Carlos Perez, one of four El Universo managers convicted of libel against Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa , was granted asylum by Panama on Thursday. El Universo is the second largest newspaper in Ecuador. Two of the four men, Cesar and Nicolas Perez, have already fled to Miami. The announcement that Carlos Perez had been granted [...]

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JURIST Guest Columnist Kevin Snider, Chief Counsel for the Pacific Justice Institute says that the Ninth Circuit panel in Perry v. Brown unanimously acknowledged that a right to same-sex marriage is not supported by Supreme Court or Ninth Circuit precedent, and that sexual orientation is not a suspect classification according to longstanding case law… Lost [...]

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JURIST Guest Columnist Maureen Duffy of the University of Calgary Faculty of Law says that the use of “blacklists” as a tool for counter-terrorism efforts does not increase public safety, and instead may result in a form of legal punishment based on a subject’s associations alone…

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Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday called for the reduction of overcrowding to improve poor prison conditions in Latin America following a prison fire in Honduras. The fire occurred this past Tuesday and killed more than 300 inmates while injuring dozens more. According to HRW, Honduras prisoners suffer overcrowding which leads to poor prison conditions [...]

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The Colorado Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday voted 5-2 to approve a proposed civil union bill , referring it to the Colorado Senate for a full vote. The bill gives same-sex couples the “all legal benefits, protections, and responsibilities of spouses” joined in marriage. On Wednesday, the Judiciary Committee heard testimony from advocates and opponents [...]

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United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon Thursday called on Syria to end to violence against civilians and possible crimes against humanity . During a speech in Vienna, Austria, the Secretary General said he had urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to make necessary changes before the unrest spread, but Assad instead took military action against [...]

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