UN panel criticizes Mexico for unsolved murders of women News
UN panel criticizes Mexico for unsolved murders of women

[JURIST] The UN committee charged with monitoring the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women [background and text; committee website] released a report Thursday accusing Mexico of "grave and systemic violations" of women's rights. The Committee's criticisms of Mexico stem from hundreds of unsolved killings of women along the Mexico-US border and the fact "that it has not yet been possible to eradicate them, to punish the guilty and to provide the families of the victims with the necessary assistance." In response to the report, the Mexican government acknowledged that the over 300 murders "constitute a breach of women's human rights" and said the problem was caused by "entrenched cultural patterns of discrimination." Read the CEDAW report on Mexico [PDF text], which includes Mexico's formal response. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism

November 9 is the International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism [UNITED factsheet]. On November 9, 1924, American gay activist Henry Gerber and several associates formed the Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization in the United States. The Society received a charter from the State of Illinois in December but was disbanded in July 1925 after a police raid which led to Gerber's arrest and trial (albeit not conviction). Pay a virtual visit to Henry Gerber House, now a registered Chicago landmark.

Supreme Court strikes down Massachusetts anti-draft law

On November 9, 1970, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 in Massachusetts v. Laird not to hear the case of the state's anti-draft law. Massachusetts had passed a law, which allowed its citizens to decline to fight in any undeclared war, even if the person was drafted. The law was passed in opposition to the draft and the war in Vietnam. The First Circuit found the war constitutional and thus struck down the law.