In a divided decision, the Supreme Court ruled Friday against a California ban on indoor church services. However, it did not strike down California’s restrictions on indoor singing, chanting, and limits to the number of worshipers. The ruling permits California churches to hold in-person services with a capacity limit of 25%. The restrictions and bans [...]
German prosecutors issued Friday an indictment against a 95-year-old former Nazi concentration camp secretary, alleging 10,000 counts of aiding, abetting, and being complicit in attempted murders as part of the Nazi apparatus of terror. According to the prosecutors, she “assisted those responsible at the camp in the systematic killing of Jewish prisoners, Polish partisans and Soviet [...]
A letter signed by 144 constitutional law scholars and circulated Friday characterizes as “legally frivolous” ex-president Donald Trump’s First Amendment-based defense in his impeachment trial slated to start in the US Senate on February 9. The scholars contend that it does not matter whether Trump was engaged in lawful speech when he spoke prior to [...]
The Virginia Senate and the Virginia House of Delegates passed bills this week that would abolish the death penalty in Virginia, setting Virginia up to be the 23rd state to abolish the death penalty if each chamber approves the other chambers’ bill. If approved, the two men on death row in Virginia will be sentenced [...]
US President Joe Biden issued a memorandum Thursday directing US federal agencies that are engaged abroad to “promote and protect the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons.” The memorandum states that it is building on a similar memorandum issued by President Obama in 2011, when Biden was serving as his vice-president. The Biden memorandum directs agencies [...]
Saudi authorities Thursday temporarily released Saudi Americans Salah al-Haider and Bader al-Ibrahim after 673 days of detention on terrorism-related charges pending trial in Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court (SCC). Salah al-Haider is the son of Aziza al-Yousef, a leading women’s rights activist who was arrested earlier for campaigning for the women’s right to drive and criticizing [...]
The Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) administration announced Friday that high speed 4G mobile internet had been restored in the entire union territory of Jammu & Kashmir, exactly one and a half years after it was cut in August 2019 when the central government abrogated Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that provided the special status [...]
The International Court of Justice Friday maintained its jurisdiction after the United States contested its authority to oversee a recent lawsuit against the US government for withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal. The US imposed several sanctions on Iran after withdrawing from the agreement in May [...]
A federal judge Friday granted motions by Whole Foods and parent company Amazon to dismiss complaints by employees who allege Title VII violations over wearing Black Lives Matter (BLM) face masks. Plaintiffs, a group of nearly 30 employees of Whole Foods and Amazon, alleged that the defendants violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act [...]
Jelena Aparac, the Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries, said Thursday the US federal authority’s reduction of its dependence on private prisons is an “encouraging step” but urged the US to also end outsourcing of detention centers holding migrants and asylum seekers. President Biden ordered the US Department of Justice [...]
