The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) confirmed on Wednesday that it is investigating Internet search company Google to determine if it violated communications laws when its Street View vehicles inadvertently collected private user data, including passwords and URLs, over WiFi networks. The FCC did not reveal any details, but stated that the investigation was officially [...]

Ishai Menuchin : “The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel welcomes B’Tselem and Hamoked’s recent report, “Kept in the Dark” which is an important study of one particular Shin Bet interrogation center over a limited period of time. PCATI’s ongoing and daily work in the field on the issue of treatment of detainees at arrest [...]

The Myanmar Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an appeal by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi challenging the conditions of her house arrest. The appeal is largely symbolic, as Suu Kyi is scheduled to be released on Saturday. However, Suu Kyi’s lawyers fear that the ruling could be a sign that conditions will be attached [...]

David Pantos : “The Supreme Court of Nebraska (SCONE) made the correct decision in declining to rule on the Fremont, NE immigration ordinance, against the request of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska. This was the right decision for basic reasons. First, no party to the litigation raised any state law [...]

Justin Tanis : “The military’s discriminatory Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy applies only to the sexual orientation of servicemembers and has no direct application to transgender people. However, transgender people have been impacted by the regulations and discharged under the policy when investigators assume that gender non-conforming clothing or behavior signifies a lesbian or gay [...]

Haroon Moghul Executive Director, The Maydan Institute: “Last week, Oklahomans voted overwhelmingly in favor of State Question 755, which forbids state courts from considering “international law,” defined as a discourse “formed by the general assent of civilized nations,” and “Sharia,” or “Islamic law,” in their decisions. Perhaps Oklahomans, in their eagerness to rid their state [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Timothy Moore of York University and Special Guest Columnist Andras Schreck of Schreck Presser Law say a recent ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada leaves suspects with such a weak right to counsel that police interrogations are quite likely to lead to false confessions… The Supreme Court of Canada ruled earlier [...]

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in CSX Transportation, Inc. v. Alabama Department of Revenue on whether a state’s exemption of railroad competitors, but not railroads, from a generally applicable sales and use tax is subject to challenge as “another tax that discriminates against a rail carrier” under section 306(1)(d) of the Railroad [...]

UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro on Tuesday praised the nations that have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) and urged more states to join the convention at the First Meeting of States Parties . The CCM, which went into effect as binding international law in August, bans the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of [...]

The Czech Republic continues to discriminate against Roma school children despite a court order, according to a complaint filed Monday with the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe by the Open Society Justice Initiative, the European Roma Rights Centre and the Greek Helsinki Monitor . The groups allege that the Czech government has [...]