High court rules against automatic jury determination of mental retardation
The US Supreme Court ruled Monday that death row inmates do not have an automatic right to a jury trial to determine whether or not an inmate is mentally retarded and therefore ineligible...
Hong Kong High Court Judge Michael Hartmann ruled Wednesday that laws prohibiting gay sex are unconstitutional and discriminatory and violate Hong Kong's Basic Law and the Bill of Rights . Under existing...
World Health Organization urges new laws to protect mentally ill
A new report released by the World Health Organization on Monday urges countries to pass laws protecting the mentally ill, a group categorized by a WHO press release as "among the most vulnerable and the least...
WHO Resource Book on Mental Health, Human Rights and Legislation, World Health Organization , June 20, 2005 . Excerpt:There are many ways to improve the lives of people with mental disorders....
Human rights report criticizes UK detention of asylum seekers
Human rights watchdog group Amnesty International released a new report Monday detailing and assailing the UK's detention of asylum seekers, which it said is "inappropriate, unnecessary, disproportionate and, therefore, unlawful" and has led to mental illness and...
Michael Ross testified Friday at a hearing that he wants to be executed next month, defending his right to give up his death-row appeals. Ross says that he wants to spare his victims' families additional agony, but...
JURIST Contributing Editor Marjorie Cohn of Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego notes that with the Supreme Court's recent ruling in Roper v. Simmons, the United States has finally joined the community of nations that says the state-sanctioned...
Gideon's Broken Promise: America's Continuing Quest for Equal Justice, American Bar Association Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants, February 11, 2005 . Excerpt:Overall,...
California prison officials executed three-time murderer Donald Beardslee Wednesday morning, the first execution in California in three years. Following a Board of Prison Terms recommendation , California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger denied clemency to Beardslee, saying: The state...
New laws slated to take effect January 1 with the start of the New Year came into force in many jurisdictions across the United States Saturday, affecting areas from health insurance to gay rights. In Maine, the state-supported universal...
