The US Supreme Court held Wednesday in Dawson v. Steager that West Virginia tax policy that taxes the pension of a retired federal marshal but not of state and local law enforcement violates 4 USC § 111. After James Dawson retired from the US Marshals Service, his home state, West Virginia, taxed his federal pension [...]

A US appeals court on Tuesday reopened a $1 billion lawsuit by Palestinians claiming more than 30 pro-Israel American entities and individuals are liable for alleged war crimes and support of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. The complaint alleges that the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to expel [...]

US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Tuesday called for the court to review its ruling in New York Times v. Sullivan, a libel case that challenged freedom of press protections. Writing a concurrence to a denied petition for certiorari, Thomas argued that the current threshold for plaintiffs is “almost impossible” because: Under this Court’s [...]

The US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform issued a report Tuesday outlining the Trump administration’s efforts to transfer sensitive nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, after receiving concerning whistleblower complaints. The complaints arose after whistleblowers noticed “efforts inside the White House to rush the transfer of highly sensitive U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called Tuesday on the warring factions on both sides in the battle for Iblid, Syria, to make protection of civilians of paramount importance. There has been intensified bombardment by pro-Syrian forces in recent weeks and the escalation of the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by the non-state actors [...]

US Senators Richard Blumenthal, Sheldon Whitehouse and Mazie Hiron dropped a lawsuit Tuesday that challenged the constitutionality of former acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker’s appointment, which was made without the Senate’s consent. The complaint, filed in November, alleged that Whitaker and President Donald Trump violated the Constitution’s Appointments Clause, which requires Congress’s “advice and consent” before principal federal Officers [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging US President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency in efforts to fund the construction of a border wall between the US and Mexico. The organization, alongside the Sierra Club, claims that the use of taxpayer dollars in this manner is unconstitutional and urges [...]

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in Return Mail Inc. v. United States Postal Service, which will determine if the government is able to initiate review proceedings for patents. Return Mail Inc. had filed a patent infringement suit against the US Postal Service (USPS). USPS initiated a review proceeding with the Patent Trial [...]

The New York City Commission on Human Rights released a guidance document on Monday detailing the implications of the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL), which protects New Yorkers from hair-based discrimination. The Commission stated that anti-black bias and racism includes discrimination based on characteristics that are associated with being black. This manifests in [...]

An Appeals Court in Turkey on Tuesday upheld the convictions of 14 employees of Cumhuriyet, a Turkish news outlet that has been critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The defendants—including journalists, a cartoonist, executives and accountants—were sentenced in April to prison terms between four and eight years “on charges of acting on behalf of a terrorist group [...]