The Canadian Senate on Friday approved Bill C-16 , adding “gender identity” and “gender expression” to the list of federally prohibited grounds for discrimination under Canada’s Human Rights Act. In an official statement from the Justice Department of Canada the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Jody Wilson-Raybould, said: The purpose of this [...]

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback allowed a bill that permits public hospitals, mental health facilities and other health-providing facilities to ban concealed weapons, to become law on Thursday without his signature. HB 2278 was passed by Senate on a 24-16 vote. Brownback, a strong gun rights advocate, in a criticized the bill for restricting gun owners’ [...]

Japan’s parliament, the National Diet , passed a controversial “anti-conspiracy” bill on Thursday aimed at improving security and combating terrorism. Critics of the new bill, including the Japanese Bar Association and a UN Special Rapporteur , worry it will be used to curb civil liberties and infringe on privacy rights. The law amends an existing [...]

Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an adoption bill into law on Thursday that allows adoption agencies receiving public funding to refuse to place children in adoptive families or foster homes that conflict with the agencies’ religious beliefs. The bill passed in the Senate in May. The law states , “A child welfare services provider may [...]

Six individuals joined with several civil rights groups, including Black Lives Matter Chicago , to file a federal lawsuit against Chicago, accusing the city police force of racial discrimination against African Americans and Latinos. According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs are seeking “a city-wide, class action injunction prohibiting the abusive policies and practices undergirding the [...]

The European Court of Justice on Thursday ruled that the BitTorrent sharing site, The Pirate Bay (TPB) , is directly infringing on copyright laws. TPB allows users to share and download movies, television shows and audio files. Unlike earlier piracy websites, such as Napster , TPB does not host files or link to them. Instead, [...]

Three Kentuckians filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Governor Matt Bevin and Attorney General Andy Beshear challenging the state’s criminal ban on medical marijuana. Dan Seum Jr., 59, Amy Stalker, 37, and Danny Belcher, 69, claim they rely on medical marijuana for relief of ailments such as chronic pain and irritable bowl syndrome. Stalker, who [...]

The attorneys general of 11 states filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Trump administration for failing to finalize energy efficiency standards for portable air-conditioners, freezers and other products. The lawsuit concerns five final rules that the Obama administration issued shortly before he left office. The new requirements would potentially save consumers billions of dollars, [...]

The UK Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the government’s policy of deporting foreign nationals who have committed crimes before their appeals are heard is unlawful. Section 3(5)(a) of the 1971 Act provides that a person who is not a British citizen is liable for deportation from the UK if the Home Secretary deems their deportation [...]

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced charges Wednesday against five former Flint officials for their part in the Flint water crisis. Schuette charged Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon, former Flint Emergency Manager Darnell Earley, former City of Flint Water Department Manager Howard Croft, as well as Michigan Department of Environmental [...]