A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled Wednesday that Texas federal courts potentially have the authority to change the election policy allowing poll workers to forgo wearing facial coverings. A Texas voting rights group originally brought the lawsuit against Governor Greg Abbott in July. The group argued that Texas’ [...]
The Nigerian government on Thursday announced a ban on police brutality protests in the country’s capital of Abuja. The #EndSARS protests have taken social media by storm and led the youth of Nigeria to the streets in protest. The protest began after the death of a young man at the hands of the Special Anti [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a district court injunction on Tuesday against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) requiring safer conditions to protect detained immigrants from COVID-19. The Ninth Circuit held that the district court is permitted to offer injunctive relief “to remedy unconstitutional conditions of confinement.” The court stated that [...]
Freedom House, a human rights watchdog group, released a report on internet freedom in the COVID-19 pandemic Wednesday criticizing government internet freedom violations since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report outlined three recent, prevailing issues over internet freedom: Three notable trends punctuated an especially dismal year for internet freedom. First, political leaders used [...]
A Florida appeals court on Friday overturned the trial court’s ruling in favor of Florida teachers challenging the order that they argued “forced” school districts to reopen. The court held that the union’s case was not strong enough to qualify for the injunction issued by the trial court and that the trial court “exceeded the [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a temporary stay on Saturday allowing Governor Greg Abbott to limit each county to one drop-off site for absentee ballots for the upcoming election. On Friday, a federal judge had granted a preliminary injunction against the governor’s limit. The plaintiffs had noted that the governor’s [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called Tuesday for Iran to release jailed human rights defenders, lawyers and political prisoners, citing COVID-19 concerns. Iran is the country worst-affected by the pandemic in the region, and conditions in prisons create a breeding ground for the virus. The prisons have a history of being overcrowded and [...]
The US Supreme Court on Thursday declined to act on a request from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reinstate federal regulations requiring patients seeking abortion-inducing pills to pick up the medication in-person at the hospital or clinic, instead of receiving them by mail or delivery. A federal judge blocked the FDA’s requirements [...]
The UN adopted a proposal on Tuesday from the Human Rights Council to postpone the investigations into human rights violations in Libya due to lack of funds. The Human Rights Council established a fact-finding mission in June to identify violations and abuses of human rights “since the beginning of 2016, with a view to prevent [...]
Judge Steven Logan of the US District Court for the District of Arizona issued an order Monday extending Arizona’s voter registration deadline to October 23 due to the impact of COVID-19. The voter registration deadline in Arizona was originally October 5. On October 2, two non-profit organizations sought an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order [...]
