The US House of Representatives approved legislation on Monday meant to protect young amateur athletes from sexual abuse. The vote to pass the bill was 406-3. The Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act requires employees or volunteers of the US Olympic Committee to report allegations of abuse to law enforcement [...]
A court in Istanbul released the chairman of Amnesty International Turkey’s, Taner Kılıç, Amnesty International said Wednesday. Kılıç was among the “Istanbul 10,” a group of 10 human rights activists based in Istanbul who were arrested last summer by the Turkish government. Kılıç was accused of association with the Fethullah Terrorist Organization, to whom the [...]
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a motion to dismiss corruption charges against Senator Bob Menendez , with the US District Court for the District of New Jersey Wednesday. The motion cited the court’s dismissal last week of 7 out of 18 government charges. This was the DOJ’s second attempt to convict Menendez on [...]
The California Senate approved Senate Bill 227 Tuesday in an attempt to protect its taxpayers from the recent tax overhaul and its cap on individual deductions for state and local taxes. The new federal tax law limits the individual deduction for state and local taxes to $10,000, which mostly hurts wealthier Californians. The new law [...]
The UN human rights office issued an update Wednesday of its report on the human rights situation in Palestine. The report implements the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. It was mandated by a 2016 resolution to create a database of businesses contributing to human rights violations related to Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Wednesday that the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPD) is constitutional. At issue was whether 12 USC § 5491(c)(3) , a provision of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that established the CFPB and provides its director with [...]
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to continue operations at the Guantánamo Bay detention center. The order states that the facility is “legal, safe, humane, and conducted consistent with United States and international law.” Trump’s new executive order not only allows for those detained currently to remain detained, but also allows for [...]
A US presidential order decreasing the area of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah is “outrageous” and should be reversed according to a UN rights expert. The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples said Tuesday that the US should be increasing protections for sacred areas rather than reducing them. The Bears Ears [...]
Environmental activists WildEarth Guardians and Defenders of Wildlife filed lawsuits on Tuesday against the Trump administration alleging the recovery plan for the endangered Mexican wolf is so flawed it would lead to the wolf’s extinction. The Mexican wolf has been on the endangered list since 1976 after increased hunting of the species lead almost to [...]
An unnamed woman in her 60s filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government Tuesday seeking 11 million yen (approximately USD $101,000) in damages for her forced sterilization at the age of 150because of her intellectual disability under a now-repealed eugenics law. The National Eugenic Law entered into effect in 1940. The law restricted access to [...]
