US Attorney General Eric Holder announced Wednesday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will launch a civil rights investigation into the death of Eric Garner, the unarmed black man who was killed last summer after being placed in a choke hold by a white New York City police officer during an arrest. The announcement was [...]
A coalition of 17 states led by Texas Governor-elect Greg Abbott filed suit against President Barack Obama Wednesday challenging his executive action on immigration. Abbott sharply criticized the president’s action stating that “he President is abdicating his responsibility to faithfully enforce laws that were duly enacted by Congress and attempting to rewrite immigration laws, which [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday declined to further stay a lower court’s ruling that overturned Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage. The ruling would allow same-sex marriage to begin in Florida when the stay expires after January 5. In August a US District Judge for the Northern District of Florida [...]
A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Wednesday halted the execution of a Texas death row inmate allegedly suffering from severe mental illness. The inmate, Scott Panetti, was sentenced to death for the killing of his parents-in-law in 1992. The per curium opinion states that the court will [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled Wednesday that a Florida law mandating welfare applicants undergo drug tests before receiving benefits is unconstitutional . The law, which applied to all applicants for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), was enacted in July 2011 and was in effect until October 2011, when a [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana on Wednesday struck down a state law that altered the requirements for abortion clinics who only perform drug-induced abortions. Under this law, even clinics who only perform medical abortions would be required to be “minimally prepared” to treat unexpected complications surgically. The [...]
The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday ordered France to compensate nine Somalis, most of whom are convicted pirates, for their arrest in 2008. After hijacking a French luxury vessel in 2008, the pirates held 30 people captive until the owner of the boat paid a two million dollar ransom. The six suspects who [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International on Wednesday issued a joint statement urging Afghanistan’s foreign donors to support human rights progress within the country. The statement, in conjunction with recent letters to foreign ministers, urges domestic and international accountability, especially for female human rights. Issued ahead of a major donors’ meeting in London, HRW [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in two cases. In Young v. United Parcel Service the justices considered whether the Pregnancy Discrimination Act requires an employer that provides work accommodations to non-pregnant employees with work limitations to provide work accommodations to pregnant employees who are similar in their ability or inability to work. [...]
A UN rights expert on Wednesday called for a legally binding agreement at the national level in order to fight violence against women in member states and hold violators accountable. Special Rapporteur on violence against women Rashida Manjoo urged the international community to take action, stating that “the time has come to move beyond awareness-raising [...]
