Nine years ago, President Obama signed into law a bill proscribing the distribution of so-called “animal crush” videos, which are depictions of a practice that is as disturbing as it sounds: the killing of animals (puppies, kittens, mice, bunnies, goats, and others) slowly and excruciatingly, often by provocatively-dressed women who stand on the animals while [...]
As we await the Supreme Court’s decision on whether under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act “because of . . . sex” encompasses discrimination based on an individual’s sexual orientation, I suggest that the Justices listen to both the Missouri Supreme Court and the jury in the “heartland” state of Missouri. The jury [...]
What does it mean to discriminate because of sex? The answer to that question has become increasingly important to gay and lesbian employees challenging employment discrimination under federal and state laws. Take the case of Keith Wildhaber, a St. Louis County, Missouri police officer, who, in October 2019, won a lawsuit he filed against his [...]
There’s a joke about a group of friends finishing up their meal at a local restaurant. One friend puts down the cutlery, pushes back the chair, and declares with conviction: “this food was bad and the portions were too small.” And so it is with the Paris Climate Change agreement. The Paris Agreement is bad [...]
Everything old is new again, and court-packing is no exception. In 1937, faced with a conservative Supreme Court that consistently invalidated his New Deal legislation, President Roosevelt announced a plan to increase the size of the court and add justices who would rule in his favor. It was a bridge too far. While Roosevelt’s plan [...]
Rule of Law and Transitional Justice: A New Islamic Discipline “The recompense for an injury is an injury equal thereto (in degree): but if a person forgives and makes reconciliation, his reward is due from Allah . . . But indeed, if any show patience and forgive, that would truly be an exercise of courageous [...]
In the indictment against sixteen environmental activists now on trial outside Istanbul, George Soros and the Open Society Foundations (OSF) are mentioned over 300 times. Neither is in any way linked to the defendants or to the 2013 public demonstrations that took place at Gezi Park, yet somehow George Soros is accused of being the [...]
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg rejected a request for referral under article 43 of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention) by Italy last week making the Chamber’s October 7th decision in the case Marcello Viola v. Italy a final judgment. The ECHR has decided that an “irreducible [...]
President Trump lodged a stunning claim in federal court last week when he filed suit against the Manhattan district attorney to halt a criminal investigation into hush-money payments that he made in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. The claim? That the President is absolutely immune from any criminal process, including a criminal investigation. In [...]
US President Donald Trump’s expanding crises with both North Korea and Iran, and his apparent willingness to withdraw from a second US-Russia nuclear arms control treaty, are just some currently prominent examples of a longer standing problem with world politics and international law. This problem is the continuing US inclination to base American national security [...]
