João Carlos Souto (@soutojc) is Professor of Constitutional Law at the Centro Universitário UDF and the President of the United States-Brazil Comparative Law Institute. He files this special dispatch for JURIST from Brasilia. Brazil today witnessed the most serious attack on State institutions since re-democratization in 1985. Extreme right-wing terrorists invaded and partially destroyed the [...]

Crowds supporting former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro Sunday infiltrated and vandalized the country’s National Congress, Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF), and presidential palace buildings one week after the inauguration of left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Demonstrators smashed the National Congress’s windows and stormed its senate chamber. Protesters then breached the country’s Supreme Federal Tribunal, [...]

Judicial news agency Mizan Online reported Saturday that Iran executed two men, Mohammad Mahdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hossein, for allegedly killing a paramilitary force member during protests. This comes after Amnesty International warned that urgent action is needed in the region following protests in Iran that resulted in at least 11 people being sentenced [...]

Seattle Public Schools Friday filed a lawsuit in US District Court of Washington alleging that the tech giants behind TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat should be held accountable for a “mental health crisis” among the youth attending their schools. The school district argued that the “excessive and problematic” use of social media among students [...]

The US Friday sanctioned executives and board members of Qods Aviation industries (QAI) for supplying Russia with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The sanctions are pursuant to Executive Order (EO) 13382. This Bush Administration EO gives the Department of the Treasury the authority to block property belonging to proliferators of weapons of mass destruction. The sanctions [...]

Mexican armed forces Thursday captured Ovidio Guzman, son of Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in an overnight raid. Military aircraft transported Guzman back to Mexico after he was captured at Cualiacan. Joaquin Guzman was convicted of money laundering, drug trafficking and murder conspiracies and is currently serving a life sentence in a US [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk Friday urged Burkina Faso authorities to hasten investigations into the deaths of 28 men in Burkina Faso. Their bodies were discovered on December 30 and 31 in Nouna, Kossi Province, Boucle du Mouhoun region. Türk commented, “It is encouraging that the authorities have announced an investigation into [...]

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine Friday signed a bill into law that requires photo ID for in-person voters. The bill also ends the use of utility bills or government documents as proof of identity. DeWine declared the controversial matter of election integrity to be “settled” in Ohio and thanked the State Assembly for keeping absentee voting [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Friday struck down a Trump-era ban on rapid-fire bump stocks. The ban prevented anyone from possessing bump stock devices, which enable a shooter to rapidly fire multiple rounds from semi-automatic weapons after an initial trigger pull, and encourages possessors to either destroy or turn in their devices. [...]

German police Sunday detained a 32-year-old man on the suspicion that he planned a serious chemical attack motivated by Islamic extremism. The man allegedly obtained the potent toxins cyanide and ricin. He and another person were arrested and detained in the town of Castrop-Rauxel, northwest of Dortmund. The police allegedly received a tip from an [...]