The Supreme Court on Monday denied an appeal by Johnson & Johnson seeking to halt lawsuits alleging that the company failed to warn consumers of the dangers posed by talcum powder in their products. In 2014, Mississippi sued Johnson & Johnson, arguing that the company’s failure to warn users of the talcum powder in its [...]
The White House released a joint statement Friday announcing a partnership with Australia, Denmark, and Norway to try to curb the use of technologies by authoritarian governments that use the products for repression and surveillance. The partnership is named the Export Controls and Human Rights Initiative. The governments of Australia, Denmark, and Norway signed the [...]
A US District Court jury in Virginia decided Tuesday that 17 white nationalist leaders and organizers of the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville are liable for more than $26 million in damages. The jury concluded that the organizers engaged in conspiracy to intimidate, harass or harm prior to the rally. In August [...]
The Tenth Circuit US Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that Albuquerque’s panhandling ordinance violates First Amendment rights because the ordinance is not sufficiently narrow. Albuquerque’s panhandling ordinance prohibits pedestrians from standing or assembling on streets, medians, highway exit and entrance ramps, and major intersections. Pedestrians are also barred from talking to or interacting with drivers [...]
Democratic Reps. Ann Eshoo and Zoe Lofgren, both from Silicon Valley, reintroduced on Thursday the Online Privacy Act, a bill that creates user data rights, limits companies’ collection and use of user data, and establishes the Digital Privacy Agency (DPA) to enforce privacy laws. The Online Privacy Act aims to protect individuals, encourage innovation, and [...]
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday ruled that it would not block an order requiring public disclosure of video recordings of the 2010 trial from a historic case that overturned California’s same-sex marriage ban, paving the way for the videos to be publicly released. Now-retired U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker presided over the 2010 two-week [...]
The General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) Friday condemned President Daniel Ortega’s electoral victory and adopted a resolution criticizing Nicaragua’s presidential election. 25 countries voted in favor of the resolution, seven abstained, and only Nicaragua voted against it. On November 7, Ortega won Nicaragua’s presidential election with over 75% of the votes. [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) Friday accused the corporate sponsors of the Beijing 2020 Winter Olympics of ignoring China’s crimes against humanity in its far western region of Xinjiang, thus “squandering the opportunity” to pressure China to address its “appalling human rights record.” Coca-Cola, Intel and Airbnb are among the 13 Olympic Partners accused by name [...]
Two lawsuits challenging Alabama’s new congressional map were filed this week, arguing that the map unlawfully dilutes African Americans’ voting strength because the map has only one majority Black district out of the seven districts. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed the new congressional, legislative, and school board districts into law Thursday after they passed the [...]
The UK Government Equalities Office unveiled draft proposals on Friday to ban conversion therapy for minors and vulnerable adults in England and Wales, seeking to prevent “coercive and abhorrent” practices that try to change sexual orientation or gender identity. Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to outlaw conversion therapy last year after other countries banned it. [...]
