Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed amendments to the Russian Criminal Code which redefine treason and espionage, despite assurances he would reconsider the changes to ensure they did not make the definition overly broad. The amendments , called “On Amendments to the Criminal Code and Article 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the [...]

Toyota Motor Corp. agreed to a $25.5 million settlement on Tuesday in a class action lawsuit arising out of issues with unintended vehicle acceleration recalls in 2010. The lawsuit was brought by shareholders who argued that they were harmed by the company’s recalls. They argue that the company’s failure to disclose vehicle quality issues cost [...]

US military prosecutors on Tuesday urged the death penalty for Staff Sgt. Robert Bales who is accused of having murdered 16 Afghan civilians in a late-night rampage in March. After a week long investigatory hearing under Article 32 , prosecutor Maj. Rob Stelle urged the presiding officer to subject Bales to a military court-martial where [...]

The Wisconsin Law Enforcement Association (WLEA) on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in the Dane County Circuit Court challenging the constitutionality of a controversial law limiting the collective bargaining rights of public sector unions. The WLEA is challenging the law, also known as the Budget Repair Bill, specifically as it pertains to law enforcement unions on [...]

The UN Population Fund (UNPF) annual report released Wednesday highlights family planning as an essential human right that has positive effects on economic development. The “State of World Population 2012” report details the reasoning for considering contraception a human right, the benefits of access to family planning and what this approach means for the international [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the District of South Carolina on Tuesday heard arguments on part of South Carolina’s controversial immigration law that permits law enforcement officials to detain motorists on the side of the road for a “reasonable amount of time” while the officer checks the driver’s immigration status. Judge Richard [...]

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday released its first opinion of the term, ruling unanimously in US v. Bormes that the federal government does not automatically waive sovereign immunity through the Little Tucker Act in the present case. The court held that the Tucker Act and the Little Tucker Act’s waiver of immunity is set [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Samar Warsi, a Senior Volunteer Attorney for the Muslim Civil Liberties Union, argues that drone attacks are counterproductive and hurt American attempts at foreign policy improvement…

A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas sentenced a former Texas college student from Saudi Arabia to life in prison on Tuesday for trying to make a bomb for use in a jihad. One of Khalid Ali-M Aldawsar’s possible targets was believed to be former US president George W. [...]

Undocumented foreign nationals in Libya are at risk of facing mental and physical exploitation and abuse that may include torture, Amnesty International (AI) reported Tuesday. The report urged Libyan authorities to confront issues of xenophobia and racism, which may in part be inspired by the prevalent belief that some foreigners were “mercenaries” who had supported [...]