stay the order while it seeks an [...]
A divided US Supreme Court on Wednesday granted an application to recall and stay lower court orders allowing a transgender student who identifies as a male to use the men’s restroom in school. This comes after the Gloucester County School Board filed an emergency application to block the lower court decisions. Many believe the court’s [...]
A three-member panel for the Supreme Court of Indonesia rejected a radical Islamic leader’s appeal of his conviction on Thursday. Abu Bakar Bashir, religious leader of the southeast-Asian Jemaah Islamiyah militants, had requested judicial review of his June 2011 conviction in relation to his military-style training camp, for which he was facing a 15-year prison [...]
According to the state-run Anadolu news agency, an Istanbul court on Thursday issued an arrest warrant for the Pennsylvania-based preacher Fetullah Gulen on charges of orchestrating the recent July 15 attempted coup, which left more than 270 dead. The court ruled that the so-called Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) had attempted to change constitutional order through [...]
Texas agreed to a deal Wednesday that will weaken their voter identification law and allow voters to cast ballots in the November election even if they lack all documents required by the law. The agreement will require Texas to spend at least $2.5 million in the months leading up to the election to increase voter [...]
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation Wednesday that would legalize daily fantasy sports in New York state. The law, SB 8153 , serves to legalize forms of daily fantasy sports, like Draft Kings, while requiring that companies using this platform register with the New York State Gaming Commission , and adhere to its regulations. [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Middle District of Alabama on Thursday dismissed a suit filed by suspended Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore against the Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) . The federal judge found that he should not intervene in matters relating to a state’s constitution and therefore dismissed the case. [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said Thursday that South Sudan government (SPLA) security forces have killed and raped citizens and looted and destroyed public and private property. The rights chief called on the UN Security Council to take stronger action against these events. While the report explains that some civilian [...]
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reported Wednesday that Australia is ignoring inhumane treatment of refugees on the South Pacific island of Nauru in the hopes of deterring additional refugees from traveling to Australia. Individuals caught trying to travel into the country are sent to a camp on Manus Island or in Nauru according to [...]
