UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called Thursday for “unfettered access” to China’s Xinjiang region in a visit later this year. The region has been under deep criticism for forcibly holding Muslim groups and stripping them of their Islamic heritage. Despite this, the Chinese ambassador has dismissed allegations, stating that estimated to hold [...]
The Gender and Sexuality Alliance, the Campaign for Southern Equality and the South Carolina Equality Coalition, Inc. filed a lawsuit Wednesday for injunctive and declaratory relief against South Carolina over an anti-LGBTQ sex education state statute. The law in question “provides that local public school districts may not include in their health education any ‘discussion [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in Holguin-Hernandez v. United States that petitioner Gonzalo Holguin-Hernandez properly preserved the claim that his 12-month sentence for drug trafficking was unreasonably long. The government asked the court to find that Holguin-Hernandez had violated the conditions of his earlier term, to revoke it, and impose an additional consecutive prison [...]
Plans for a third runway at Europe’s largest airport were blocked by the Court of Appeal on Thursday. The $18 billion plan for a third runway at Heathrow airport was set to permit an additional 260,000 flights per year, the Department for Transportation argued. They further said that the project would boost the British economy, [...]
Virginia lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to a comprehensive anti-discrimination bill, known as SB 868, which aims to protect LGBTQ people from unequal treatment. Virginia will become the first southern state to successfully add sexual orientation and gender identity to its statewide nondiscrimination law once the bill is approved and signed into law by Governor [...]
The US House of Representatives approved the Emmett Till Antilynching Act by a 410-4 majority Wednesday, aiming to make lynching a federal hate crime. The bill is named after 14-year-old Emmett Till, an African-American Chicago boy who was kidnapped and lynched while visiting family in Mississippi in 1955 after allegedly flirting with a white woman. [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Wednesday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) can withhold Bryne Program grant money from cities that refuse to comply with three immigration related conditions imposed by the DOJ. Congress created the Bryne Program Criminal Justice Assistance grants in 2006 to provide additional funding to crime [...]
Utah’s House of Representatives on Wednesday approved SB 102, allowing consenting adults to engage in multiple romantic relationships simultaneously without penalty of law. The bill would make polygamy among consenting adults an infraction, a lesser offense than most traffic tickets. Currently, polygamy is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Polygamy occurring [...]
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) unanimously ruled Thursday that journalist Khadija Ismayilova’s arrest and detention was an attempt to silence and punish her for her criticism of the Azerbaijani government. The court also ruled that the government’s actions violated several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court ruled that, because [...]
Incarcerated women are treated more harshly than incarcerated men, according to a report from the US Commission on Civil Rights released Wednesday. “Women in Prison: Seeking Justice Behind Bar” compares the treatment of women in prison by prison officials, and focuses on the fairness of that punishment compared to male inmates. The study found that [...]
