The US House voted 402-17 to approve the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008 Wednesday. The bill makes it easier for employees with mental or physical handicaps to prove they are victims of workplace or hiring discrimination. Bill co-sponsor Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said that the new legislation closed gaps in the law that [...]

The US District Court for the Southern District of New York Wednesday ruled that the National Security Agency (NSA) does not have to tell lawyers for Guantanamo Bay detainees whether it has used electronic surveillance methods to monitor their communications. The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed the lawsuit on behalf of the lawyers in [...]

District of Columbia v. Heller, US Supreme Court, June 26, 2008 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Wilner v. National Security Agency, et al., US District Court for the Southern District of New York, June 25, 2008 . Read the full text of the decision . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The US Supreme Court handed down three decisions Thursday, including District of Columbia v. Heller , in which the Court ruled 5-4 that the Second Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits the District of Columbia from banning private handgun ownership. The Court found that the Second Amendment bestows upon citizens an individual right to own [...]

A number of politicians have denounced Wednesday's US Supreme Court ruling that the death penalty constitutes cruel and unusual punishment for the rape of a child. At a press conference, Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama (D-Ill) said that he rape of a small child, six or eight years old is a heinous crime, and [...]

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) announced Wednesday that it will prepare a report on allegations of organ trafficking in Kosovo. Former prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Carla Del Ponte has alleged in a new book that about 300 Serbian and other non-Albanian prisoners were victims [...]

The New Zealand government and several Maori groups signed a deed of settlement Wednesday worth nearly NZ $196 million to resolve certain indigenous claims concerning land taken by British settlers in the 19th century. The deed of settlement agreement, known informally as the Treelords deal , restores land rights and nearly 176,000 hectares of forest [...]

A UK High Court dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday that sought to force the government to put the ratification of the new EU reform treaty , known as the Treaty of Lisbon , to a public vote. Influential UK Conservative Party donor Stuart Wheeler launched a legal bid to force a referendum on the treaty in [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Wednesday rejected an appeal of Canadian-born financier and former media mogul Conrad Black . Convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice in 2007, Black was sentenced to 78 months in prison and ordered to pay $125,000 and forfeit another $1 million. In February, the court upheld [...]