Texas and Louisiana filed suit against the federal government Tuesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas, alleging that immigration authorities declined to take custody of convicted individuals who could be subject to deportation. According to the lawsuit, the government’s action violates federal law and the US Constitution. In Texas, when [...]
Harvey Weinstein on Monday appealed his sexual assault conviction, asking the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division to throw out his conviction and grant a new trial. Weinstein was sentenced in March 2020 to 23 years in prison for assaulting a former production assistant and for raping another woman. Weinstein has also faced other allegations [...]
The G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US issued a statement on Friday calling for an independent and transparent investigation into alleged human rights abuses in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. There has been ongoing conflict between central government soldiers and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in the northern [...]
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch on Friday ordered the city of Oakland, California, and its police department to release thousands of documents on police misconduct. This order was issued pursuant to a request made by journalists two years ago, following the California Legislature’s passage of a police transparency law. Two years ago, journalists [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled Monday that Missouri is not barred from enforcing a state law that criminalizes misleading advertisements of vegan food products as containing meat. Missouri enacted a statute in 2018 that makes “misrepresenting a product as meat that is not derived from harvested production livestock or poultry” [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Monday denied the federal government’s motion to stay a district court decision striking down the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eviction moratorium. In response to COVID-19, the CDC ordered a nationwide moratorium on residential evictions last fall. This moratorium covered tenants if they [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) called upon Qatar Monday to eliminate discriminatory male guardianship rules that severely limit women’s rights to make life decisions. According to HRW’s report, women in Qatar are largely denied the ability to make decisions on things such as marriage, travel and reproductive health care. Women are required to obtain permission from [...]
The US blocked Venezuela Friday from pursuing its dispute over US sanctions at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Biden administration does not recognize Nicolás Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela, due to claims of election manipulation and illegitimate presidency. Instead, the administration recognizes Juan Guaidó as the interim president. Throughout 2020, the US imposed [...]
A jury in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas decided Friday that Apple Inc. must pay $308.5 million to Personalized Media Communications (PMC) for infringing upon a digital rights management patent. PMC is a patent-licensing company which currently has more than 100 issued patents and pending applications. The company only licenses [...]
A UN human rights expert called on Colombia Friday to dismantle criminal networks and corruption in Buenaventura, where civilians have been greatly impacted by fighting between Colombian armed groups. Buenaventura has a population of 432,000. Over the past decade, human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch have reported the forced displacement of thousands of [...]
