A judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri on Monday ruled that Missouri laws restricting protests near funerals are unconstitutional. Judge Fernando Gaitan held that two 2006 laws banning protests at funerals violated the US Constitution’s First Amendment right to free speech. The court concluded that prosecutors failed to show [...]

The Supreme Court of Mexico ruled 9-2 on Monday to uphold a Mexico City law allowing adoptions by same-sex couples. Justices in the majority found that same-sex adoptions do not violate the Mexican Constitution , which, regardless of the familial structure, provides equal protections to heterosexual couples, single mothers, divorced parents, grandparents and same-sex couples. [...]

US Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced Monday that environmental reviews will be required for all new deepwater drilling, temporarily halting exemptions that allowed oil companies to drill without environmental impact statements. The process for exemptions was created under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and required exemptions to be offered based on data [...]

Opposition leaders in Thailand pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of terrorism in connection with Thailand’s recent political violence , as the government partially lifted the state of emergency that has been in place since May. The men held leadership positions in the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship opposition group known as red shirts [...]

A lawyer for former US House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) confirmed Monday that a US Department of Justice (DOJ) criminal probe into DeLay’s association with lobbyist Jack Abramoff has been dismissed without charges being filed. The investigation lasted six years and included grand jury testimony from former aides as well as a review of [...]

Kyrgyzstan armed forces played a role in instigating and at times taking part in recent attacks against ethnic Uzbeks, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Monday. HRW also stated that local law enforcement did not provide adequate protection to the Uzbek community during the June 2010 ethnic violence . The report documents large-scale “sweep” operations in [...]

The US-based Rapaport Diamond Trading Network on Sunday reiterated its stance against the sale of Zimbabwe diamonds associated with human rights violations. In a letter to their members, Rapaport stated they will expel members who knowingly trade the tainted diamonds and that they will publish the names of members who trade the stones. Last week, [...]

US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has introduced a bill to create rules and guidelines for legal challenges brought by future Guantanamo Bay detainees and enemy combatants captured by US forces. Graham introduced the Terrorist Detention Review Reform Act earlier this month without the support of the Obama administration, reflecting the parties’ inability to reach a [...]

Co-prosecutors for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on Monday filed a notice of an appeal of the judgment against former Khmer Rouge official Kaing Guek Eav . Last month, the trial chamber of the ECCC convicted Kaing , also known as “Duch,” of crimes against humanity and of violating the 1949 [...]

The Canadian Bar Association passed a resolution at its annual meeting Saturday opposing a federal bill that would require Supreme Court of Canada. justices to speak both French and English. The private member’s bill recently passed the Canadian House of Commons by a slim majority and is now before the Senate . Proponents of the [...]