Sotomayor confirmation hearing materials, US Senate Judiciary Committee . Read the full text of the materials. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on Sonia Sotomayor.

US detention centers for illegal immigrants have failed to meet basic standards for the treatment of those held at the facilities, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Immigration Law Center and two other groups. The groups said that immigrants being held in the US are often denied adequate visitation, telephone, recreation, legal [...]

Amnesty International on Monday called on Nicaragua to end its total ban on abortions , saying that the lack of an exception for the mother's health has caused numerous deaths. AI also called for the country to eliminate severe criminal punishments for those who seek or perform abortions, saying that the penalties would often prevent [...]

Oveissi v. Islamic Republic of Iran, et al., US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, July 28, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here.

Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act, US House Committee on Financial Services, July 28, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here.

The US Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday voted 13-6 to recommend the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court . All 12 Democrats on the committee and one Republican voted in favor of the recommendation. In a statement praising Sotomayor, committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) applauded her experience and dismissed allegations of prejudice: Judge [...]

Several Hollywood production companies filed suit Monday in Sweden against the operators of the file-sharing site The Pirate Bay , seeking an injunction. The US companies, including Disney, Universal, and Columbia Pictures, filed a writ to sue in the Stockholm District Court, requesting that the court order the owners to cease and desist the operation [...]

Human rights group Reprieve announced Tuesday that it is suing the British government over the rendition of Mohammed Saad Iqbal Madni from Indonesia to Egypt, where it says he was tortured. The group alleges that the UK allowed the US rendition flight of Madni to stop on the British island territory of Diego Garcia , [...]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday called for African, Asian and European countries to strengthen prevention and protection measures against the use of sexual violence in armed conflicts. Ban's position was outlined in a report released earlier this month, which stated that such violence has been systematically used in modern conflicts and is a "direct [...]

An Iranian official announced Tuesday the release of approximately 140 people detained during violent protests following the controversial reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad . Human Rights Watch has reported that some arrested protesters were beaten, deprived of sleep, and threatened with torture in an effort to force false confessions . An official for the country's [...]