US District Judge Lucy Koh Saturday granted a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration’s new plans to wind down all US Census counting efforts by September 31, instead of the previously announced October 31st date. US Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham announced the earlier end date in August despite strenuous criticism from rights groups. [...]

In a 9-6 decision Thursday, the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s permanent injunction against a Health and Human Services (HHS) rule that would prohibit doctors and clinics that participate in the Title X program from referring patients for an abortion, even if that is what the patient wants. The so-called [...]

On Friday, US federal judge Laurie J. Michelson temporarily granted in part a restraining order against the City of Detroit as regards its police department’s use of certain tactics on peaceful protestors, including: Use of striking weapons, chemical agents, or rubber bullets Placing in a chokehold or ramming with a vehicle Tightening zip ties or handcuffs [...]

Voting rights advocates filed a motion Friday asking the North Carolina Supreme Court to review a superior court decision which denied them a preliminary injunction in a critical voting rights case. At issue is the decision by some counties in North Carolina to use ExpressVote voting machines for the November election. The plaintiffs in the [...]

The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that law school graduates must pass the state’s bar exam to practice law, refusing a request to waive that requirement in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic. More than 50 members of the Florida bar filed a petition last month requesting the court to adopt emergency rules to [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concluded Thursday that the California State Board of Education’s 2016 guidelines did not discriminate against Hinduism. The appellate court affirmed a February 2019  decision of Judge Charles Breyer of the US District Court for the Northern District of California. California Parents for the Equalization of Educational [...]

Former Khmer Rouge leader Kaing Guek Eav, known as “Duch”, died in prison on Wednesday at age 77. The Trial Chamber of The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) convicted Kaing in 2010 of multiple counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced him to 35 years of imprisonment. On appeal, the [...]

Iranian authorities committed widespread human rights violations during the 2019 protests, according to a report published Wednesday by Amnesty International. The protests followed a hike in fuel prices. In response to protests, the government reportedly caused hundreds of deaths with deliberate use of lethal force, in addition to 7,000 arrests. The report found widespread human [...]

A US federal appeals court on Thursday upheld an Illinois COVID-19 lockdown order restricting gatherings to no more than 50 people, rejecting a legal challenge by the Republican Party. In response to the pandemic, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker had issued an executive order outlining public health requirements for the citizens of Illinois to follow. But [...]

US President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, along with other Republican committees, filed suit Wednesday against Montana Governor Steve Bullock over his universal vote-by-mail directive. There have been endless battles between Republicans and Democrats in the use and validity of mail-in voting for the November election in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many Republicans believe that Democrats [...]