The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Within the incarcerated population, a disproportionate number suffer from mental illnesses or disabilities. After the deinstitutionalization of mental health resources in the 1960s, many people who suffered from mental illnesses entered the prison system. According to the American Psychological Association “this trend accounts for [...]

For all the talk there has been of the huge increase in crime across the nation, not nearly enough attention has been put on the single greatest reason for the problem: recidivism. It has been fueled by a mindset in our criminal justice system in which levels of crime have arbitrarily been labeled low-level or [...]

“Either the United States will destroy ignorance or ignorance will destroy the United States,” said W.E.B. DuBois once. And now we have another day in the USA, another shooting by a white supremacist. Authorities say that an 18-year-old white male who apparently shot and murdered ten people in Buffalo, New York, was motivated by hatred [...]

California’s 1996 ballot initiative protecting medical marijuana users from state criminal prosecution kicked off the modern marijuana reform era in the United States. In part due to federal prohibition, state medical marijuana laws prompted an array of interesting and intricate legal questions. Some issues concerned the reach of federal law after state reforms. Could doctors [...]

These days, the Sri Lankan rupee has fallen by almost 45 percent compared to the US dollar. Its foreign exchange reserves are nearly dry, having dropped below $1 billion. Meanwhile, the island nation has to repay debts of about $4 billion in the rest of this year, including a $1 billion international sovereign bond that [...]

The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 has been passed by the Indian Parliament on April 6, 2022. It is the replacement of Colonial Law, i.e., the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920. The newly introduced Bill asks for collection of biometric data from convicted prisoners. It allows police officers and prison officials to collect biometric data [...]

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has entered its third month. The suffering of Ukrainian civilians has been awful and the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) is satisfied that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe war crimes have been committed. Media attention has, quite rightly, focused on the plight of those individuals caught up in [...]

International organizations and bodies like the United Nations, European Union, etc. have been tested time and again since their inception. Ukraine and Russia’s ongoing war and failed deliberations hint at a potential Third World War despite the strong presence of such organizations. Conflicts like these pose a larger question on the effectiveness of international law [...]

For me, like for most international law and history students, it was unexpected to see Russia invade Ukraine on February 24, 2022. I always thought that the UN is well prepared and able to keep the peace around the globe and forestall a future world war. I never imagined that a member state could arrogate [...]

The importance of Twitter in foreign affairs has increased dramatically in the last decade. Not only is it a key news source for people around the world, but it is an essential diplomatic forum. For example, if you want to know how Canada feels about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, simply check their Twitter page [...]