The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled Tuesday that the motto, “In God We Trust,” as printed on US currency notes and coins, does not violate the US Constitution. Plaintiffs brought suit against the US and officials from the US Mint, Treasury, and Bureau of Engraving and Printing. In their complaint, plaintiffs alleged the [...]
The Myanmar government on Tuesday rejected the findings of a UN investigative panel that the country’s military may have engaged in genocide and other human rights abuses during last year’s crackdown on Rohingya Muslim minorities, characterizing the findings of the report as “false allegations.” The statement, which was issued by government spokespeson Zaw Htay, was published in a state-owned [...]
Kenya’s High Court on Wednesday suspended criminal proceedings against Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu , who was arrested on charges of corruption on Tuesday. Mwilu was taken into custody for questioning at the Supreme Court by Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DIC) and has since been released on bond. Shortly before the arrest, Mwilu was [...]
California Governor Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed a bill into law that will end the practice of assigning bail to defendants awaiting trial. A pretrial risk assessment system will replace the bail system in determining if a defendant can be released. Those who are deemed to be low risk of public safety or failure to appear [...]
Public-sector union employees in Missouri filed a lawsuit on Monday in the St. Louis County Circuit Court challenging Missouri’s “paycheck protection” law , arguing it violates the state’s constitutional protections to free speech, association and petition, as well as equal protection, protection against impairment of contracts, and the right to organize and bargain collectively. Plaintiffs argue [...]
A three-judge panel of the US District Court for the Middle District of California on Monday once again struck down North Carolina’s congressional map after a finding that the state’s legislature improperly relied on political data to draw the map in such a way as to retain as many Republican seats as possible. The opinion [...]
Several human rights groups signed a letter on Tuesday calling on Google to end its efforts to develop a censored search engine for China, code named Project Dragonfly. The letter accuses Google of “accommodating the Chinese authorities’ repression of dissent,” which would cause Google to participate in China’s violations of freedom of expression and privacy of [...]
US State Department legal advisor Jennifer Newstead urged judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Tuesday to deny Iran’s request to order the US to suspend the re-imposition of sanctions by President Donald Trump in May. The first wave of US sanctions was imposed on Iran on August 7 with the rest of the [...]
A UN human rights panel report released Tuesday suggests that parties to the armed conflict in Yemen have been perpetuating crimes under international law . The Group of International and Regional Eminent Experts on Yemen was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor and report on the human rights situation in the country [...]
The California Legislature on Monday approved a bill BSB-1127] that would allow California students to use medical marijuana on school campuses. California state law has allowed minors access to medical marijuana since the 1990s but so far has prevented school campuses from permitting usage. Parents would have to take their children off school grounds in [...]
