Two unions, Kentucky State AFL-CIO and Teamsters Local 89 filed a class action lawsuit on Thursday against the state of Kentucky and the governor, claiming that Kentucky’s “right-to-work” bill violates the state constitution. The plaintiffs claim that the bill, which allows workers to receive union benefits without paying dues, amounts to “a clear and unfair [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein voiced concern on Wednesday over the treatment of hunger striking Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. The health of hundreds of prisoners has been declining, according to the commissioner’s statement, released on the thirty-eighth day of the strike. Israeli Prison Service has transported more than 60 [...]

The Maine Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the state’s newly enacted legislation providing for a ranked-choice voting system conflicted with the state’s constitution . The issue came before the court when the State Senate submitted a request for guidance from the court: “The crux of the Senate’s inquiry is whether this statutorily enacted system [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a civil complaint on Tuesday against Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles NV alleging that the company illegally used computer software to bypass emissions tests in nearly 104,000 of the company’s diesel cars. The complaint alleges that vehicles contain defeat devices and that the devices were not disclosed to regulators during the [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Thursday upheld an injunction against President Donald Trump’s travel ban that targets six Muslim-majority countries. The ban, announced in March , was the second version of a travel prohibition preventing people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen from entering the US for 90 [...]

Iraq’s Interior Ministry has launched an investigation into human rights violations carried out against civilians by special forces while fighting the Islamic State (IS) in Mosul. The allegations were initially reported by Ali Arkady, an Iraqi photographer with Der Spiegel Magazine who accompanied the Interior Ministry’s special forces team, the Emergency Response Division (ERD), a [...]

Vermont Governor Phil Scott vetoed a bill on Wednesday that would have made Vermont the ninth state to legalize recreational marijuana and the first to do so via a legislative body . Scott sent the bill back to lawmakers with suggestions for more aggressive penalties for using marijuana while driving or in the presence of [...]

Three UN experts on cultural rights, extreme poverty and adequate housing urged the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to stop the demolition of a 400-year-old neighborhood in Awamia on Wednesday. According to Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain the historic quarter of Awamia, al-Masora, has a significant cultural history. The walled city holds mosques, [...]

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law on the island of Mindanao on Tuesday when heavily armed militants linked to the Islamic State took over large parts of Marawi City, a provincial capital in the predominantly Roman Catholic country. Violence erupted after the government attempted to capture Isnilon Hapilon, the leader of the Muate, a [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Jay Austin of the Environmental Law Institute discusses President Trump’s recent executive order concerning offshore drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf … Even before this week’s dramatic events, the topic of “presidential power” had already been trending. There’s now an entire law school course devoted to the Trump Administration’s first 100 days; [...]