The US Supreme Court denied certiorari in HSBC Holdings v. Irving H. Picard on Monday, a case concerning whether the liquidation trustee of Bernie Madoff’s estate can seize overseas funds. Madoff was convicted in 2009 of defrauding investors through a Ponzi scheme. Last year the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit allowed the [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a brief in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Monday, asking the court to order the dismissal of the case against Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security advisor The DOJ is urging the appeals court to direct Judge Emmet Sullivan [...]

In an op-ed for the South China Morning Post on Wednesday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to change the UK’s immigration rules to allow almost 3 million Hong Kong residents to seek refuge in the UK if China implements its new national security law. Approximately 350,000 Hong Kong residents currently have British National Overseas [...]

The Conference on Civil and Human Rights sent a letter to US congressional leaders on Monday, urging them to “take swift and decisive legislative action” in response to a series of recent police killings of African Americans. The letter was signed by 438 organizations, including the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma ruled Monday that Greater Wynnewood Animal Park be given to Big Cat Rescue, owned by Carole Baskin.  Joseph Maldonado-Passage, better known as Joe Exotic, formerly owned the animal park before fraudulently transferring title to his mother and Greater Wynnewood Development Group, LLC [...]

US human rights activist and former political prisoner Mohamed Soltan sued former Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem Abdel Aziz el–Beblawi Monday for conspiring with government officials to arrest, torture and assassinate him for his high–profile activism during Egypt’s 2013 Revolution. Soltan filed the complaint in the US District Court for the District of Columbia under the [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Monday that Volkswagen AG may be liable to two US counties for tampering with diesel emission controls. In 2015 the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uncovered that Volkswagen was tampering with emission control systems to evade emission standards and filed criminal and civil actions against the [...]

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced Tuesday that the Minnesota Department of Human Rights has filed a civil rights charge against the Minneapolis Police Department. The investigation will explore the “department’s policies, procedures, and practices over the past 10 years to determine if they engaged in systemic discriminatory practices.” The investigation comes eight days after the [...]

FBI General Counsel Dana Boente is resigning amidst a recent resurgence in pressure from the Trump administration to remove him for his role in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Boente has served for 38 years in many different roles throughout the Department of Justice (DOJ). After serving as the US Attorney [...]

Disinformation occurs when false information is sent with an intention to deceive, while misinformation occurs when false information is sent without an intention to deceive. This commentary notes that tardy official communication of policy promotes disinformation and misinformation. Further disinformation can arise from a lack of opportunities for public participation in policymaking. Resolving these problems [...]