Defense lawyers for the five accused 9/11 conspirators petitioned a US military judge at Guantanamo Bay on Monday to preserve the prisons where the defendants were held as evidence. The defendants claim that they were tortured during their time held in secret CIA prisons. This is one of the many issues that are set to [...]

A Moscow court on Monday postponed the preliminary hearing for the posthumous trial of Russian whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky. Magnitsky’s defense lawyer was appointed by the court after his family and lawyers refused to attend the trial, claiming the charges against Magnitsky were politically motivated . Magnitsky was jailed on tax evasion and fraud charges. He [...]

A branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Iran on Sunday sentenced an American-Iranian pastor to eight years in prison for threatening national security through his leadership in Christian house churches. Saeed Abedini, 32, became a US citizen through marriage in 2010 and has been traveling between the US and Iran since he was ordained [...]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said in a statement delivered Sunday to the African Union summit that the leaders in Africa must increase efforts to lower poverty levels, end cycles of violence and accelerate development. Ban noted that while many countries have made strides to achieve the UN’s eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) , he [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Sunday called on the Russian State Duma to reject a proposed law that would fine any individuals or organizations, including government officials, who promote homosexuality to minors under the age of 18. The bill, which was passed after a first reading on Friday by the lower chamber of parliament, would [...]

An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced 21 people who were found guilty of involvement in last year’s Port Said soccer stadium disaster to the death penalty. The ruling comes almost a year after the February 1, 2012 tragedy that killed 74 people and injured more than 1,000 when fans of Al-Masry violently stormed the stands [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Walter Smith, University of Washington School of Law Class of 2013, discusses Washington state legally recognizing same-sex marriage by popular vote… On December 6, Washington state certified its statewide election returns and officially became the first US state to begin legally recognizing same-sex marriages by popular vote. Maryland and Maine, the only [...]

The Office for Civil Rights of the US Department of Education on Friday issued guidance clarifying school districts’ existing legal obligations to give disabled students an equal chance to compete in extracurricular sports alongside their peers without disabilities. The US Secretary for Education Arne Duncan acknowledged the critical role sports play in the school experience. [...]

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has sentenced former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent John Kiriakou, who was among the first to disclose information to the public about the CIA’s use of waterboarding and other interrogation techniques, to thirty months in prison for intentionally disclosing information identifying a covert agent. [...]

The Virginia Senate approved legislation on Friday that would prohibit the state government from discriminating against its employees based on sexual orientation. The Senate passed the bill 24-16 with four Republicans joining all 20 Democrats in support. Senator Adam Ebbin (D) , an openly gay lawmaker, declared that the anti-discrimination bill would help ensure that [...]