Republicans in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday vowed to block any Supreme Court nominee by President Obama . In a letter to the majority leader of the primarily-Republican Senate, all 11 of the Judiciary Committee’s Republicans promised to hold no hearings on a nominee until the new president is inaugurated in January. If Republicans [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in cases dealing with damages for patent infringement and the Hobbs Act robbery statute. The consolidated cases of Stryker Corp. v. Zimmer and Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc. involve the application of a rigid two-part test to assess damages in a patent infringement case under [...]
The UN Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic reported that the Syrian conflict has had an unyielding effect on civilians as it enters in its sixth year. A concerted and sustained international action to find a political solution is needed to end the violence and grave violations of human rights, the report emphasized. [...]
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday condemned Italy for their role in the 2003 kidnapping situation in connection with the US extraordinary rendition program. The court stated that Italy failed to perform their duty to protect someone in custody from torture or inhumane punishment, which was said to occur after Hassan Mustafa [...]
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Tuesday that new measures put in place by many European countries are too restrictive and place undue hardships on refugees and asylum-seekers. The measures at issue include daily acceptance limits for refugees, daily limits on accepted asylum applications and profiling people in ways that create protection risks. [...]
US President Barack Obama delivered his plan to close Guantanamo Bay to Congress on Tuesday. This plan comes seven years after Obama first announced he planned to shut down the prison before the end of his presidency. Under the proposed plan, detainees not fit for US prosecution or deportation would be transferred to a yet-undisclosed [...]
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Tuesday that Russia violated the right of Alexei Navalny and Pyotr Ofitserov to a fair trial. Navalny was convicted of organizing and Ofitserov of facilitating large-scale embezzlement, including timber worth $500,000 from the state-owned company, Kirovles. The two defendants were tried after an anonymous co-accused party who [...]
A spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) expressed concern Tuesday over the tense situation in Uganda after Thursday’s election where President Yoweri Museveni apparently won a fifth term in office. At least two people have been reported killed with an unknown number injured, and military and police have [...]
The Utah Senate on Monday voted to advance Senate Bill 73 , which would legalize the use of medical marijuana in various forms such as vapor or edible form. The bill allows for dispensaries to operate legally as long as they abide by statutory guidelines concerning licenses, inventory, inventory control, health requirements and general operating [...]
Amnesty International (AI) warned Tuesday that Austria is violating the human rights of asylum seekers by putting caps of 80 requests per day through the main migrant route. Heinz Patzelt, of Amnesty International Austria said on ORF radio “he Geneva Convention does not know the terms quota or admission limit … and the Geneva Convention [...]
