US federal judge blocks Florida ban on use of personal pronouns by teachers
US District Judge Mark Walker blocked the enforcement of a Florida law Wednesday that would have banned a transgender public school teacher from introducing themselves to students with their personal pronouns. The law, which went into effect in 2023, bans public school employees or contractors from providing to students a “preferred personal title or pronouns [...]
Marissa Zupancic is JURIST’s Washington DC Correspondent, a JURIST Senior Editor and a 3L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She’s stationed in Washington during her Semester in DC. Georgetown University hosted a conference on Monday covering the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a military alliance of more than 30 [...]
Spain Supreme Court summons Catalonia fugitive separatists in alleged terrorism investigation
Spain’s Supreme Court summoned exiled Catalan separatists Carles Puigdemont and Rubén Wagensberg on Monday to provide voluntary statements in a terrorism investigation of protests related to the failed 2017 independence referendum. The court ordered the former president of the Catalan Generalitat and MEP, Carles Puigdemont, and the former deputy of the Catalan Parliament, Rubén Wagensberg, [...]
Rafael Grossi, Director General of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), condemned on Sunday a drone strike on one of the six nuclear reactors at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine, warning against the risk of a major nuclear accident. According to Grossi, the IAEA has confirmed at least three direct [...]
Former US President Donald Trump credited himself with overturning the landmark reproductive rights case Roe v. Wade and accused Democrats of advocating for the killing of newborn babies before calling for national unity in an abortion position statement released Monday morning. “Many people have asked me what my position is on abortion and abortion rights, [...]
On Thursday, the Indiana Court of Appeals largely affirmed an injunction the trial court had placed on the state’s near-total abortion ban. The vote was unanimous. The Court of Appeals ruling will send the lawsuit back to the trial court to narrow the effect of the trial court injunction. The Court of Appeals stated that [...]
Explainer: Why is Scotland's New Hate Crime Legislation So Controversial?
This week in Scotland, a hate crime law that ranks among the world’s strictest entered into force. The Hate Crime and Public Order Act 2021 (Hate Crime Act) aims to modernize and consolidate protections while broadening the scope of recognized hate crimes to encompass a wider range of individuals and circumstances. In other words, the [...]
CPJ calls on Liberia authorities to investigate assault and arrest of journalist
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Friday called on Liberian authorities to investigate the physical assault and violent arrest of Liberia journalist Kesselee Sumo on March 11 and to drop the charges against him. Sumo hosts a daily radio talk show from the Bong Mine Community in Liberia. A few days before his arrest, [...]
Netherlands court asks EU Court of Justice for clarification on Ukraine refugee protection
The Hague District Court of the Netherlands on Friday called on the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to give a preliminary ruling on questions regarding the extension of the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) under Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). TPD entitles the CJEU the [...]
Texas appeals court overturns voter fraud conviction of woman who voted despite felony conviction
The Court of Appeals of the Second Appellate District of Texas threw out a voter fraud conviction Thursday that would have put a Texas woman accused of voting while on supervised release after being convicted of a felony behind bars for five years. Texas does not allow those convicted of a felony to vote in [...]
