Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico signed a law on Wednesday which eliminates the defense of qualified immunity for public officials, including police officers. Qualified immunity protects government officials from being held personally liable for constitutional violations. The new law provides: In any claim for damages or relief under the New Mexico Civil Rights [...]

JURIST EXCLUSIVE – Our Myanmar law students are answering JURIST reader questions about the on-the-ground situation and their own concerns amidst the chaos and carnage of the Myanmar military coup. Contact them by DM or reply on Twitter @bernardhibbitts Today’s question is: “What gives you hope and courage to keep going during this very uncertain [...]

“Theory is a net. Only those who cast, can catch.” – Karl R. Popper, The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1934) During his March 25, 2021 press conference, US President Joe Biden declared “denuclearization” as America’s ultimate strategic goal for North Korea. Though such a declaration might first appear reasonable, it misrepresents what is plausible in [...]

Ohio judge Alison Hatheway granted a preliminary injunction on Thursday which temporarily blocks an Ohio law banning telemedicine abortions. In a case against the Ohio Department of Health, Planned Parenthood challenged the constitutionality of Ohio Senate Bill 260, which was set to go into effect on Monday, and would institute felony criminal charges for medical providers [...]

As several state legislatures draw criticism over voter suppression bills, Kentucky lawmakers passed a bipartisan bill that was signed into law on Wednesday. HB 574 expands access to the polls and introduces new voting security measures. It passed 91-3 in the Kentucky House and 33-3 in the state Senate, which are both controlled by Republicans. [...]

Following years of research and failed private conferences, Washington, DC, based civil rights group Muslim Advocates initiated legal proceedings against Facebook and its top executives Thursday for allowing anti-Muslim hate speech to “run rampant” on the social-media platform. Muslim Advocates alleges in their complaint that by “seeding and cultivating anti-Muslim bigotry amongst its users,” Facebook [...]

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) announced Friday that it would file Objections and Unfair Labor Practice Charges (ULPs) against Amazon with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in the wake of the RWDSU’s unsuccessful union election this year at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama, fulfillment center. The RWDSU is alleging that Amazon illegally interfered [...]

The Indian Supreme Court on Thursday denied relief in a petition challenging the detention of nearly 150 Rohingya refugees in Jammu and the government’s proposed move to deport them to Myanmar. The order was made with respect to an interlocutory application filed by the petitioners pending disposal of their main writ petition of 2017 that [...]

Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed a bill into law Wednesday expanding voting rights for persons with felony convictions. HB 1078 automatically restores voting rights for people with felony convictions once completing a sentence of total confinement through the Washington Department of Corrections. Total confinement is limited to the physical area of a correctional facility and [...]

A judge for Shawnee County District Court in Kansas blocked the state’s ban on Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) abortions Wednesday. The Kansas legislature passed Senate Bill 95, commonly known as the Kansas Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act, in 2015. The Act prohibits D&E abortions, providing exceptions only for when the abortion is “necessary [...]