The US Supreme Court ruled 8-1 Monday in Horne v. Department of Agriculture that a program requiring California raisin growers to hand over a percentage of their harvest to the government violated the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment. Under regulations citing the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 , the government ordered growers to [...]
A bill approved by Indiana lawmakers earlier this year repealing the statewide ban on sawed-off shotguns will go into effect July 1. The bill, sponsored by Senator Jim Tomes , will allow the manufacture, selling and ownership of shotguns with barrels 18 inches or less in length. According to Senator Tomes the law will put [...]
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Thursday warned of the record high number of refugees around the world as a result of increasing global conflicts. According to data collected by the UNHCR in 2014 the number of refugees grew from roughly 51 million in 2013 to 60 million in 2014. The data [...]
New records released by the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) Wednesday revealed a confidential legal battle over Medicare over-billing that spanned three years between government officials and UnitedHealth Group . The dispute centered on a 2012 audit obtained through the Freedom of Information Act that revealed UnitedHealth charged too much for Medicare Advantage plans in [...]
The UN International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) downgraded the security rating of Thailand’s aviation sector from Category 1 to Category 2 on Thursday. The agency clarified that the designation as a “significant safety concern (SSC) does not necessarily indicate a particular safety deficiency in the air navigation service providers, airlines (air operators), aircraft or aerodrome; [...]
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday addressed the challenges of upholding the fundamental rights of children in war zones, stating that protecting children is a “moral imperative and legal obligation.” The Secretary-General spoke on the issue during an open debate on children and armed conflict which addressed the issue of increasing mass child abductions. Ban [...]
Delaware Governor Jack Markell on Thursday signed into law House Bill 39 , a measure that decriminalizes the possession and use of small amounts of marijuana. The bill, which was given final legislative approval by the state’s senate Thursday and signed by the governor quickly after, will allow people in Delaware to possess up to [...]
Amnesty International urged Cameroon Friday to end the six month detention of 84 children being held after a raid on Quranic schools. AI reports that some of the children were as young as five years old. The children remained detained in a children’s center in Maroua even after being charged with no crimes. The government [...]
Amnesty International said Thursday that all 50 US states fall below international standards on police use of lethal force. The report indicates that many states have no regulation on police use of lethal force or ones that fall below international standards. UN principles on the use of lethal force limit force to “unavoidable instance in [...]
A French court acquitted 14 companies accused of bribery on Thursday for negotiating contracts as part of the UN oil-for-food program with the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein . The oil-for-food program allowed the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein, which was under UN sanctions in the wake of the first Gulf War, to sell limited [...]
