The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in three Kansas death penalty cases Wednesday. In two cases titled Kansas v. Carr , the court must determine whether the Eighth Amendment right to an “individualized sentencing” was violated by the decision not to sever the sentencing phase of a co-defendant’s trial. The Carr brothers were convicted [...]

California Governor Jerry Brown signed the Fair Pay Act into law on Tuesday, aimed at closing the wage gap between male and female employees. The bill will prohibit an employer from paying any employee a lower wage than that paid to employees of the opposite sex for substantially similar work. To be excepted from this [...]

The discrepancies between the US and Afghan accounts of the US-led bombing that struck a hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, last week call for an independent investigation by a never-before-used international body, said Joanne Liu, president of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) , in a speech on Wednesday. Twenty-two people were killed in the MSF-operated hospital that [...]

The European Court of Justice ruled Tuesday that the UK’s practice of administering a residence test to migrants for benefit payments is legal. The court, as it normally does, followed the opinion written by the advocate general at the European Court of Justice . The action was brought by citizens of other EU states who [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Lawson Huynh from St. John’s University School of Law Class of 2016, is the second author in a twelve-part series from the staffers of the Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development. Huyhn discusses the impact a recent Supreme Court case might have on patentability of mobile apps and other IT creations [...]

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday on two cases. In Ocasio v. US the court heard arguments on whether a conspiracy to commit extortion requires that the conspirators agree to obtain property from someone outside the conspiracy. The case involves a Baltimore police officer who was charged with conspiracy to extort for taking [...]

Former UN General Assembly president John Ashe was charged Tuesday for allegedly taking part in a scheme to receive $1.3 million in bribes to conduct official actions supporting Chinese business interests. Ashe also previously served as UN Ambassador for Antigua and Barbuda. Deputy UN Ambassador for the Dominican Republic Francis Lorenzo and three other defendants [...]

Government officials in the Republic of the Congo on Monday announced a referendum on an amendment to the constitution that could allow President Denis Sassou Nguesso to extend his term in office. The proposed amendment allows presidents to renew their term twice and removes the age limit for presidential candidates, currently set at 70. Nguesso, [...]

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled Tuesday that a convicted murderer could be banned from voting because the ban is proportionate to the offense. Thierry Delvigne challenged the ban before the ECJ as a violation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights . According to a press release from the court, “the deprivation of [...]

The England and Wales Court of Appeal ruled Tuesday that a same-sex spouse is not entitled to his husband’s full pension benefits in the event of death. John Walker worked for Innospec but retired in 2003, two years before same-sex civil partnerships were recognized in the UK. In the event of Walker’s death, his spouse [...]