The Center for Biological Diversity and 289 additional organizations Thursday sent a legal petition to the Department of Transportation (DOT) Maritime Administration (MARAD) demanding a stop to all new deepwater port infrastructure for oil and gas exports. The Biden administration has yet to comment on the petition. Lauren Parker, an attorney for the Center’s Climate [...]

Russian forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine, according to an Amnesty International report released Thursday. The allegations center on civilian torture, Russia’s forcible transfer of Ukrainian civilians to Russian-controlled territory and family separations. Russia has routinely denied all war crime charges. The report includes numerous testimonies of civilians fleeing conflict zones and facing restricted [...]

The UN Human Rights Council (HRC) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Thursday reviewed the UK’s human rights record for the fourth time. The UPR announced the review on November 7. Some delegations, such as the Maldives and Malaysia, commended the UK on its recent efforts to protect women and girls by criminalizing gendered offenses. Other delegations, [...]

In the wake of the US Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson overruling Roe v. Wade, residents of Vermont Tuesday voted to pass Proposal 5 amending the state constitution to formally include a right to reproductive freedom. The final vote was 211,157 in favor of adoption and 63,995 against. The amendment, as added to [...]

A New York appeals court Wednesday rejected former President Donald Trump’s request to stay a November 3 order requiring a financial watchdog be installed at the Trump Organization. The decision is just the latest in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil fraud lawsuit against Trump and the organization. James requested that the court install [...]

US District Judge for the Northern District of California Charles Breyer Wednesday granted final approval of Volkswagen and Porsche’s $80 million settlement of a class action lawsuit. The companies were accused of manipulation of fuel economy and fuel emission tests for nearly 500,000 gasoline-powered Porsche class vehicles with a model year between 2005-2020. Judge Breyer [...]

Residents of Vermont Tuesday voted to adopt Proposal 2 that amends the state constitution to repeal language permitting slavery and indentured servitude. The final vote was overwhelming with 237,097 in favor of the amendment and 30,255 against. Vermont was the first state in the United States to adopt a constitution in 1777. The constitution prohibited [...]

Voters in Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota Tuesday voted on recreational marijuana legalization measures. Maryland and Missouri approved the measures while Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota disapproved of the measures. Maryland Question 4, on the ballot as a constitutional amendment, was approved by a vote of 65.54 percent to 34.46 percent. [...]

Illinois and Tennessee Tuesday voted on Election Day ballot measures to add protections to workers’ rights to organize and engage in collective bargaining. These measures add to the majority of US states with right-to-work laws. In Illinois, 58.5 percent of voters said yes to adding Section 25, titled “Workers’ Rights,” to Article I of the [...]

Voters across Nevada, Connecticut, Michigan, Arizona, Nebraska and Ohio Tuesday voted on whether to expand or restrict voter access to election procedures. Some of the issues addressed in the proposed ballot initiatives and constitutional amendments paralleled issues in the over 100 lawsuits filed leading up to Election Day. In Nevada, with approximately 77 percent of [...]