The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in Flowers v. Mississippi, in which the state was alleged to have improperly dismissed African American jurors. The petitioner, Curtis Flowers, was convicted of a capital offense in 2010 and appealed his death penalty conviction on the grounds of racial discrimination. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the [...]
Russia’s lower house, the State Duma, passed a bill on Thursday that would fine individuals and companies for spreading “fake news.” The Duma defines fake news as “unreliable socially significant information distributed under the guise of authentic messages and posing a security risk.” Russia’s Prosecutor General will be the one to determine whether the information in question falls into [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled Tuesday that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority must make the subway station wheelchair accessible, regardless of cost. The subway station in question, Middletown Road Station Subway in the Bronx, can only be accessed through a stairway. Although the station was renovated from 2013 [...]
Thailand unanimously passed the Cybersecurity Act on Thursday that gives the government control over the internet. This act permits the National Cybersecurity Committee, led by Thailand’s military, “to summon individuals for questioning and enter private property without court orders in case of actual or anticipated ‘serious cyber threats.'” Another branch of the government can now search and seize [...]
Michael Cohen testified in front of the House Committee of Oversight and Reform on Wednesday regarding his relationship with Donald Trump. “The last time I appeared before Congress, I came to protect Mr. Trump,” said Cohen. “Today, I’m here to tell the truth about Mr. Trump.” Cohen testified that Trump continued the Moscow Tower negotiations “for [...]
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal from the Fraternal Order of Police regarding an arbitration award. The union claimed that the panel neglected to account for competitive compensation in determining the award. After the police union’s collective bargaining agreement with the city of Pittsburgh expired at the end of 2014, the union and the city [...]
A group of UN experts on Friday urged Croatia to immediately end abuse and violence against women during reproductive health procedures. During a campaign that began in October, more than 400 Croatian women came forward about maltreatment while seeking reproductive health care. The reports included doctors performing medical procedures without anesthetic and hospital staff humiliating patients. Some women said that [...]
Jessica Denson, who worked on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, brought a class action claim on Tuesday seeking to invalidate the nondisclosure and non-disparagement agreements (NDAs) that all campaign staffers had to sign. Denson filed the claim with the American Arbitration Association. In November 2017 Denson filed a sex discrimination and slander suit against the campaign in [...]
The UN’s Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan on Wednesday urged all parties in South Sudan to cease conflict immediately in light of potential war crimes and honor the Revitalized Peace Agreement, signed in September. The Commission found that the country’s violence has “markedly worsened” since December 2017. It was particularly concerned by reports of [...]
The US Senate passed the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act of 2019 on a voice vote Thursday, which would make lynching a federal hate crime. Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) introduced the bill the same day it was passed. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Tim Scott (R-SC) co-sponsored the bill. The Senate had unanimously passed a similar bill in December, but [...]
