Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal on Wednesday struck down a state law prohibiting gay couples from adopting, finding that it failed rational basis review and violated the state constitution’s equal protection clause. The case was brought by Martin Gill, a gay man who provided foster care for two boys with his partner. After the [...]

Kenyan businessman Joseph Gathungu filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging the constitutionality of the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into the violence following the 2007 Kenyan presidential election . The suit, which was filed in the High Court in Mombasa, argues that the ICC investigation is illegal under the constitution adopted last month . Gathungu alleges [...]

Polish prosecutors announced Wednesday that they will open an investigation into the alleged mistreatment of accused USS Cole bomber Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri at a secret CIA prison in Poland. The investigation is in response to the request filed Tuesday by human rights group Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) and al-Nashiri’s lawyers. The request asks prosecutors [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit heard arguments Tuesday in a case challenging the constitutionality of the False Claims Act , which allows citizen “whistle-blowers” to sue federal contractors for committing fraud against the government. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Senior National Staff Counsel Christopher Hansen appeared before the court and argued [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania (ACLU-PA) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on Monday filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Pittsburgh, Police Chief Nathan Harper and more than 15 police officers on behalf of 25 people arrested during the September 2009 Group of 20 (G-20) Summit . The complaint , [...]

The US Senate on Tuesday rejected a cloture motion on the National Defense Authorization Act for the Fiscal Year 2011 , a defense appropriations bill that would have repealed the US armed forces’ “Don’t ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy. The motion was rejected by a 56-43 vote largely along party lines. Senate Majority Leader Harry [...]

The UN panel of experts tasked with monitoring and assessing investigations into alleged war crimes during the 2008-2009 conflict in the Gaza Strip issued a report Tuesday criticizing the investigations being carried out by both Israel and Hamas, but positively assessing the work of the Palestinian Authority. According to the report, the Palestinian Authority’s work [...]

Officials for Imperial County , California, announced Tuesday that the county has submitted its opening brief in an appeal against last month’s federal court decision striking down California’s ban on same-sex marriage . District Judge Vaughn Walker denied Imperial’s request to intervene in the original suit in August, stating that the request was not timely. [...]

New York Governor David Paterson (D) signed a bill on Sunday allowing unmarried partners, including gay couples, to jointly adopt a child. The law amends the language of Section 110 of New York’s domestic relations law to allow two unmarried adult intimate partners to adopt a child. The New York Assembly passed the bill in [...]

A human rights group and lawyers for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri , a Saudi man accused in connection with the 2000 USS Cole attack , filed a request Tuesday with Polish prosecutors for an investigation into al-Nashiri’s detention and treatment at a secret CIA prison in Poland. The request asks prosecutors to scrutinize al-Nashiri’s detention and [...]