The Iowa legislature approved a bill on Tuesday to prosecute individuals who trespass on farms or puppy mills to record animal living conditions. The bill, approved by a vote of 41-8 in the Senate and 65-32 in the House, would create a trespassing charge for undercover investigators that film abusive animal living conditions and publicize [...]

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Wednesday putting a moratorium on executions in the state. In a statement, Newsom explained the decision: The death penalty has been an abject failure. It discriminates based on the color of your skin or how much money you make. It’s ineffective, irreversible, and immoral. It goes against [...]

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday struck down a provision of the Texas Open Meetings Act as “unconstitutionally vague.” The provision in question makes it a crime in Texas for public officials to meet in small group for the purpose of having secret deliberations. A local judge Craig Doyal, the appellee in the [...]

The UN expert on foreign debt and human rights Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, is stressing the necessity of treating human rights as a top priority in recent economic reforms. After Bohoslavsky investigated in both Ukraine and Sri Lanka last year, his reports focused on the importance of striking a balance between implementing measures to ensure all [...]

An Abuja tribunal announced Monday that Nigerian chief justice Walter Onnoghen is ordered to appear in the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) on February 13. Last week, the CCT dismissed a request by the chief judge to halt the proceedings on the alleged false declaration of assets. Chairman of the tribunal Danladi Umar stated, “The defendant [...]

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt in which it will consider overturning precedent that currently allows one state to be sued in the courts of another. The case of Nevada v. Hall formerly set the relevant precedent in 1979, holding that a sovereign state can [...]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Trump Administration proposed major revisions to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards on Friday, which will ease restrictions and create financial benefits to coal and oil-fired power plants. The 119-page report found that the EPA proposes that it is not “appropriate and necessary” to regulate hazardous air pollutant [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday that it has dismantled two international cybercriminal rings, while unsealing charges for eight defendants indicted in federal court. The 13-count indictment includes charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. United States Attorney Richard Donoghue, who is involved with the case stated that, These individuals [...]

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday announced new measures set to fight transnational organized crime. These steps include the forming of a Transnational Organized Crime Task Force, which, along with other government agencies, will be tasked with identifying certain groups that pose a threat to the US. Sessions identified five criminal groups as top [...]

Companies worldwide must be accountable to their governments for ignoring human rights responsibilities, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights said in a report Tuesday. The experts urged businesses to comply with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in order to prevent negative impacts on human rights through due diligence. [...]