The Brazilian Chamber of Deputies , the lower house of Congress, passed a measure on Wednesday that would permit defendants to seek criminal consequences for prosecutors and judges if the officials abuse their powers, a change that many believe would impair law enforcement’s ability to investigate political corruption. A bill urging widespread investigation of corruption [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Fuad Rafidi of Valparaiso University School of Law, Class of 2018, discusses safe spaces on college campuses… Do safe places belong on college campuses? On November 22, 2016, Yue Zhang wrote a critical piece about colleges not having safe spaces. Yue personally believes safe spaces only spoils kids and makes them more [...]

Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other women’s groups filed suits Wednesday challenging abortion laws in Alaska , Missouri and North Carolina . Citing 42 USC § 1983 , which provides a means of attaining injunctive relief for constitutional violations, the cases specifically attack a restriction in Alaska banning abortions at outpatient [...]

Colombia’s Congress approved a peace accord Wednesday with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The Senate and House of Representatives both voted in support of the agreement, although many voting members walked out before the vote took place in protest of the deal. Opponents of the agreement argue that it is too lenient on [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Wednesday expressed concern for global human rights. The commissioner urged the promotion of human rights and dignity in an informal briefing to the human rights council after completing an international tour. The briefing served as an announcement of a global public information campaign to [...]

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in an immigration case that will determine the permissible length of detention before a bond hearing is necessary, if one is required at all. Jennings v. Rodriguez is a class-action lawsuit challenging immigration detention procedures. Alejandro Rodriguez, a permanent resident that was detained for three years [...]

A UN human rights expert provided a report to an international conference in Thailand on Wednesday regarding discrimination of the lesbian, gay bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community. In that report, the expert from the UN Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) provided five key steps to end discrimination and violence against the global LGBTI [...]

The Rwandan government on Wednesday announced that it has launched an investigation into the possible involvement of 20 French military officials in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Richard Muhumuza, Rwanda’s Prosecutor General, said that the inquiry is focused on 20 individuals and that more information is required from them. There have long existed tensions between Rwanda [...]

Judges for the US District Court for the Middle District Court of North Carolina ruled Tuesday that North Carolina must redraw congressional districts by March 15, 2017, and hold special primary and general elections by next fall. The order follows afterthe court found 28 districts’ elections to be unconstitutional due to racial gerrymandering. The ruling [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Roger Byron, Esq. Senior Counsel for First Liberty Institute discusses how Felix v. City of Bloomfield illustrates inherent flaws in the Lemon v. Kurtzman Establishment Clause test … The late Justice Antonin Scalia once described the infamous Lemon v. Kurtzman test for analyzing Establishment Clause matters as a “ghoul” from a “late-night [...]