Terrorism, a grave danger to the life and property of the world at large, has been addressed by countries differently from time to time. States have the duty to protect its citizens from such “terrorist acts of violence”. However, measures aimed to respect this duty of protection must also comply with the obligations of States [...]

READ MORE

India witnessed one of the largest exoduses of people since the partition due to the COVID-19 pandemic. India, due to its highly dense population, lack of medical facilities, lack of preparedness, and administrative capacity, has seen one of the worst effects of COVID-19. The Government of India, like other Governments, declared lockdowns to prevent loss [...]

READ MORE
(c) Wikimedia Commons (The White House/Shealah) Craighead

Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation would not have happened if more than two Republican Senators had earlier stood up against the rush to confirm a new Supreme Court justice in the blazing heat of a highly contentious election and in a climate suggesting the basest of partisan motivations. Had Republican Senate ranks contained more true [...]

READ MORE

The Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE) patch is likely to expire in January 2021. This change poses concerns to many individuals, as it would make access to mortgages more challenging for less qualified, but still worthy candidates. For background, the GSE patch overrides the 2013 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rules intended to reduce the risk [...]

READ MORE

This year, California suffered its most destructive fire season ever. Over four million acres burned, but the fight to contain the flames is far from over. To meet the extraordinary demand for firefighters, California tapped into its largest pool of able-bodied people—its prisons. Over 1,200 prisoners have been sent to the frontlines this year. The [...]

READ MORE

Is Nancy Pelosi, as Speaker of the House of Representatives, properly and constitutionally second in line for the presidency? The question has urgent new relevance in light of President Donald Trump becoming sick with Coronavirus and the spread of COVID infections at the top levels of the administration. If a double vacancy occurred due to [...]

READ MORE

The spread of fake news and misinformation during the pandemic has been unprecedented. Governments have been prompted to take measures to curb this spread in order to quell panic amongst the public. One such measure was taken by Mumbai Police by promulgating a prohibitory order under Section 144 of India’s Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). [...]

READ MORE

As the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan, in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Caucasus, slug it out over a decades-long dispute about a piece of ground, one is reminded that conflict, once again, has become dirty and lawless at many levels. Civilians have become targets, protective symbols of the Geneva Conventions, such as the [...]

READ MORE

On 25th September 2020, the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment notified the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020 which removed the mandatory medical examination requirement that the previous draft of these rules (issued in July 2020) had created. The earlier draft was heavily criticized by the transgender community for taking away their [...]

READ MORE

In the 1970s, the federal government passed the Controlled Substance Act (“CSA”), outlawing a plethora of psychedelic substances. Many of these now illegal psychedelic plants have been used for sacramental purposes for eons. Over the following decades, a number of regulatory, statutory, and judicial exemptions were carved out of the CSA for religious use of [...]

READ MORE