The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled Friday that family-owned, profit-making businesses cannot challenge the new federal health care law’s birth control mandate on religious grounds. Conestoga Wood Specialties, a Pennsylvania company with 950 employees, maintains a policy not to support “anything that terminates a fertilized embryo.” The company objected to the [...]

A New York-based labor rights group alleged Monday that a Taiwanese company that produces iPhones for Apple has violated labor and environmental laws in China. China Labor Watch accused Apple company, Pegatron , which assembles products including the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5, of withholding employees’ pay and imposing excessive working hours at [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Steven Aiello, LLB Candidate, University of London, considers foreign aid and how it applies to Egypt in a two-part series. In his second piece, he calls for reform of the Foreign Assistance Act…

JURIST Guest Columnist Christina Wells of the University of Missouri – Columbia School of Law says that the broad provisions of the Espionage Act raise significant First Amendment concerns, mainly that government officials can control all debates by allowing favorable leaks while punishing embarrassing or critical ones …

JURIST Guest Columnist David J. Hacker of the Alliance Defending Freedom argues that the US Supreme Court’s decision in Nassar protects the mixed-motive framework provided for First Amendment retaliation claims…

A Colombian appeals judge on Saturday ordered a notary to marry a same-sex couple, following the couples’ appeal after the notary refused to marry them on June 20. In the decision , Judge Campo Elias Cordoba stated that marriage was the only contractual option that would give the plaintiffs their intended outcome. The couple will [...]

The UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar , Tomas Ojea Quintana, on Monday praised the latest presidential amnesty that resulted in the release of 73 prisoners of conscience. His announcement, however, came with concerns over ongoing arrests of activists. On Tuesday, Myanmar President Thein Sein granted amnesty to the 73 prisoners [...]

Israel’s coalition government on Sunday approved a draft bill that would require the government to submit any proposed peace deal with Palestinians to voters for approval by referendum. The bill would exist as Basic Law in the country, which preserves basic rights and presides over other laws. Although a similar measure was passed in 2010, [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called Sunday for an end to the violence in Egypt. Supporters of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and former president Mohamed Morsi refused to clear the streets on Sunday despite mass killings by Egyptian security forces. Egypt’s ambulance service reported that 72 people were killed during violent outbreaks at [...]

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a bill on Saturday making Illinois the eighteenth state to allow online voter registration. The bill, which is set to take effect in July of next year, will allow anyone with a valid driver’s license or state identification card to register to vote online. It is an attempt to reduce [...]