New York officials on Wednesday announced a settlement agreement under which the state will overhaul its solitary confinement practices and procedures. The $62 million settlement comes in a lawsuit filed in 2012 by the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) . Under the terms of the agreement, New York will reduce the number of inmates [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Tuesday issued an order preserving Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that limit mercury emissions and other hazardous pollutants from coal-fired power plants. The decision comes after the US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in June that the EPA could not make regulations regarding the [...]
A judge for the High Court in Belfast on Wednesday declared that Northern Ireland’s abortion laws, which only allow abortion when the mother faces the risk of death or serious injury, are not compatible with human rights laws. Judge Mark Horner’s decision , which echoes a ruling he issued last month , does not mandate [...]
Burkina Faso’s highest court on Tuesday announced results from last month’s elections, declaring Roch Marc Christian Kabore winner of the presidency. Kabore won with 53 percent of the vote , confirming provisional results released shortly after the November 29 election. He will be sworn in December 29. Kabore replaces a transitional government put in place [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Maya Manian of the University of San Francisco School of Law discusses the debate over abortion laws and how the future of a woman’s right to choose resides with the Supreme Court as they are set to rule on a monumental case out of Texas later this term… Recently, the Oklahoma Supreme [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Colombia Circuit on Tuesday vacated a lower court ruling that found that a DC gun law requiring a concealed carry permit outside of the home may violate the Constitution. The appeals court found that the judge who was assigned the case did not have jurisdiction over [...]
The appeals chamber of the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Tuesday ordered a retrial for two senior Serbian officials acquitted of war crimes during the 1990s Balkans conflict. Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović were acquitted in 2013 after the court found that the prosecution failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt [...]
The head of army forces command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, General Robert Abrams on Monday ordered that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl face court martial for deserting an endangering troops by leaving his outpost in 2009. Bergdahl faces a possible life sentence , a much more severe punishment than had initially been recommended by the army’s [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday granted certiorari in United States v. Bryant , a case concerning Indian rights to counsel. 18 USC §117(a) makes it a federal crime for any person to “commit[] a domestic assault within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States or Indian country” if the person “has [...]
The Supreme Court Monday stayed an Alabama court decision that repudiated the parental rights of a woman (VL) who had been raising the three children she shared with her same-sex partner. The Alabama Supreme Court decision had reversed the ruling of a Georgia court, which granted VL custody of the children. The Alabama court found [...]
