West Virginia State Senator Mike Azinger introduced a slew of bills targeting transgender people on Wednesday, including a bill to classify transgender people as “obscene matter” and a bill banning gender-affirming care for people under the age of 21. Senate Bill 195 amends the state’s indecent exposure law to criminalize engaging in “obscene matter.” It [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit heard oral arguments from federal prosecutors and former President Donald Trump’s legal team on the issue of presidential immunity earlier this week. Trump argued that he is shielded from criminal liability in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s case against him, which alleges that Trump interfered in the [...]

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) voiced its apprehension on Thursday about the Taliban’s recent spike in the arbitrary arrest and detention of women and girls based on non-compliance with the Islamic dress code. Last week the Taliban arrested the first women in Afghanistan for “bad hijab” since they took power in August 2021. [...]

Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Lai Ching-te and his running mate Hsiao Bi-khim held a pre-election international press conference on Tuesday where Lai asserted that Taiwan is an independent sovereign state, criticizing Beijing’s intention to intervene in the election. “If China’s intervention succeeds, and whoever China appoints and supports will be elected, then [...]

The Federal Court of Australia dismissed Wednesday a challenge seeking to extend an intergovernmental forestry agreement. As a result, logging operations in native forests are set to continue along the New South Wales (NSW) coastline. The North East NSW Regional Forest Agreement (North East RFA) is an agreement between the federal government and NSW state [...]

Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape declared a state of emergency after unrest that began on Wednesday has killed at least 16 people.  The unrest began when hundreds of police, military personnel, and civil servants went on strike and gathered at Port Moresby’s Unagi Oval before marching on the country’s Parliament after receiving a [...]

Proceedings began Thursday at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a case centering on allegations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israeli civilians, Israeli forces have launched a full-blown military campaign in the Gaza Strip. Though South Africa is not engaged in the conflict, it has jurisdiction [...]

On Jan. 25, the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) plans to execute Kenneth Smith by forcing him to breathe pure nitrogen gas, an untested execution method with profound legal and ethical consequences. Death penalty abolitionists worldwide have railed against this form of capital punishment, but these efforts have thus far failed to alter the state’s [...]

In papers filed with the US Supreme Court, the Colorado Republican Party broadly (and erroneously) claimed that “or the first time in American history, a former President has been disqualified from the ballot, a political party has been denied the opportunity to put forward the presidential candidate of its choice.” As I have written elsewhere, [...]

Our Supreme Court is now and has always been a political and ideological institution. But the Court fares the worst when it engages in naked partisan politics strongly favoring one side. Congress should take this political question out of the hands of the justices and remove Trump’s disqualification from state ballots pursuant to the last [...]