The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memo to NLRB regional offices on Wednesday stating her position that student-athletes at private universities are employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRA protects covered employees’ rights to form unions, collectively bargain, and engage in concerted activity for mutual aid [...]

On Wednesday, Qualcomm, a widely-used cell phone chip manufacturer, won its bid to decertify an antitrust class against it. A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that the trial court in the District of Northern California erred in certifying the class and remanded the case to reconsider certification [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, sitting en banc, ruled Tuesday that the city of Oakland, California, cannot sue Wells Fargo for violating the Fair Housing Act (FHA) because the city did not adequately show proximate causation. The court’s decision reverses the prior decision of its three-judge panel. Oakland had claimed that [...]

US Magistrate Judge Thomas Hixson ordered on Tuesday that the former president of Peru, Alejandro Toledo, be extradited to Peru. Toledo fled to the US after the Republic of Peru charged him with collusion and money laundering. The US also filed criminal charges against Toledo, accusing him of violating the Peruvian Criminal Code by influence [...]

The Parliament of New Zealand passed Thursday the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Bill, which criminalizes the planning of a terrorist attack and grants enforcement agencies increased powers to deal with terrorist activities. The government introduced the bill in the Parliament in April 2021 as its first step towards implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission following the [...]

The Supreme Court of Belarus will hold a hearing on Thursday regarding a lawsuit filed by the Belarusian Justice Ministry to dissolve the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, according to Human Rights Watch. In the August 27 lawsuit, the country contends the Belarusian Helsinki Committee provided the ministry with inaccurate financial information. The committee is one of the [...]

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a number of bills on Tuesday to ease the state’s housing shortage. These bills, combined with four signed earlier in September, form a 31-bill housing agenda to address housing costs, homelessness, and climate change. Newsom’s administration has already attempted to tackle these issues, even investing $22 billion to create more [...]

India Staff Correspondent Sambhav Sharma, a final year law student at Amity Law School, offers his perspective on recent high-profile criticisms of India’s Public Interest Litigation (PIL) system. He files this for JURIST from New Delhi. India’s Jammu & Kashmir High Court recently dismissed with costs a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition supposedly being filed [...]

The US District Court for the District of Arizona on Tuesday blocked provisions of a restrictive Arizona abortion bill from taking effect. The Arizona legislature enacted SB 1457 in April 2021. The section of the bill at issue recognizes the “rights, privileges and immunities” of unborn children “at every stage of development” and bans abortions [...]

The Kerala High Court ruled Monday that the Kerala Government’s notification banning online rummy played for stakes is unconstitutional. The Kerala Gaming Act, 1960 deals with the prohibition and punishment of gambling in Kerala. While Section 14 exempts “any game of mere skill” from the provisions of the Act, Section 14A empowers the state government [...]