Julian Assange is among the most polarizing public figures of the 21st century thus far. In the nearly two decades since he established WikiLeaks, a website that gained infamy in the aughts for its release of millions of classified documents and related analyses, Assange has galvanized free speech advocates, incensed national security stalwarts, and fostered [...]

The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that frozen embryos are children. What does this mean? And how might the ruling reverberate as the US grapples with reproductive rights in a post-Roe world? In this explainer, we will explore these issues and their possible implications. As succinctly as possible, what was this case about? LePage v. [...]

A US district court on Wednesday dismissed concerns about Alabama death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith potentially choking on his own vomit during his planned execution by nitrogen hypoxia, a novel and untested method of capital punishment. Smith’s legal team is urgently trying to stop the execution, which is scheduled for Thursday. They argue that [...]

Putin spent more than four hours on Thursday chatting with journalists and constituents about matters ranging from Moscow’s endgame in Ukraine to Putin’s favorite Russian salad. Talk of Russia’s nuanced interpretations of international law featured prominently in the discussion and offered insights into the calculus driving Putin’s continued aggression in Ukraine. Below, we outline key [...]

Yemen’s Houthi rebels seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship in the Red Sea on Sunday, taking 25 crew members hostage. The rebels claimed the hijacking was in response to the ship’s connection to Israel, and declared an intention to target ships linked to or owned by Israelis in international waters until the end of Israel’s campaign [...]

Driven by a broadly maligned interpretation of Islamic law, the Taliban has waged a violent campaign against girls’ education.  Driven by the belief that education is a human right — and the more broadly accepted view across the Muslim world that contrary to Taliban beliefs, women and girls are obligated to receive an education — [...]

Driven by a broadly maligned interpretation of Islamic law, the Taliban has waged a violent campaign against girls’ education. Driven by the belief that education is a human right — and the more broadly accepted view across the Muslim world that contrary to Taliban beliefs, women and girls are obligated to receive an education — [...]

“The conflict is long. The conflict is brutal. The conflict is intense,” said David M. Crane, formerly a chief war crimes prosecutor with the UN. Global Accountability Network , an organization Crane founded to monitor atrocities around the globe, has been following the war since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. GAN has meticulously documented [...]

In recent months, more than a dozen American states have sought to restrict or ban drag performances, with many framing these legislative moves as aimed at protecting minors. In this explainer, JURIST unpacks the trend and highlights its worrying implications for free speech. What is drag? Drag is an art form, wherein individuals dressed in [...]

American basketball star Britney Griner was transferred to a Russian penal colony this week to serve out her nine-year sentence for possession of vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. The transfer — which comes nearly nine months after she was detained in a Moscow airport in the days leading up to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine [...]