The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Thursday ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to disclose two documents within an internal DOJ resource manual for federal prosecutors related to electronic surveillance and tracking devices in criminal investigations. The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) [...]

The US Supreme Court on Thursday temporarily stayed an order from the US District Court of the Middle District of North Carolina to redraw the state’s congressional map because of partisan gerrymandering. The defendants in the North Carolina Case filed a motion for stay with the Supreme Court last week after the the North Carolina [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Thursday unanimously struck down a constitutional challenge to a California law that criminalizes prostitution. The lawsuit was brought by three self-acknowledged prostitutes, a potential client who wished “to engage an ‘erotic service provider’ for services” and Erotic Service Provider Legal Education and Research Project (ESPLER) [...]

The Ukraine parliament (Verkhovna Rada) passed a bill Thursday that recognizes regions currently under Russia-backed separatist control as “occupied” and supports retrieving those areas through political and diplomatic means while allowing for military action. The bill was approved by 280 members of the 450-member parliament and endorsed by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. In addition to [...]

Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court decided Wednesday to establish the Council of the Union, or the Federal Council, which will oversee provisions passed by parliament. The need for the council is stated in article 48 of the constitution , but has not been established in the 13 years since the new government was implemented. The move [...]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday announced that it will bar Haitians from receiving H-2A and H-2B visas, which provide foreign workers access to the US for temporary agricultural and seasonal work. DHS cited the “high rate of overstaying the terms” of their work visas as justification for removing Haiti from the list [...]

The Supreme Court of British Columbia on Wednesday declared Canada’s practice of indefinite solitary confinement in federal prisons unconstitutional and stated that the practice violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms . The plaintiffs included non-profit groups British Columbia Civil Liberties Association and John Howard Society of Canada, who were assisted by two additional intervening [...]

Romania has made little progress against corruption in state institutions, according to a report released Thursday by the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) . In the report, GRECO said that concerns regarding the lack of transparency in the legal process still remain. GRECO found that Romania had only fully met two [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) published its annual report Thursday, covering global human rights issues from late 2016 through November 2017, and more than 90 countries. It highlights human rights problems occurring in Turkey, Egypt, Libya, Russia, China, Yemen, Burma, and others, as well as the growth of organizations and movements in response. In the report’s [...]

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Thursday introduced the new Conscience and Freedom of Religion Division . The purpose of this program is to reinforce preexisting legislation protecting “fundamental and unalienable rights of conscience and religious freedom.” Other forms of enforcement authority include Church, Coates-Snow, and Weldon Amendments , on abortion, Section [...]