A federal judge in Louisiana struck down Louisiana state House and Senate districting maps Thursday for violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and diluting Black voter power in the gulf state. Federal District Judge Shelly Dick ordered the the maps redrawn but did not give a quota for the number of majority [...]
A three-judge panel from the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Monday overruled a lower court decision that blocked a California law requiring individuals seeking to buy ammunition to undergo a background check, allowing the state to mandate background checks for ammunition buyers. The 2-1 decision by Judges Richard Clifton and Holly [...]
The US Department of Treasury imposed sanctions Thursday on a Sudanese financial institution and two companies accused of funding belligerents in the ongoing civil war in the northeast African country. The sanctions involved Alkhaleej Bank, as well as development company Zadna International and metal ore company Al-Fakher Advanced Works. In a press release, the Treasury [...]
The Constitutional Court of Thailand ruled Wednesday that the opposition Move Forward Party’s (MFP) efforts to change the country’s royal insult law are illegal, ordering a cessation of any attempts to push for change. The ruling creates the potential for political bans on the party and its members if found in violation of the law. [...]
Mali military leaders ended a 2015 peace agreement with separatist rebels in the north of the country citing hostilities and broken commitments among the pact’s signatories during a televised press conference Thursday. Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga read the press release from the Mali transitional government that placed blame for the peace agreement’s failure on international mediation and [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard oral arguments Tuesday in a case challenging a Mississippi felon voter disenfranchisement law. Several voters who were previously convicted of felonies challenged the law on the basis of it being an unconstitutional example of cruel and unusual punishment under the US Constitution’s Eighth Amendment. The [...]
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows appealed a court ruling Friday that delayed a judgment on whether the removal of former president Donald Trump from the 2024 primary ballot was valid under the US Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment. Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy delayed a ruling on the case just earlier this week, remanding the case [...]
The US’s Biden administration moved Wednesday to designate the Houthi rebels, Ansar Allah, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group, the latest effort to cut the group’s financial resources in response to attacks on shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The designation will take effect on February 16. Officials stressed [...]
Prosecutors from Peru’s Public Ministry requested a sentence of 34 years in prison Friday for former President Pedro Castillo, who is currently in detention on charges of rebellion and conspiracy against the state after an alleged December 2022 coup d’etat. In a social media post the Public Ministry announced the preferred sentence against the former [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday from a California man challenging a $23,000 traffic impact fee levied in exchange for a building permit. Placerville, California resident George Sheetz challenged a decision from El Dorado County under the US Constitution’s Fifth Amendment—specifically a provision known as the Takings Clause. The dispute between Sheetz and [...]
