A three-judge panel in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday unanimously rejected a Texas law requiring voters to present photo identification to election officials before casting their ballots. The judges concluded that the law is “the most stringent in the country,” and would “almost certainly have a retrogressive effect,” namely [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia on Wednesday issued a temporary injunction blocking same-gender classes at a West Virginia middle school. The order follows a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of a mother of three daughters studying at Van Devender Middle [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Lawrence Frolik of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law says that Pennsylvania’s new voter identification law is an unconstitutional violation of citizens’ fundamental right to vote, and that the disenfranchisement of voters is not justified by the relatively few instances of voter fraud that the law may prevent…

The US Department of Defense announced Wednesday that the Chief Prosecutor for Military Commissions has filed terrorism charges against a Saudi Guantanamo Bay prisoner accused of plotting with al Qaeda to blow up oil tankers near Yemen. The detainee, Ahmed al Darbi, has been accused of six offenses under the Military Commissions Act of 2009 [...]

A Maldives commission of inquiry concluded Thursday that former president Mohamed Nasheed’s resignation and the transfer of power to current President Mohammed Waheed Hassan were legal . In its report, the Commission of National Inquiry (CONI) rejected claims by Nasheed that he was forced to resign at gunpoint, finding that he resigned of his own [...]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday expressed concern about Iran’s human rights conditions and nuclear program during a visit to Tehran. In several comments since his arrival, Ban stressed the importance of international cooperation and improving the welfare the Iranian people. In a news conference shortly after his arrival in Iran, Ban highlighted the importance [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida on Tuesday blocked Florida from implementing a portion of its controversial voting law that shortens the deadlines for groups conducting voter registration drives to submit registration forms to the state. The Florida law imposes a $1000 per day fine on any group [...]

The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday upheld the death sentence for Mohammad Ajmal Kasab , the only surviving shooter in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks . Kasab, a Pakistani national, was convicted in May 2010 of waging war against India, multiple murders and conspiracy for his participation in the Mumbai attacks during which gunmen [...]

The Supreme Court of Chile on Wednesday rejected a plan to build a thermoelectric power plant in the Atacama region of the country, citing concern about potential pollution. The high court rejected the plan, overturning the environmental license of the Central Castilla thermal power plant, a joint venture between Brazilian company MPX Energia and German [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Washington at Tacoma on Monday denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against the US Border Patrol alleging that agents are routinely stopping vehicles to check the immigration status of Latinos without legal justification. The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington (ACLU-WA) and [...]