The District of Columbia and 21 states filed lawsuits on Monday and Tuesday against the US Department of Health and Human Services over new rules for family planning under Title X. The California lawsuit was filed on Monday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. A second lawsuit, led by Oregon Governor [...]

A UN human rights expert called Tuesday for the international community to hold Israel accountable for what it considers to be violations of international law in Gaza. Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk summarized the findings of a UN Commission of Inquiry investigation into the 2018 Palestinian protests. The Commission investigated 189 fatalities resulting from the protests and determined [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said Tuesday that the UN human rights office in Burundi was closed down on February 28. The closure comes at the behest of the Burundi government, which has been refusing to cooperate with the UN’s mission for two years. The office in Burundi has spent 23 years [...]

A federal judge ruled Monday that San Francisco’s bail schedule violates poor defendants’ rights without protecting the public. San Francisco’s bail schedule sets bail amounts for each crime and requires a defendant to pay that amount to be released after arrest, even if no charges have been filed. The lead plaintiff in this case was [...]

In the 2018 elections, women played a larger role than in any other election in American history. The record-breaking number of women running for US senate, house, and gubernatorial seats motivated media outlets to label 2018 another “Year of the Woman.” The first “Year of the Woman” was in 1992, when an unprecedented influx of women entered [...]

The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday unanimously struck down a law that required sexually dangerous predators to wear and pay for GPS monitoring devices “for the remainder of natural .” This issue was brought before the court by Joseph Park, who “was convicted of child molestation and nine counts of sexual exploitation of a minor” [...]

The US State Department said Monday that the Trump administration has decided to extend the suspension on Title III of the 1996 Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act for 30 days, but has agreed to allow US citizens to sue Cuban entities and others on Washington’s blacklist. Since its inception, every administration has suspended Title [...]

The US Supreme Court granted certiorari on Monday in a case involving biotech company Nantkwest in its appeal for a patent application and whether they are required to pay attorney’s fees incurred by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in defending its decision to deny in federal court. A provision of the Patent Act, [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled Monday in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC that once a copyright is registered, the owner can recover retroactively for infringement. The Copyright Act of 1976 enabled an owner to have rights over their material, but they were unable to recover for infringements prior to registration of the [...]

The US Supreme Court denied certiorari Monday in Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders v. Freedom from Religion Foundation, a case asking whether the state of New Jersey can use historic preservation funds to repair churches and religious institutions. Morris County, New Jersey, gave around $4.6 million to various churches and religious institutions from the [...]