Philippine opposition lawmakers petitioned the Supreme Court on Monday to reject President Rodrigo Duterte‘s imposition of martial law. Duterte declared martial law on May 23 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. Six House lawmakers, led by [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled Monday in Town of Chester v. Laroe Estates, Inc. that as-of-right intervenors must have independent Article III standing to intervene under Rule 24(a)(2) . Justice Samuel Alito delivered the opinion of a unanimous court. In 2012 Steven Sherman, a land developer, filed suit against the Town of Chester for obstructing [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled Monday in Kokesh v. Securities and Exchange Commission that claims for disgorgement in an SEC enforcement action are held within the five-year statute of limitations. The court was unanimous in its opinion that the SEC filing for disgorgement to prevent unjust enrichment is limited as it is a penalty that [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled Monday in Honeycutt v. United States that forfeiture is limited to property the defendant actually obtained as a result of the crime or “tainted property.” The court held that the Comprehensive Forfeiture Act of 1984 limits property to the definitions within the act and rejected the government’s argument that the [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled Monday in Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton that a church-affiliated hospital’s pension fund is exempt from the federal pension law. The court held that under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) , a defined-benefit pension plan maintained by a church-affiliated organization qualifies as a “church plan,” even though [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday granted certiorari in Carpenter v. United States to determine, “hether the warrantless seizure and search of historical cell phone records revealing the location and movements of a cell phone user over the course of 127 days is permitted by the Fourth Amendment.” The Stored Communications Act (SCA) allows the [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday affirmed a lower court decision striking down a North Carolina state House and Senate redistricting effort as racial gerrymandering that disproportionately impacted black voters. The court affirmed the order by summary disposition. Also Monday the court vacated an order requiring North Carolina to hold special elections, finding that the [...]

Hector Trujillo, a Guatemalan judge who served as general secretary for Guatemala’s soccer federation, pled guilty Friday to fraud and conspiracy in the FIFA scandal. Judge Trujillo entered the plea before US District Judge Pamela Chen in the Eastern District of New York . Trujillo has agreed to pay back $175,000 that he received as [...]

Israel has occupied the West Bank through human rights abuses for the past fifty-years, stated Human Rights Watch (HRW)(advocacy website) Sunday. According to HRW, Israel has violated international humanitarian law during the occupation through “unlawful killings; forced displacement; abusive detention; the closure of the Gaza Strip and other unjustified restrictions on movement; and the development [...]

The United Nations Security Council decided on Friday to expand existing sanctions placed on Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and applied those sanctions to 14 individuals and four organizations. The expansion of resolution 1718 (2006) will impose an asset freeze and travel ban on those that new resolution 2356 (2017) names as being [...]