The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has released its annual Attacks on the Press report , expressing concern about increased censorship of journalists worldwide in 2011. The CPJ criticized the growing trend of government censorship, especially Internet censorship. It indicated that imprisonment of journalists has gone up 20 percent worldwide in the last year, particularly [...]

The New Jersey Superior Court on Tuesday reinstated one count of a marriage equality lawsuit against the state’s civil union system, reversing the court’s own decision to dismiss the count on a motion by the state Attorney General . Judge Linda Feinberg in November had allowed the case to continue on the premise that civil [...]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Tuesday for an increase in efforts to curb transnational organized crime, drug trafficking and piracy in West Africa. In an address to the UN Security Council , the Secretary-General said he was “particularly concerned about reports stating that terrorist groups, such as Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, have formed alliances [...]

The High Administrative Court of Egypt ruled Monday that the voting system used in the recent parliamentary election was unconstitutional. The election was held over three stages from late November to January, and its the elaborate voting system apportioned parliamentary seats between political parties and individuals, with two thirds of the seats going to political [...]

Maldives President Mohammed Waheed Hassan appointed a commission on Wednesday to investigate the violence that accompanied his rise to power. Hassan assumed power of Maldives when former president Mohamed Nasheed resigned on February 7 following weeks of protests. Nasheed claims he was forced from office in a coup. Supporters of Nasheed took to the streets [...]

Proponents of Proposition 8 , California’s same-sex marriage ban, on Tuesday requested a new hearing before the full US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit . The request comes after a three-judge panel voted 2-1 to overturn the law , finding that it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment . The [...]

Judge Clark Waddoups of the US District Court for the District of Utah said Tuesday that he would delay his ruling on Utah’s immigration law until the US Supreme Court rules on the similar Arizona Immigration Law. Waddoups believes that it is in the best interest of the state and the court to wait until [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Tuesday affirmed the dismissal of wrongful death claims by the families of two former Guantanamo Bay detainees, Yasser Al-Zahrani of Saudi Arabia and Salah Al-Salami of Yemen, who committed suicide while in detention in 2006. The families filed a civil lawsuit against the [...]

The Maryland State Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee approved a bill on Tuesday that would permit the legal marriage of same-sex couples within the state. This bill is a cross-filing of HB438 which was approved by the Maryland House of Delegates last week. The bill is expected to move to debate by the full Senate after [...]

JURIST Assistant Editor Kimberly Bennett, University of Pittsburgh School of Law Class of 2014, argues that the Stolen Valor Act is a piece of wartime legislation that is not the least restrictive means of furthering the government’s interest and, as such, should be overturned… (Her opinions are not intended to represent those of JURIST)