Federal judge and civil rights activist Damon J. Keith died Sunday at 96. The grandson of slaves, Keith served in the army during World War II before the army desegregated in 1948. After the war, Keith studied law at Howard University. He was appointed to the Federal District Court in Michigan in 1967 and elevated [...]
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed a bill Wednesday that will allow the production and sale of marijuana for medical purposes. A law passed in 2015 had already legalized the use of low-THC cannabis oil for medical purposes but did not legalize the production, sale or possession of those oils, inhibiting patient access. The new law [...]
Bahrain’s High Criminal Court on Tuesday sentenced 139 terror suspects to prison terms ranging from three years to life in prison. The court also revoked the citizenship of all but one of those convicted. Bahrain’s state news agency reported that the 139 people convicted were part of a network organized and trained by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard [...]
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed into law Thursday a bill that bans abortions performed after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. Named the “Human Rights Protection Act,” the law bans abortions as early as five weeks, and is one of the most restrictive bills in the country. The law includes a provision allowing abortions to save the [...]
In a report released Thursday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health recommended that the UN launch a full scale response to the growing economic collapse in Venezuela because the government of Nicolás Maduro has proven unable to manage the crisis. The report focused on the effect of the economic crisis [...]
US Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) filed a lawsuit Monday against the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) to recover personal loans he made to fund his campaign. Under current election law, candidates may fund their campaigns by loaning personal funds to the campaign at a “commercially reasonable” interest rate, but the FEC caps loan repayment at $250,000 [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled 11-6 Tuesday that Ohio can enforce a 2016 law preventing Planned Parenthood, and any other organization that “performs or promotes nontherapeutic abortions” from receiving state funds. The decision by the en banc court overturns a ruling by a three-judge panel that the state could not enforce the [...]
The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) announced Tuesday that human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh had been convicted in absentia by Judge Mohammad Moghiseh of Iran’s Revolutionary Court. Sotoudeh had been charged with a number of crimes including “assembly and collusion against national security,” “propaganda against the state,” “membership in the Defenders of Human Rights Center, [...]
Chinese telecommunications company Huawei filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the US government to block the enforcement of a law that prohibits government agencies from using equipment from Huawei. The lawsuit marks the latest escalation of a dispute that has already seen the US government warn citizens against purchasing Huawei products and ban their sale on [...]
Two former Adidas executives and a sports manager were sentenced Tuesday for their involvement in a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recruiting scandal. The three were convicted of directing payments to the families of Division 1 basketball recruits so that the players would commit to Adidas sponsored schools and eventually, sign endorsement deals with Adidas. [...]
