California lawmakers announced Tuesday new bipartisan legislation, Senate Bill (SB) 1012, which would effectively permit the use of psychedelic mushrooms for therapeutic purposes. Otherwise referred to as the “Regulated Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Act,” the proposed bill would authorize professionals to administer the consumption of psychedelic mushrooms by individuals over the age of 21. SB 1012 was [...]

US District Judge Thomas Schroeder issued an opinion on Sunday finding unconstitutional and blocking a new North Carolina provision designed to tighten restrictions on same-day voter registration. The decision pertains to Senate Bill (SB) 747, a collection of election provisions that became law on October 10, 2023, when the state legislature overrode a veto from [...]

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called on Alabama state authorities Tuesday to cancel the execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith, which is scheduled to take place next week by nitrogen hypoxia. Türk reemphasized human rights concerns regarding the potential consequences of the untested execution method. According to the statement, execution by nitrogen [...]

The US Department of Labor enacted a final rule Tuesday designed to safeguard workers from misclassification as “independent contractors” rather than “employees.” The new labor rule provides greater clarity for classification under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Generally, the FLSA guarantees employees minimum wage compensation, time-and-a-half for any overtime hours worked, and protections against [...]

Four UN experts urged US officials on Wednesday to cancel the execution of an inmate in Alabama by nitrogen hypoxia. Kenneth Smith, who was sentenced to life without parole in 1988 after being convicted for murder, is scheduled to be executed on January 25, 2o24. The UN experts asserted that Smith’s execution will mark “the [...]

The United Nations (UN) deployed peacekeepers to the northwest of the Central African Republic (CAR) after a deadly attack last week that killed 23 civilians. According to a Wednesday report from the UN, the 3R rebel group was allegedly responsible for the attack which occurred in the Nzakoundou village. The peacekeepers were sent to “strengthen [...]

The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), the body that administers elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), announced Wednesday that voting would extend into a second day on Thursday. The DRC general election was scheduled to take place on Wednesday, December 20, 2023, with over 20 presidential candidates seeking to defeat incumbent President Felix [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Thursday in a 5-2 vote that a Polish court violated a woman’s right to private and family life by forcing her to travel abroad to receive an abortion due to a fetal anomaly. In her petition to the ECHR, the applicant asserted that in 2020, she underwent [...]

A Texas judge granted on Thursday a temporary restraining order (TRO) barring the enforcement of the state’s strict abortion bans on a pregnant woman whose fetus was recently diagnosed with a fatal condition. In effect, the judge’s order allows the plaintiff to access abortion care in Texas at a point in her pregnancy when she [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on Monday ruled against a tool often used to enforce voter protections, finding that private groups and individuals are not permitted to bring lawsuits under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), which prohibits race-based voter suppression. The decision stems from a lawsuit brought by [...]