The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases on Tuesday. In Lynch v. Dimaya the court is deciding whether 18 USC § 16(b) , which defines a crime of violence, is unconstitutionally vague. Section 16(b) has been incorporated into the Immigration and Nationality Act provision governing an alien’s removal from the US. Petitioner [...]

The UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reported Monday that more than 100 journalists were killed in the line of duty in 2016. While the number is lower than the 115 killed in 2015, it is a rise from the 90 and 98 killed in 2013 and 2014, respectively, and averaged a journalist’s death [...]

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by several large banks asking to dismiss lawsuits brought by private investor groups accusing them of conspiring to manipulate the Libor benchmark interest rate. The investors alleged that Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. conspired to suppress the London Interbank Offered [...]

The European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday that Russia was wrong to ban US citizens from adopting Russian children. In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that Russia’s ban was discriminatory and found Russia responsible for the legal fees of American citizens seeking to adopt children from the nation. The case was brought by [...]

Ukraine filed suit against Russia in the International Court of Justice on Monday for alleged acts of terrorism and discrimination. The case has been filed for violations under the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination . Ukrainian Minister [...]

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson stated during a news conference on Monday that legislation has been proposed to abolish the death penalty. The state’s stance on capital punishment has recently been under question, though lawmakers have historically been reluctant to allow votes on bills ending executions. The conversation shifted dramatically when Governor Jay Inslee took [...]

In a speech before a meeting of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, a senior UN human rights official said Monday that children around the world face ongoing poverty, violence and discrimination . Kate Gilmore , the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the worsening migrant crisis was one of [...]

Three UN human rights experts on Tuesday urged Iran to halt the possible execution of a juvenile that was sentenced to death for fatally stabbing a man. In February 2014 the minor was granted a retrial because of new juvenile sentencing provisions of the 2013 Islamic Penal Code . However in June 2015 the Provincial [...]

The German Constitutional Court on Tuesday rejected efforts to ban the far-right ultranationalist political party National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) , finding the group does not pose a sufficient threat to the German government. The German Bundesrat had filed a suit against the group in 2013 claiming that “its racist, anti-Semitic program” violated Germany’s [...]

The UK Supreme Court ruled Tuesday against the UK government in a case of torture by MI6 agents in Libya in 2004. All seven Justices ruled in favor of Abdul Hakim Belhaj and his then-pregnant wife who were kidnapped in Asia and forcibly moved to Libya. This action was taken as a joint operation with [...]