The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Tuesday upheld an injunction on an Indiana law that would block Medicaid funding for abortion providers. The court found that the law, which would block federal and state funding to all “entities which perform abortions,” violated the Medicaid statute because it unjustifiably limited patient choice [...]

The Russian State Duma passed a bill on Tuesday that expands the definition of high treason. Treason was previously defined as espionage or assistance to a foreign state that damages Russia’s external security. The bill, which was passed by the lower house, expands the definition to include acts that compromise Russia’s constitutional order, sovereignty and [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Simon Lester of the Cato Institute argues that a greater focus on protectionism will expand trade liberalization and help to balance international trade rules…

The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Monday vacated a stay of execution for convicted mass murderer John Errol Ferguson. The stay was issued last week by US District Court for the Southern District of Florida , but the appeals court found the stay to be an abuse of judicial discretion because [...]

Guantanamo Bay detainee Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri on Tuesday boycotted his pretrial hearing at the facility. Al-Nashiri is accused of bombing the USS Cole while it was in port in Yemen in October 2000. Al-Nashiri objected to the use of belly chains while he was brought from his cell to the courtroom for the proceedings. Navy [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist David Frakt of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law says that the recent reversal of Salim Hamdan’s conviction presents an opportunity to rethink the wisdom of using military commissions to try individuals accused of acts of terrorism…

United Nations (UN) independent human rights experts on Monday urged Colombian authorities to reconsider proposed constitutional reforms affecting the military criminal law. Eleven experts, comprising the Special Procedures mandate-holders of the Human Rights Council of the UN, wrote an open letter to the government of Colombia expressing their concern that the proposed reforms could prove [...]

Egyptian Prosecutor-General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud on Monday ordered an investigation into allegations of forgery during the recent presidential elections. The order came after former Egyptian prime minister Ahmed Shafiq alleged that ballots were forged and votes were bought by current president Mohammed Morsi . Shafiq added that previous investigations into the allegations were stopped without [...]

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Monday urged all parties in Guinea-Bissau to resolve their differences peacefully. The call came amid a recent attack on the country’s army base outside of the capital Bissau in which at least six people were killed. Rebel forces attacked the military base on Sunday and the conflict between them [...]

The Dane County Circuit Court on Monday denied Wisconsin Attorney General JB Van Hollen’s request to delay invalidating certain provisions of a controversial law limiting the collective bargaining rights of public sector unions. The Budget Repair Bill forces most state workers to pay more in health insurance and other benefits and compels unions to be [...]