We have all seen the firestorm of controversy over US Attorney General (AG) Merrick Garland’s approval of a warrant application to search the home of former President Donald Trump. I personally have no doubts about Garland’s commitment to evenhanded justice and the rule of law. But these events demonstrate, more than ever, the urgent need [...]
Dear President Biden, Thank you for taking these first steps to implement student debt relief. Like many, we were surprised by the recent wrangling about how your debt forgiveness program could be implemented. We are writing to remind you that the federal government already has all of the tools, processes, and employees that it needs [...]
This commentary was written just before Raila Odinga filed his Supreme Court petition challenging the announced presidential result of Kenya’s general election. On 9 August, 2022, Kenyans turned out in large droves to elect the fifth president of the Republic of Kenya, and as in previous elections this one was marked by never-ending drama like [...]
The United Kingdom’s recent decision to triple the number of Chevening Scholarships for Ukrainian students gave me goosebumps. It was precisely the way a country should respond to a nation in crisis, I told myself. At the same time, it’s heartbreaking to know how selective this help can be. Not only has Afghanistan apparently failed to qualify [...]
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has called into question the responsiveness and effectiveness of many international organizations, particularly those dealing with economic matters. When the war broke out, the West made it clear they were unwilling to commit military forces to Ukraine. Instead, in addition to providing weapons, the decision was made to respond through economic [...]
“Civilization is the never-ending process of creating one world and one humanity.” Lewis Mumford, In the Name of Sanity (1954) Biological Sameness and Species Unification The unity and interdependence of humankind is not subject to reasonable challenge. Beginning with our biological sameness, species’ commonality includes a broad variety of human needs and expectations. In the [...]
Imagine a system under which the U.S. Supreme Court hears cases as panels consisting of three to five Justices rather than as a full court of nine. Suppose that the Chief Justice makes a five-Justice panel consisting of himself, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and Justice Elena Kagan to hear abortion [...]
In a June 2022 press conference, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) deputy governor confirmed the government’s plan to adopt Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) gradually during fiscal year 2023. This comment was followed by Annual Report 2021–22, released by the RBI, stating CBDC would be introduced into the Indian economy through a three-step approach. [...]
In the following JURIST video commentary, Dr. Thamil Ananthavinayagan of the University of Nottingham (UK) discusses the July 20, 2022 parliamentary appointment of Ranil Wickremesinghe as President of Sri Lanka. This is the latest development in a series of political upheavals in recent months that saw the ouster of Sri Lanka’s former president and prime [...]
“You seem to consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions; a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy.” ― Thomas Jefferson A recent series of radically partisan judicial decisions by the United States Supreme Court heralds the first rollback of fundamental human rights [...]
