Delegates to the first ever virtual World Health Assembly decided Tuesday to adopt a resolution co-sponsored by more than 130 countries to increase efforts to combat the COVID-19 outbreak and conduct a complete assessment of the global response to the pandemic. The resolution was adopted to increase efforts to combat the virus, including greater measures [...]
![Supreme Court allows punitive damages award against Sudan for 1998 embassy bombings](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/05/1200px-1998_United_States_embassy_in_Nairobi_bombings_IDF_relief_IV.jpg)
The US Supreme Court ruled Monday in Opati v. Republic of Sudan that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) permits a punitive damages award against Sudan for the role it played in 1998 al Qaeda bombings that occurred outside of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Following the 1998 bombings, victims and family members sued [...]
![ACLU sues Betsy DeVos over new campus sexual assault regulations](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/11/BetsyDevos.jpg)
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP joined together to file a lawsuit on Thursday against US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos over new regulations regarding the handling of sexual harassment and assault on college campuses. The Department’s new regulations offer further definitions for what conduct constitutes sexual harassment [...]
![Supreme Court rules for Lucky Brand in trademark case](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/05/Supreme-Court.jpg)
The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday in Lucky Brand Dungarees, Inc. v. Marcel Fashions Group, in favor of Lucky Brand. One of the first cases the court heard this year, the trademark dispute largely dealt with a question of civil procedure. Lucky Brand raised a defense in this lawsuit that it had not fully [...]
![Judge in Michael Flynn case requests input and appoints retired judge to argue against DOJ’s decision to drop case](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/03/michael-flynn.jpg)
Judge Emmet Sullivan of the US District Court for the District of Columbia entered an order Tuesday allowing “amicus curiae,” of “friend of the court” briefs on how to handle the Department of Justice (DOJ) decision to drop its case against Michael Flynn, a former national security advisor to President Donald Trump. Sullivan also appointed [...]
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 4-3 Wednesday to invalidate the order by Wisconsin Department of Health Services executive Andrea Palm to remain at home in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Palm also ordered any “non-essential” businesses to remain closed as stated in Emergency Order 28. Palm issued the order on April 24 to remain in [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on Tuesday reversed and remanded a decision by the State Department rejecting an intersex passport application. The State Department has historically applied a binary approach to identifying passport applicants based on their sex. In getting approved for a passport, everyone must be classified as either male [...]
![UN study: gender-related violence increasing as COVID-19 lockdown continues](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/08/womens_rights_1566308074.jpg)
In a study released MONDAY by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and some of its partners, experts showed that gender-related violence has risen while and access to family planning has decreased. This study found that nearly 50 million women across 114 countries are projected to be without access to modern contraceptives if the COVID-19 shutdown [...]
![Arizona AG asks Supreme Court to validate voting laws as not racially motivated](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2018/10/800px-Voting_United_States.jpg)
In a case against the Democratic National Committee, Arizona’s Attorney General Mark Brnovich requested on Monday that the US Supreme Court overrule the Ninth Circuit’s holding that invalidated several of the state’s voting laws. The Ninth Circuit struck down the out-of-precinct policy followed by Arizona as well as its House Bill 2023 for violating Section [...]
![Supreme Court requests briefs on political question doctrine for Trump’s tax cases](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/02/Trump_first_weekly_address.jpg)
The US Supreme Court on Monday requested briefings from attorneys working two separate cases regarding efforts to secure President Donald Trump’s tax records. The court asked for briefings explaining whether the cases raise the political question doctrine, which states that courts should not hear cases that are political problems. Based on temporary stays from the [...]