In a 4-3 ruling on Friday, the Virginia Supreme Court held that Governor Terry McAuliffe’s executive order granting a blanket restoration of the state’s felon voting rights is unconstitutional. The voter-disqualification provision in Article II of Virginia’s Constitution provides that “o person who has been convicted of a felony shall be qualified to vote unless [...]
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A federal judge on Friday ruled in favor of a Missouri lawmaker “who cited religious objections while challenging the inclusion of birth control coverage in his government-provided health insurance.” The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires that health insurance issuers provide minimum essential coverage to women- including coverage for all contraceptive methods and [...]
President Tayyip Erdogan ordered the closure of thousands of private schools, charities and other institutions on Saturday. Mr. Erdogan alleges Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen of orchestrating last week’s failed coup and the schools and other institutions are suspected by Turkish authorities of having links to the US-based preacher. 1,043 private schools, 1,229 charities and foundations, [...]
California Governor Jerry Brown signed a law which would require individuals to apply for a state-issued firearm registration number where they made their own weapons with parts they have purchased or found. Assembly Bill 857 will allow the state to keep track of weapons that individuals make on their own, furthering California’s strict stance on [...]
On Thursday the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint against Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania for denying zoning approval to a mosque in 2014. The complaint alleges that the township violated the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act after the board rejected the Bensalem Masjid’s requested zoning variance to build a mosque on [...]
According to a 56-page report by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International , Ukrainian government officials and Russia-backed separatists in the Ukraine have subjected citizen to “prolonged, arbitrary detention,” torture, or other forms of inhumane treatment, including refusing necessary medical attention. The report examined nine instances of arbitrary, prolonged detention of citizens by both Ukrainian [...]
On Thursday, Michigan Attorney General spokesman John Sellek said that Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette and Secretary of State Ruth Johnson plan to appeal an injunction on the state’s law eliminating straight-ticket voting. In his 37-page decision, Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division Judge Gershwin A. Drain enjoined enforcement of the law, stating that the [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Stephen Cooper, a former DC public defender, addresses prosecutor Michele Hanisee’s remarks concerning the death penalty in California… Speaking in favor of Proposition 66, the ballot initiative that seeks to speed up executions in California to Texas-like levels of lethality, Los Angeles deputy district attorney Michele Hanisee told legislators during testimony before [...]
The Washington Supreme Court Thursday found an antibegging ordinance under the Lakewood Municipal Code to be unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds. The court found that the ordinance restricted protected speech in a public forum and was therefore invalid. The restrictions, which the court referred to as “content-based,” prohibited begging in several areas such as ramps, [...]
Today the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde was ordered by a French court to face criminal trial for her negligence in facilitating a $400 million government payout to French businessman, and Nicolas Sarkozy supporter, Bernard Tapie. Lagarde is accused of allowing Tapie’s case to be decided upon by an arbitration panel, as [...]
