A coalition of rights groups led by the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP filed a lawsuit Friday challenging four provisions of Alabama Senate Bill 1, Act No. 2024-33 (“SB 1”), which criminalizes absentee ballot assistance. The case is in the Southern Division of the Northern District of Alabama. Two of the challenged provisions were [...]
US Congressman Henry Cuellar, who has served as a Democratic representative of Texas for nearly two decades, was indicted on Friday with his wife on charges of bribery, unlawful foreign influence, and money laundering. In announcing the indictment, the US Department of Justice stated the couple is accused of having accepted about $600,000 in bribes [...]
As the international community marked World Press Freedom Day on Friday, advocacy groups and officials around the globe sounded the alarm over increased violence and threats against journalists. Advocacy group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Friday released its annual World Press Freedom Index, warning that a marked surge in political oppression across the globe remains a [...]
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) affirmed Italy’s right to recover a millennia-old bronze sculpture from a Malibu museum on Thursday in a case that weighed the importance of a nation’s cultural heritage against fundamental property rights. The sculpture, Victorious Youth, dates back to 300-100 BCE. While its creator has not been positively identified, [...]
The White House announced the second phase of its reformed environmental review process on Tuesday. Environmental and sustainable energy policy experts say the changes will speed up approval of power transmission for wind and solar farms and semiconductor manufacturing. The reforms are part of the second and final phase of adjustments to the National Environmental [...]
The Arizona State Senate voted 16 to 14 to repeal an abortion ban dating back to 1864, leaving it to Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs to sign the repeal into law, which she has committed to do. The State Senate’s debate was contentious, with lawmakers delivering theatrical monologues frequently punctuated by cries of protest in the [...]
Officers from the New York City Police Department (NYPD) entered and made arrests at Columbia University on Tuesday evening after pro-Palestinian protesters occupied an academic building, which police cleared. This is the latest escalation in an ongoing demonstration that gained worldwide attention and sparked similar actions on campuses across the US after NYPD officers forcibly [...]
Former US President Donald Trump was held in criminal contempt and fined $9,000 Tuesday for multiple violations of a gag order imposed last month in his New York hush money trial. In the weeks leading up to Trump’s criminal trial for alleged hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels, New York’s supreme [...]
Five Israeli military units have committed gross human rights violations, according to the US State Department on Monday. Despite these findings, all of the units currently remain eligible for US military aid. According to the US and Israel, four units have effectively remediated the violations, but discussions continue regarding the remaining Israel Defense Forces (IDF) [...]
The Tennessee House of Representatives approved a bill on Thursday that criminalizes adults who knowingly take minors away from Tennessee to help them receive gender-affirming medical procedures without the consent of their parents. The companion bill was introduced to the Tennessee House of Representatives on January 29, 2024 as HB 2310 by Representative Bryan Richey [...]
