Jeffrey Skilling, founder and ex-Enron CEO imprisoned for his involvement in the high-profile corporate fraud scandal publicized in 2001, was released from federal custody on Thursday after serving more than 12 years in prison. A jury convicted Skilling in May 2006 on 19 counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors for [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania (ACLU-PA) said Friday that it is nearing a settlement in a federal lawsuit challenging a controversial Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) mail policy in which photocopies of incoming mail be delivered to inmates instead of the original copies, which were stored. The ACLU-PA, joined by the Pennsylvania Institutional [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Central District of California on Thursday granted a twin son of a same-sex couple US birthright citizenship. The State Department refused to grant two-year-old Ethan Dvash-Banks citizenship but granted his twin brother citizenship. Ethan and his twin brother, Aiden, were born from the same surrogate mother; [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) called Friday for forces allied with one of Libya’s two competing governments to allow aid and medical workers into the Old City quarter of Derna, in Eastern Libya. HRW cites credible reports of civilians being “trapped there within the past two weeks without access to food, water, or medical care.” Libyan National [...]
A group of UN experts on Friday urged Croatia to immediately end abuse and violence against women during reproductive health procedures. During a campaign that began in October, more than 400 Croatian women came forward about maltreatment while seeking reproductive health care. The reports included doctors performing medical procedures without anesthetic and hospital staff humiliating patients. Some women said that [...]
A federal judge ruled Thursday that prosecutors broke federal law in brokering a 2008 plea agreement for hedge-fund manager and millionaire Jeffrey Epstein. Starting in 2005, Epstein was accused of orchestrating a sex trafficking ring and sexually assaulting dozens of minors. His plea agreement, which was sealed from the public record, distilled these accusations into [...]
A German court Thursday fined gun maker Heckler & Koch (H&K) €3.7 million (USD $4.2 million) and delivered suspended jail terms to two of its former employees for illegally exporting assault-rifles to Mexico. The ruling concludes a decades-long investigation and court battle that exposed the illegal sales. According to the World Peace Foundation, “he accusations against H&K [...]
The Parliament of Denmark on Thursday voted 76-24 to pass an immigration bill that will increase restrictions on residence permits and tighten penalties for violating residence rules and obligations. With the new bill, residence permits will provide fewer assurances to refugees. The bill amends the wording of the Aliens Act so that “residence permits granted for [...]
Indiana senators approved a hate crimes bill Thursday after an amendment to remove language on gender identity and sexual orientation. The bill passed 39-10 and would allow a judge to consider bias when imposing criminal penalties. The amendment replaced language in key section of the bill that removed lists of protected classes such as gender [...]
The North Carolina State Board of Elections voted unanimously Thursday to hold a new election for the 9th Congressional District following an investigation into impropriety involving absentee ballots. Currently, the North Carolina 9th District race is the last undecided congressional race coming out of the 2018 midterm elections. Leading up to the Thursday vote to hold [...]
