The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Monday issued an order allowing the National Security Agency (NSA) to continue compiling telephone records of a California-based law firm. Last week a federal judge ruled against part of the NSA’s controversial surveillance program that collects domestic phone records in bulk. Judge Richard [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Dwight Duncan of the University of Massachusetts School of Law discusses the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act… In 2012 Chief Justice John Roberts surprised the country with his creative jurisprudence in upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) . He joined the four conservative dissenters in NFIB v. [...]
Canada’s Minister of Justice and Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship issued a joint statement on Monday announcing that the government will withdraw an appeal that sought to require removal of the niqab for citizenship ceremonies. A niqab is a veil worn by some Muslim women that covers part of the face. The case was [...]
Amnesty International (AI) released a report Tuesday detailing problems with how the EU is approaching the refugee crisis and recommending changes to ensure international law is followed and human rights are appropriately valued. AI is calling “for managed, safe, legal routes into Europe and fair, efficient, rigorous screening processes that would meet the needs of [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled Monday that the method used by the Boston Police Department to promote sergeants to the rank of lieutenant had a disparate impact on minorities. The action was brought against the city of Boston by 10 black police sergeants arguing that the multiple [...]
UN Assistant Secretary-General for human rights Ivan Simonovic called on Somalia’s international partners Tuesday to increase their aid in order for the country to maintain its gains in protecting its citizens’ human rights. Simonovic described the major progress the country has made and said without continued aid from the international community, Somalia may not be [...]
An Alabama woman on Monday asked the US Supreme Court to review the decision of an Alabama court not to recognize her adoption of her same-sex partner’s three children. She has also asked the Supreme Court for an emergency order to allow her to visit the children while her appeal is being considered. According to [...]
An independent UN human rights expert said Tuesday that last week’s attacks in Paris may constitute crimes against humanity. The UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Karima Bennoune, said, “hese attacks may constitute a crime against humanity and certainly one which viciously and deliberately targeted sites of arts and leisure where people [...]
The Baltimore Police Department (BPD) on Monday publicly released an independent report detailing issues with the police response during the April civil unrest, including lack of clear guidance and inadequate protective gear. The report, prpared by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) , enumerated failures of the BPD and included recommendations that police departments may [...]
New Jersey lawmakers on Monday advanced a bill that would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain New Jersey driver’s licenses. The bill, considered by the Assembly Homeland Security and State Preparedness Committee , would allow such immigrants to get a license if they are able to satisfy the requirements of the state for providing proof of [...]
