Delaware Governor Jack Markell on Thursday signed into law House Bill 39 , a measure that decriminalizes the possession and use of small amounts of marijuana. The bill, which was given final legislative approval by the state’s senate Thursday and signed by the governor quickly after, will allow people in Delaware to possess up to [...]

Amnesty International urged Cameroon Friday to end the six month detention of 84 children being held after a raid on Quranic schools. AI reports that some of the children were as young as five years old. The children remained detained in a children’s center in Maroua even after being charged with no crimes. The government [...]

Amnesty International said Thursday that all 50 US states fall below international standards on police use of lethal force. The report indicates that many states have no regulation on police use of lethal force or ones that fall below international standards. UN principles on the use of lethal force limit force to “unavoidable instance in [...]

A French court acquitted 14 companies accused of bribery on Thursday for negotiating contracts as part of the UN oil-for-food program with the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein . The oil-for-food program allowed the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein, which was under UN sanctions in the wake of the first Gulf War, to sell limited [...]

Pro-democracy Hong Kong lawmakers voted Thursday to reject a bill that would have allowed Hong Kong’s leader to be elected by the general public. After a lengthy debate, 28 legislators voted against the proposal, enough to defeat the measure. The Chinese government, which had supported the legislation, said it was disappointed in the vote , [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled in McFadden v. United States on Thursday that in a synthetic drug case, the government must prove that the defendant understood that he was dealing a substance regulated under the Controlled Substances Act or Analogue Act . The ruling could make it more difficult for prosecutors to convict drug dealers [...]

The US Supreme Court on Thursday reinstated the death sentence of a California man convicted of murder 25 years ago, despite evidence that seven of the prosecution’s peremptory challenges to jurors in the case were race-based. In a 5-4 decision, the majority held in Davis v. Ayala that even though all blacks and Hispanics available [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Thursday in Brumfield v. Cain that a man who was convicted in 1993 for killing a police officer in Louisiana is entitled to have a new hearing to determine if he is mentally disabled, making him ineligible for the death penalty. The court decided that Kevan Brumfield, who was [...]

The US Supreme Court on Thursday ruled 9-0 that statements made by children to their teachers regarding possible abuse may be used as evidence at trial, even if the child does not testify in court. In Ohio v. Clark the court decided that defendants do not have a constitutional right to cross-examine child witnesses. The [...]

United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression David Kaye on Wednesday issued a report calling the use of anonymity and encryption software in digital communication vital to free speech. Kaye noted that due to heightened online security and mass and targeted surveillance and data collection, individuals use encryption and anonymity to provide themselves with [...]