US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Thursday extending for another 90 days an earlier proclamation that banned migrants caught entering the US illegally from seeking asylum. The initial order was blocked by federal judge in the Northern District of California. The judge ruled that the policy directly conflicted with the text of 8 USC § 1158(a)(1). The judge’s ruling was [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Thursdayupheld a ruling that Georgia’s electronic voting system poses a security risk and would potentially deny voters due process under the Fourteenth amendment. The plaintiffs brought an action against the state for their use of direct record electronic (DRE) machines for the midterm elections in [...]
Dominique Ray, a Muslim inmate in Alabama, was executed on Thursday after the US Supreme court voted 5-4 to lift a stay of execution in place over his request to have an imam present in the room with him at the time of death. Ray’s attorneys argued that Alabama’s execution policy favored Christian inmates, who [...]
UN experts on Friday urged action against attacks on people with albinism leading up to Malawi’s elections in May. This declaration comes on the heels of the killing of one person and the separate abduction of a baby. Discrimination against people with albinism has been a problem in the past in Malawi—150 cases of these [...]
The Hawaiian Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously recommended a bill decriminalizing marijuana on Thursday, clearing its first hurdle to becoming law. The bill would declare, “that the legalization of marijuana for personal or recreational use is a natural, logical, and reasonable outgrowth of the current science of marijuana and attitude toward marijuana.” If passed, it would permit [...]
An Egyptian parliamentary committee on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to constitutional amendments that would allow President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to remain in office until 2034. Many Egyptian opposition parties have expressed their disapproval and have reportedly formed a coalition against the proposed changes. Egypt’s Conservative party said in an official statement on Wednesday that it [...]
Attorney General nominee William Pelham Barr was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday in a 12-10 vote. During the hearing, Democrats on the Committee expressed concern about a memo that Barr wrote last year that called the Mueller investigation into the Russian interference in the 2016 election “fatally misconceived.” Senate Democrats expressed concern that Barr would [...]
The US Supreme Court on Thursday temporarily blocked a Louisiana abortion law that requires admitting privileges for doctors performing abortions. The Unsafe Abortion Protection Act, Act 620, requires any physician providing abortion services in Louisiana to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the procedure. Passed in 2014, Act 620 contains the [...]
Agnes Callamard, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, announced on Thursday that there was prima facie evidence that the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey in October was planned and perpetrated by officials of the State of Saudi Arabia. Callamard was in Turkey investigate the murder from January 28 [...]
US Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) introduced a resolution Thursday proposing a Green New Deal to combat climate change. The resolution assigns the federal government five main duties. These duties include reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, creating millions of high-wage jobs, and investing in infrastructure and industry. The government would also have [...]
