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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 [...]

LGBTQ rights group Lambda Legal announced a lawsuit Monday seeking to block enforcement of a Louisiana ban on gender-affirming procedures for transgender youth. The civil rights organization prepared the lawsuit, along with the Center for Health Law & Policy Innovation of Harvard Law and a Louisiana law firm, on behalf of five Louisiana minors and [...]

US District Chief Judge Peter D. Welte ordered a new joint North Dakota legislative district for two Native American tribes on Monday. The Tribes successfully argued that a map created through redistricting in 2021 violated the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. The latest ruling confirmed that the 2021 state redistricting legislation diluted their voting [...]

The Florida Division of Elections released data Friday confirming that the group Floridians Protecting Freedom (FPF) successfully gathered the required number of signatures to put an amendment on the Florida ballot to enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution. FPF Campaign Director Lauren Brenzel celebrated the milestone, stating, “The fact that we only launched our [...]

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed the New Voter Empowerment Act on Thursday, allowing 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections if they are 18 by the succeeding general election. Under the new law, 17-year-olds can vote in the primaries if they are US citizens, reside in the district they expect to vote in and will [...]

A federal judge in Georgia approved on Thursday the state’s recently revised political maps for both the US Congress and the state’s legislature. A group of plaintiffs challenged the maps, arguing that they diminish the influence of Black voters in Georgia in violation of the Voting Rights Act. But US District Judge Steve Jones disagreed, [...]

Through 2023, tensions in the South China Sea between China and the Philippines have escalated, marked by such significant escalations as the removal of a floating barrier by the Philippines near the Scarborough Shoal and the deployment of its Coast Guard amid increased activity by the Chinese Maritime Militia (CMM) near Julian Felipe Reef (or [...]

Every December 10th, international lawyers, governments, and advocacy groups commemorate Human Rights Day. This marks the day in 1948 when, improbably, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in Paris by a nascent United Nations General Assembly under the leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt. This year, as the Declaration turned 75, I found myself in [...]

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Thursday that the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza has now become minimally operational due to lack of fuel, staff, and supplies. The WHO reported that all injured patients who are unable to be relocated are now “waiting to die”. The Al-Ahli hospital was the last hospital in [...]

The Supreme Court of Wisconsin ruled 4-3 that the state legislature’s assembly district maps are unconstitutional under the Wisconsin Constitution on Wednesday and ordered new remedial maps to be drawn for the 2024 elections. Justice Jill J. Karofsky authored the majority opinion of the court. Karofsky noted that Article IV Sections 4 and 5 of [...]