Search Results for: amendments

The US Department of State released its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices on Monday, amidst the seventy-fifth anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or UDHR. The report emphasized “several new commitments, including to renew investments around the world in democracy and human rights, to help protect human rights defenders online, [...]

Recent Afrobarometer survey data (Round 8, 2019-2021) paints a stark picture with 86% of Kenyans and 93% of Ghanaians expressing intolerance towards the LGBT community. This high level of intolerance exists despite the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guaranteeing non-discrimination based on sexual orientation. Furthermore, across Africa, laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual activity remain commonplace. [...]

Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security on Monday arrested Pham Thai Ha, assistant to the country’s National Assembly chairman. Pham was arrested and detained in Hanoi, Vietnam on charges of “abusing positions and powers to influence others for personal gain,’ according to provisions of Clause 4, Article 358 of the 2015 Penal Code (amended in 2017),” [...]

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday on whether enforcing public camping ordinances against unhoused people without adequate shelter is cruel and unusual punishment and, therefore, prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution. The case, Grants Pass v. Johnson, originated in southern Oregon. The central question before the court revolves around the [...]

Ecuadorians voted to approve a number of security proposals from President Daniel Noboa on Sunday as the South American country experiences a surge in violence that has claimed the lives of multiple public officials, including a presidential candidate. Among the proposals was a proposition to amend Ecuador’s constitution to allow the country’s armed forces to [...]

The US House of Representatives voted 360–58 Saturday to pass a sanctions bill that includes a provision forcing Chinese company ByteDance to divest from popular social media app TikTok, which would be banned in the US if ByteDance does not comply. The bill, formally entitled the “21st Century Peace through Strength Act,” designates TikTok as [...]

The US Senate voted 60–34 early Saturday to reauthorize and amend controversial intelligence legislation known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), just after the provision expired at midnight. Section 702 authorizes federal intelligence services to collect data from non-US “persons reasonably believed to be located outside the to acquire foreign intelligence [...]

The US Department of the Interior announced a new rule on Friday that limits future oil and gas activities in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve, which spans 23 million acres. The rule amends existing federal regulations that the Bureau of Land Management uses to protect the reserve from environmental harm and gives the bureau more authority [...]

The Alabama House of Representatives rejected a bill on Wednesday that would allow the resentencing of death row inmates who were sentenced by a trial judge. The bill was defeated in Alabama’s House Judicial Committee by a 9-4 vote. In 2016, the US Supreme Court issued an opinion on Hursts v. Florida finding, “The Sixth [...]

The Nevada Supreme Court upheld a 2021 state ban on ghost guns Thursday, overturning a lower-court decision that declared the law unconstitutional for being vague. Ghost guns are guns without serial numbers and are usually assembled by the user. Justice Lidia S. Stiglich authored the opinion of the court. Stiglich ruled that the law’s definition [...]