The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in two cases. In Sheriff v. Gillie the court heard arguments on whether the special counsel attorneys appointed by the attorney general to collect debts owed to the state are “state officers” under the meaning of the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) . As a second [...]

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed suit Tuesday against Volkswagen AG (VW) for false advertising. VW’s sales have taken a major hit in the US since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed in September that VW had been cheating on diesel-emissions tests , contradicting the company’s claims that its diesel vehicles were “green.” More [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal from former Illinois governor Rob Blagojevich. In 2013 Blagojevich was found guilty on 18 charges of corruption in his second trial and ultimately sentenced to a 14-year prison term . A federal appeals court threw out five of his 18 convictions in 2015. Blagojevich’s [...]

A Missouri court struck down part of a law on Monday that was passed in the wake of the unrest in Ferguson last yea. Senate Bill 5 was passed as a response to widespread concern regarding the revenue being made in Ferguson courts after a US Department of Justice (DOJ) report following the shooting of [...]

UNICEF reported Tuesday that “on average at least six children have been killed or maimed everyday since March 15, 2015” as the crisis in Yemen escalates. The report also discussed how recruitment of children as young “as 10 years old” has increased “exponentially” and there have been continued attacks on educational facilities and hospitals while [...]

An equally divided US Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed a 2014 decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in favor of unions concerning First Amendment rights of public teachers who do not wish to pay union fees. In Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association the court was asked to decide whether public [...]

Louisiana jails are failing to provide basic HIV services to inmates, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report Tuesday. HRW said this failure occurs through “limited, haphazard, and in many cases, non-existent” services provided to inmates. Louisiana’s two largest cities, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, lead the nation in new HIV infections every year, [...]

Utah became the first state to require doctors to administer anesthesia to women receiving an abortion after 20-weeks on Monday when the governor signed Senate Bill 234 . The bill was signed into law along with 55 other bills by Governor Gary Herbert. Previously, anesthesia was a woman’s choice and abortions are still prohibited in [...]

The UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) ruled on Monday that Argentina’s maritime territory includes the area surrounding the Falkland Islands. Argentina had previously submitted to the commission a report fixing the territory at 350 miles from its coast instead of 200. The commission made clear that it was not in [...]

Azeri human rights lawyer and advocate Intigam Aliyev was freed from jail on Monday. The Azerbaijan Supreme Court reduced his sentence from over seven years to a five year-probation period. Aliyev had been charged with tax evasion, abuse of office and illegal entrepreneurship. Amnesty International Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia Denis Krivosheev stated [...]