UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet voiced concern about the increased violence in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, indicating that such violence may amount to war crimes. On November 4 Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered the Ethiopian Defense Forces (EDF) to quell the Tigray Regional Paramilitary Police and other militia loyal to the Tigray [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on Thursday rejected claims from a group representing Asian Americans arguing that Harvard’s affirmative action policy discriminated against them. Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) brought suit against Harvard in November 2014, challenging the college’s “race-conscious” undergraduate admission process as a violation of Title IV of the [...]

California voters approved Proposition 17 on Tuesday, which allows individuals on parole for felony convictions the right to vote prior to completing their sentences. The California State Constitution prevents individuals currently serving a state or federal prison sentence from voting. This ballot measure will amend the constitution, restoring the right to vote to 50,000 parolees. [...]

Voters in Arizona, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, Oregon and South Dakota passed statewide ballot measures favoring marijuana legalization Tuesday. Arizona voters passed Arizona Proposition 207, which legalizes the recreational use of marijuana for adults 21 and over. Under this new legislation, adults will be able to purchase no more than one ounce of marijuana at [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed a challenge by Bristol Myers Squibb seeking to block Hawaii’s lawsuit over the sale of the blood thinner Plavix, stating that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the case. Hawaii sued Bristol Myers Squibb and other pharmaceutical companies in 2014 alleging that it knew [...]

The NAACP and other civil rights groups sued US President Donald Trump Thursday, challenging his executive order barring federal contractors and federal grant recipients from participating in certain racial bias training. Plaintiffs argue that Trump’s Executive Order seeks to “undermine efforts to foster diversity and inclusion in the workplace.” Trump’s order allegedly prevents Plaintiffs from [...]

The US District Court for the District of New Jersey Thursday dismissed  the Trump campaign’s lawsuit challenging newly passed mail-in voting provisions from the New Jersey Legislature. As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the New Jersey Legislature enacted Assembly Bill No. 4475, which expanded the state’s mail-in voting initiatives. The Trump campaign challenged this legislation, [...]

The cities of Seattle, New York and Portland, Oregon, filed a lawsuit against US President Donald Trump Thursday, challenging his efforts to withhold federal funding from those cities for having permitted “anarchy, violence and destruction” as alleged in a Presidential Memorandum issued in early September following a wave of protests and civic disturbances largely animated by [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled Wednesday that groups cannot offer Michigan citizens free or reduced-price rides to polling places. This suit originally arose as three voter-advocacy organizations challenged a Michigan election Statute, MCL § 169.931(1)(f), which prevents anyone from hiring a ride service as a means to vote unless the [...]

The National Association for Law Placement (NALP) reported Wednesday that 2019 Black law school graduates trail all other racial and ethnic groups in employment overall and in bar-passage required jobs. Despite experiencing the highest employment rate since 2007, the class of 2019’s employment racial disparities are still profound. The report found that Pacific Islander and [...]