New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed on Wednesday new congressional maps into law. The new legislation is set to take effect immediately. These new maps have been rather controversial since being proposed. In 2022, it was alleged that they were gerrymandered “to protect Democratic incumbents.” After Republicans filed a suit against Hochul, the New York [...]
Search Results for: repeal
New Zealand to repeal the world's first tobacco sales ban law
The New Zealand Parliament started on Tuesday the first reading of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Bill. The amendment seeks to repeal the previous government’s initiatives in controlling tobacco sales. The previous government set the Smokefree 2025 goal, to reduce smoking rates for all population groups to less than 5 percent. The government [...]
India Hate Lab reports surge in anti-Muslim hate speech incidents across India
India Hate Lab, a Washington-based research group, released a report Monday documenting the rise of anti-Muslim hate speech incidents in India, particularly in states governed by the Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The report provides insights into the prevalence and distribution of hate speech across the country. According to [...]
The Missouri Senate voted in favor of legislation Thursday that would make it more challenging to amend the state’s constitution. Essentially, the legislation imposes a higher threshold for ballot initiatives submitted to Missouri voters to succeed in passing constitutional amendments. The legislation, Senate Substitution (SS) No. 4, is a substitute for Senate Joint Resolutions (SJRs) [...]
UN report calls for UK to take 'urgent action' to combat violence against women and girls
The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, published a statement on Wednesday calling for the UK government to take “urgent action” to end all forms of violence against women and girls. The UK government invited Alsalem to visit the country after labeling violence against women and girls a “national threat” [...]
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines top court upholds gay sex ban
Saint Vincent and the Grenadine’s High Court upheld laws criminalizing gay sex on Friday, met with sadness and criticism from LGBTQ+ activists. The ruling was delivered by Justice Esco Henry, who found that the laws are “reasonably required” to protect public health and morality, particularly the country’s HIV rates. In light of the southern Caribbean [...]
Tennessee city must pay $500K in settlement with ACLU over drag ban
A Tennessee city settled with the ACLU on Wednesday, agreeing to pay $500,000 for the harm caused by its anti-drag ordinance and policy. The city of Murfreesboro agreed to repeal the ordinance, which was designed to ban drag performances on public property, and end the policy that denied all special event permit requests from the LGBTQ+ [...]
India state passes uniform civil code amid criticism from Muslim community
The Indian State of Uttarakhand passed the first-of-its-kind Uniform Civil Code Wednesday, which imposes common rules for all communities on marriage, divorce, inheritances, land, property and live-in relationships. The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP)-led state government of Uttarakhand passed the Uniform Civil Code of Uttarakhand, 2024 which outlaws bigamy and polygamy, regulates live-in relationships, including rules [...]
Explainer: Competing Legislative Agendas Come to a Head in Sri Lanka
The year 2024 is an important one for Sri Lanka. It is a presidential election year, and a resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council to gather evidence of international crimes for use in future prosecutions is due for renewal. After the public ousters of the former-elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2023, Ranil Wickremesinghe [...]
Tennessee politicians propose state constitutional amendment to expand pretrial detention
A bipartisan group of Tennessee state legislators unveiled a proposed state constitutional amendment on Friday to grant judges more discretion to detain individuals without bail before trial for specific violent criminal charges. Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-District 25) made the announcement at Memphis City Hall, flanked by Memphis’ Mayor Paul Young (D), Senate Majority [...]