International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda reported Monday that a preliminary examination into the situation in the Philippines had found a “reasonable basis” to believe that the crimes against humanity of murder, torture and the infliction of serious physical injury and mental harm were committed between July 2016 and March 2019. The report follows [...]

In a per curiam opinion on Monday, the US Supreme Court ruled that the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit erred in overturning the death sentence of inmate George Kayer, who robbed and murdered his companion on a gambling trip in Laughlin, Nevada, in 1994. Kayer shot Delbert Haas in the head during [...]

As a rabbi who has not attended an indoor prayer service since March, I still would have been happy if the Supreme Court had held that draconian restrictions on indoor religious services are unconstitutional. However, what the Court’s liberal and conservative justices actually evaluated in Roman Catholic Diocese v. Cuomo was whether New York’s coronavirus [...]

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Friday that the state of California has filed to join the US Department of Justice in an antitrust lawsuit against tech giant Google. The lawsuit was filed in October by the federal government, and was joined by 11 states including Texas, Georgia and Florida. Becerra will be the first [...]

The International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor said Friday that a preliminary investigation has found that there is a reasonable basis to believe that crimes against humanity and war crimes have been committed in Ukraine, justifying the opening of an investigation. The preliminary investigation was opened in 2014 when the Ukraine lodged a declaration under [...]

The US Supreme Court agreed on Friday to review the issue of whether shareholders can bring class action lawsuits that allege securities fraud. In Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. v. Arkansas Teacher Retirement, the questions the court has agreed to address are: Whether a defendant in a securities class action may rebut the presumption of classwide [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called Monday on Nigerian officials to release children detained in connection with Islamist rebel group Boko Haram. In September 2019 HRW reported that the Nigerian military has arbitrarily detaining thousands of children for their alleged involvement with Boko Haram. HRW reported that more than 3,600 children were detained by Nigerian armed [...]

The US Supreme Court refused Monday to review an appeal seeking to reinstate Kansas’ voter identification law. The case, Schwab v. Fish, was appealed from the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. The appeal by Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt sought to authorize the state’s requirements of proof of citizenship for voter registration, photo identification for [...]

The US Supreme Court refused to hear a case Monday that sought to reverse a lower court ruling allowing same-sex couples to be listed as birth parents on a child’s birth certificate. The case, Box v. Hendersen, was appealed from the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. The Seventh Circuit had ruled that [...]

New Zealand’s Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier released on Monday a report identifying breaches of the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in Auckland Prison. The report follows an eight-day unannounced inspection of Auckland Prison, the country’s only maximum-security facility, which took place between January and February. Boshier wrote the report [...]