JURIST Guest Columnist Stephen Cooper, a former DC public defender discusses how California’s Proposition 66 will fail to reform California’s fractured death penalty system… “Californians for Death Penalty Savings and Reform“—an advocacy group spearheaded by district attorneys and several family members of murder victims—has collected enough signatures to qualify the “Death Penalty Reform and Savings [...]

The First Intermediate People’s Court of Tianjin near Beijing jailed Ling Jihua, a top aide to former China president Hu Jintao , and sentenced him to life after finding him guilty of taking bribes, illegally obtaining state secrets and abuse of power. This sentence comes after the Supreme People’s Court of China’s confirmation in April [...]

Vietnam has urged ]statement, in Vietnamese] the international tribunal in The Hague to deliver a “fair and objective” ruling concerning Philippines’ challenge to China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea. Two days after the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) announced July 12 as the verdict date, Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry said that it hoped the [...]

Kenyan authorities have detained three police officers for their involvement in the murder of a human rights lawyer. The officers have not yet been charged with the murders, but a judge announced they will remain in detention for two weeks as investigations are conducted. The body of Willie Kimani, a Nairobi lawyer working for the [...]

The International Criminal Court (ICC) will not prosecute Tony Blair for war crimes related to the 2003 Iraq War, according to the Telegraph. The ICC said Saturday that the decision “by the UK to go to war in Iraq falls outside the Court’s jurisdiction.” The ICC also said that it will be analyzing the “Chilcot [...]

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) voted on Thursday in favor of appointing an independent expert to report on and investigate worldwide violence and discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. The appointment passed by a vote of 23 to 18 with 6 abstentions. Supporters of the initiative referenced the recent violence [...]

A federal appeals court on Friday rejected the Alaskan government’s challenge in a case determining the right of Alaskan tribes to place land in a federal trust. Alaskan tribes originally sued the Department of the Interior in 2007 to place land in a trust. Though the Interior Department found that denying such rights would be [...]

The North Carolina General Assembly adjourned for the year on Friday after making only minor changes to the state’s highly criticized House Bill 2 . Legislators altered the original law by restoring the right to sue in state court for discriminatory employment discrimination. The legislators, however, expressed no intention to change the controversial provisions that [...]

California Governor Jerry Brown on Friday signed 20 bills into law , six of which were bills altering the gun laws in the state . Brown stated that he signed the bills “to enhance public safety by tightening our existing laws in a responsible and focused manner, while protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners.” [...]

A federal judge on Thursday ruled that a Mississippi law allowing for religious objections to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community is unconstitutional . HB 1523 , set to go into effect Friday, sought to protect three religious beliefs: “(a) Marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and [...]