US District Judge Alia Moses of the Western District of Texas granted a temporary restraining order to Texas and enjoined the federal government from interfering with Texas’s fencing at the U.S.-Mexico border. The suit was brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. As part of Operation Lone Star, the Texas Military Department has deployed concertina [...]
![Federal judge rules Georgia congressional maps violate Voting Rights Act and must be redrawn](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2021/01/Vote_Here_sign_in_Minneapolis_Minnesota_50563905866.jpg)
A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia ordered Georgia’s General Assembly to redraw the state’s enacted Congressional Districts Thursday, finding the districts were in violation of the Voting Rights Act. The 516-page opinion covers three consolidated cases: Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity v. Raffensperger and Grant v. Raffensperger, which both [...]
![Bipartisan legal scholars group suggests 18-year term limit for US Supreme Court justices](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/10/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States_-_Roberts_Court_2022.jpeg)
A bipartisan group of US legal scholars published a working paper on Wednesday that proposed an 18-year term limit for US Supreme Court justices. The scholars from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences proposed the term limits amidst several ethics scandals with several US Supreme Court justices. The working paper suggests its proposals would [...]
![Former Trump attorney pleads guilty in Georgia election interference case](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/10/Sidney_Powell.jpeg)
Attorney Sidney Powell pleaded guilty to six criminal charges in a Georgia case involving former President Donald Trump and his allies’ alleged attempts to interfere in the 2020 US presidential election. A Georgia judge previously agreed to sever Powell and attorney Kenneth Chesebro from Trump and the other 16 co-defendants back in September. In exchange [...]
![US Supreme Court blocks order preventing federal ban on “ghost guns”](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/07/supreme_court_1689179461.jpg)
The US Supreme Court blocked a lower court order Monday that would have prevented the ATF from enforcing its rule against partially assembled firearms and “weapons parts kits,” commonly known as “ghost guns.” The legal issue concerns an ATF rule promulgated in August 2022 which categorized partially manufactured firearms and “weapon parts kits”, which can [...]
![Russia begins de-ratifying Nuclear Test Ban Treaty](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/03/russian-duma.jpg)
Russia’s Duma voted on a bill to de-ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban (CTBT) Treaty in the bill’s first reading in the State Duma on Tuesday. Members of Russia’s State Duma unanimously adopted the bill withdrawing Russia from the CTBT. Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin said the Duma could consider the bill by October 19. [...]
![UN Human Rights Council adopts 5 new resolutions, including renewal of UN mandate in Burundi](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/10/UN-Human-Rights-Council.jpg)
The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopted five new resolutions and submitted one to the General Assembly on Thursday. According to a press release from the UNHRC, one of the new resolutions extended the UN’s mandate in Burundi, just days after the UN’s mandate in Ethiopia expired. The resolution on the “Situation of human rights [...]
![Armenia petitions ICJ against Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh conflict](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/10/International_Court_of_Justice-1.jpg)
Armenia made submissions to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday. requesting provisional measures against Azerbaijan for what Armenia calls “ethnic cleansing” in the ethnic Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia requested that Azerbaijan refrain from any actions which might breach Azerbaijan’s obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial [...]
The World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Human Rights Office launched new guidance on Monday to improve laws addressing human rights violations in mental health care. The guidance encourages countries to rethink their approach to mental health policy so that the individual’s dignity and human rights are at the center of conversation and care. The [...]
![US to resume deporting Venezuela nationals who cross into US unlawfully](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/08/Alejandro_Mayorkas_2021_B.jpg)
The US will resume deporting Venezuelan nationals who illegally reside in the US, according to a Thursday press release from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). According to a separate press release from the US Department of State, the announcement “follows a decision by authorities from Venezuela to accept the return of Venezuelan nationals.” [...]