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Bahrain rights activist charged over insulting tweets
Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab was charged on Thursday with insulting the ministries of defense and interior over his tweets that alleged Bahrain's security institutions were the first incubators for extremist ideology. Without naming (More) |
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US provides legal justification for Syrian airstrikes
The US government on Tuesday insisted in a letter to the UN that the American-led airstrikes in Syria against the Islamic State (IS) [BBC backgrounder; JURIST archive] were legally justified because actions were taken in defense of Iraq. The US, wit (More) |
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Bahrain court confirms sentences for Shiite activists
A Bahrain appellate court on Sunday confirmed five-year prison sentences for nine Shiites convicted of violating protest laws. The nine Shiites were accused of violating protest laws after they orchestrated an effort calling for the overthrow of t (More) |
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Missouri court upholds teacher ballot initiative
A Missouri appeals court on Thursday rejected a challenge to a ballot proposal requiring teachers to be evaluated based on student performance . A panel of judges for the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District turned down claims that th (More) |
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Bahrain court extends detainment of human rights activist
A Bahrain court ordered Saturday that prominent human rights activist, Maryam al-Khawaja , remain in jail for an additional ten days while authorities continue to investigate her case. Al-Khawaja was jailed a week ago when she arrived in Bahrain to (More) |
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UN rights experts urge Bahrain to release political activist
Independent UN rights experts on Friday called on the government of Bahrain to release human rights activist Maryam Al-Khawaja due to the absence of evidence against her. Al-Khawaja was arrested in August upon her return to Bahrain and was charged (More) |
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Saudi court sentences 24 for terrorist activity
A Saudi Arabian court on Wednesday sentenced 24 individuals to prison for conspiring to attack Saudi Arabia. Of the group, one is an US national and one is Yemeni, and the rest are Saudi. While details of their arrest were not disclosed, the men wer (More) |
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New York advocacy groups challenge teacher tenure
An education advocacy group on Monday filed suit in New York to challenge the state's teacher tenure laws, becoming the second group in the state to do so. The challenges, brought by the New York City Parents Union and the Partnership for Educationa (More) |
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Kuwait top court upholds 10-year sentence for Twitter user
Kuwait's Supreme Court on Monday upheld a 10-year jail sentence for a man accused of posting Tweets that insulted the Prophet Mohammed and the Sunni Muslim rulers of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Hamad al-Naqi, a 24-year-old member of Kuwait's Shiite m (More) |
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Bahrain files suit to suspend main opposition group
Bahrain's Ministry of Justice on Sunday filed a lawsuit seeking to suspend all activities of the main Shi'ite opposition group for three months. The move comes after leaders of the Al-Wefaq party were charged recently with holding an illegal meet (More) |
Congress recognized Pledge of Allegiance
On December 28, 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and encouraged its recitation in schools.
The Pledge was supposedly written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day. The words “under God” were added by Congress in 1954. The revised version of the Pledge was more recently the subject of litigation before the United States Supreme Court originally brought by Michael Newdow, a parent who unsuccessfully objected to his daughter's school district policy requiring daily recitation of the Pledge. The court ruled that Newdow had no standing. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life offers more Pledge of Allegiance resources.
