The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Thursday upheld a district court’s dismissal of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for information about the US government’s use of drones for “targeted killings.” The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sought to obtain legal memoranda on drone use as well as [...]
Uber reached a settlement on Thursday with 385,000 of its drivers in Massachusetts and California in a case surrounding the drivers’ status as independent contractors. The drivers had filed this class action lawsuit seeking employee status. Under the terms of the settlement, Uber will continue to classify these drivers as independent contractors but must pay [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein expressed concern on Friday regarding the expanding role which the Thai military is playing in the civilian administration. Thailand will soon vote on a final draft of their constitution, and a new law places limits on advocating for or against the constitution which has led [...]
Virginia’s General Assembly voted Wednesday to keep secret the identities of suppliers of lethal injection drugs. The proposal was supported by Governor Terry McAuliffe , who stated that suppliers would only sell their products if their identities remained confidential. Otherwise, due to potential harassment, Virginia may have lost its supply of such drugs and the [...]
Venezuela’s opposition-led parliament on Wednesday approved new referendum rules. The law speeds up the process of requesting recall referendums. The Venezuelan Constitution allows elected officials be recalled if they have served over half their term. This is a move to take control of referendums from the country’s elections council. Polls show that over two-thirds of [...]
The High Court in Gambia’s capital of Banjul on Wednesday charged 40 people with offenses related to recent protests. More than 50 people were arrested after a demonstration last Thursday by members of the opposition United Democratic Party calling for free speech and an electoral forum. There is concern that three of the high ranking [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of California said Thursday that German automaker Volkswagen AG (VW) has reached a settlement with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) , California officials and consumers over a plan to fix or buy back nearly 600,000 diesel-powered vehicles that were found to have violated [...]
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gave an address on Wednesday marking the 70th anniversary of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) . In his remarks , the secretary-general stated that the ICJ has made an “enormous contribution” to international law. The “World Court” was established by UN Charter in 1945 with a dual role: first, to [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Wednesday upheld the convictions of five former employees of Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities firm who were convicted of various fraud charges in 2014. The three-judge panel rejected arguments that the conviction lacked sufficient evidence, and that aspects of the prosecution’s closing argument were racially-charged. [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases Wednesday. In Birchfield v. North Dakota the court heard arguments on whether a state can criminalize a refusal to submit to a warrantless chemical test regarding blood alcohol content. This case arose when Birchfield was arrested for drunk driving after failing a breathalizer test but [...]
