The Pennsylvania Supreme Court announced Friday that it will hear an appeal from Derek Lee, a man convicted of second-degree murder who is challenging the state’s law requiring mandatory life prison sentences for those found guilty of the offense who did not intend to kill. The court granted Lee’s petition for an appeal on the [...]
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Mengele-Like Logic Underpins Alabama’s Plan to Gas a Man to Death
Barring the unlikely success of last-minute litigation, today, at 6 p.m. CST, Kenneth Eugene Smith is scheduled to become the first person in history to be executed by forced nitrogen gas inhalation. In Smith’s final minutes, personnel at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama will strap an industrial-grade mask to his face. Secured [...]
Federal judge rules in favor of creating Mississippi state-run court in capital city
A federal judge ruled Sunday that Mississippi officials can create the planned state-run court in Jackson, the state capital, where the majority of residents are Black, despite objections from the NAACP. The decision is part of a more significant legal battle over Mississippi’s expansion of state power in Jackson, which the NAACP has sued against. [...]
Baroness Helena Kennedy of the Shaws, KC, is one of the UK’s most established lawyers, a bencher at Gray’s Inn and a member of the House of Lords. Kennedy is also a broadcaster, journalist and lecturer. She has not only acted in many of the most prominent cases of the last decade but has promoted civil [...]
This Day in History: The Law of Gobblers and Other Tasty Sides
It is Thanksgiving Day. The aroma of turkey; of dressing; candied sweet potatoes; green bean casserole; cranberry sauce; freshly baked yeast rolls; giblet gravy, and of pies emanating from the kitchen fills our nostrils. Home is the place to be today. But have you ever given thought to the law of the gobbler? This Day in [...]
How a National Human Rights Act Could Change Rights Protection in Australia
Australia is the only Western democracy not to have a Human Rights Act in its legal system or constitution. Instead, Australia has a patchwork of rights, leaning on individual legislation, such as the Anti-Discrimination Act of 1977, implied rights, common law, and state-by-state legislation. As noted by the Australian Human Rights Commission, “There are five [...]
With the Fall of Roe, It’s Time for Our Fundamental Rights to Transcend History
As Women’s History Month draws to a close, we should recognize that our history of gender inequity and oppression is now being used by our highest courts to narrowly define the contours of women’s rights going forward. We need to fight back to ensure our principles — of equality, human dignity, and respect for the [...]
Cambodia opposition leader sentenced to 27 years in prison for treason
A Cambodian court Friday sentenced leading opposition figure Kem Sokha to 27 years in prison for treason. Sokha was accused of developing a “secret plan” in cooperation with foreign organizations to overthrow Hun Sen’s government and was previously arrested in 2017 during a midnight raid involving hundreds of security personnel. The accusations against him have been [...]
US dispatch: Texas case could limit access to abortion medication
Marisa Wright is a US National Correspondent for JURIST, and a 2L at Harvard Law School. Anti-choicers are continuing their march toward near-total control over reproductive health in the United States. Since the overturn of Roe v. Wade last June, anti-abortion proponents have turned their attention to trying to ban medication abortion and even birth [...]
New Title IX regulations jeopardize students' due process rights, report claims
The Department of Education’s new Title IX regulations would rollback due process rights for students and faculty, claims a report published Tuesday by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). The new regulations, announced on the 50th anniversary of Title IX on June 23, would reverse Trump-era changes in the civil rights law. The [...]