A former Argentinian prosecutor for the International Criminal Court told the BBC on Thursday that recent US airstrikes on suspected boats smuggling drugs in the US would constitute crimes against humanity under international law.  Luis Moreno Ocampo said the strikes by President Donald Trump’s administration fell into the category of a planned, systematic attack against [...]

A Rhode Island district judge ruled on Thursday that US President Donald Trump’s administration must fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) throughout the month of November, after the program was partially suspended due to a government shutdown. The Trump administration has appealed the decision. Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. granted the plaintiffs’ motion [...]

The US Supreme Court on Thursday allowed a policy to move forward that prevents nonbinary and transgender people from having gender markers on their passports that align with their chosen identity. In the 6-3 decision, the court held that “isplaying passport holders’ sex at birth no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Oxfam America released a statement on Wednesday calling attention to the millions of Americans who may lose affordable health insurance if Congress refuses to extend public subsidies for the insurance marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In response to the ongoing federal shutdown—now the longest in US history—the [...]

A US federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide better conditions for detainees in a Chicago immigration facility. Judge Robert Gettleman of the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois mandated that DHS comply with several hygiene-related requirements, ordering that cells be cleaned at least twice daily, clean [...]

A coalition of California voters and the state’s Republican Party filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday challenging the legality of Proposition 50’s congressional redistricting maps. The lawsuit argues that Proposition 50 constitutes unlawful racial gerrymandering in violation of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. The suit targets 16 congressional districts that, according to the complaint, legislators have [...]

UN human rights experts raised concern on Tuesday over “repeated and systematic lethal attacks” by the US military against vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, which they said could constitute war crimes under international maritime law. Three UN special rapporteurs stated that the attacks “appear to be unlawful killings” that lack any “judicial or [...]

Voters in six states Tuesday approved sweeping constitutional amendments that restrict voting access, limit judicial discretion on bail, and constrain future legislative authority, raising concerns about the erosion of democratic flexibility and due process protections. The most significant rule-of-law implications emerged in election administration and criminal justice. Texas voters approved a citizenship voting requirement with [...]

Chief Judge John McConnell for the US District Court of Rhode Island ruled Tuesday that the Department of Transportation (DOT) cannot require states to cooperate with federal immigration authorities in order to receive federal transportation funding. The case was brought by 20 Democratic state attorneys general in May, claiming that the DOT and other federal [...]

The NAACP’s Virginia Chapter on Monday sued the Virginia Board of Elections for rejecting college students’ applications and same-day registration provisional ballots. The complaint stated that application and registration requirements are unduly cumbersome for college students, effectively hindering their right to vote: On too many college and university campuses in Virginia, however, the right to [...]