The Constitutional Court of South Africa ruled Monday that a law that criminalized failure to give notice to a municipality of a gathering of more than 15 people is unconstitutional. The court found that the law violated the guarantee of Section 17 of the Constitution that “veryone has the right, peacefully and unarmed, to assemble, to [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Sunday that Egyptian police and National Security Agency (NSA) have arrested more than 40 human rights activists, lawyers and political activists since late October. As many as 80 people may have been arrested, but so far only 40 names were able to be verified by HRW. No arrest warrants [...]
The state of Maryland filed a motion for preliminary injunction on Tuesday seeking to restrain and enjoin former Chief of Staff to the Attorney General Matthew Whitaker from “appearing in the official capacity of the Acting Attorney General.” Instead, the motion seeks the appointment of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein as the acting Attorney General, replacing [...]
The Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB) published its 2018 report Monday, reviewing 100 companies based on their adherence to UN General Principles on Business and Human Rights, and finding that most companies are falling short. Each company received a score between 1-100 percent based on six categories. Governance and policies made up 10 percent of [...]
New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood on Friday announced a settlement agreement reached with Abbott Laboratories regarding breast-feeding and formula feeding habit surveys that Abbott Laboratories sent to new mothers between March 2015 and April 2017. The surveys that were sent by Abbott Laboratories used a logo for “National Institute of Infant Nutrition.” The surveys were [...]
Amnesty International released two public statements on Tuesday regarding environmental security during war and armed conflicts. One statement addressed to the Chair of the UN General Assembly First Committee called upon the Chair to address environmental impacts of particular weapons and military practices and identify measures to minimize harm. The statement notes that in addition to [...]
Louisiana voters approved Amendment 2 on Tuesday, which will amend the state’s constitution to require unanimous jury decisions to convict in criminal cases. The measure passed by a margin of 64.4 percent to 35.6 percent. Currently, in order to obtain a conviction, only 10 out of the 12 jurors need to concur. The amendment will [...]
The supreme court heard oral arguments in two cases Monday concerning a Virginia uranium mining ban and authority over Alaskan national parks. In Virginia Uranium v. John Warren, Virginia Uranium is arguing that Virginia’s state law banning uranium mining in the state is preempted by the Atomic Energy Act. In addition to hearing oral arguments [...]
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) extended the comment period on Tuesday for a proposed standard for determining joint-employer status under the National Labor Relations Act. The comment period was extended from 60 days to 90 days, now ending on December 13, 2018. The extension came after the NLRB received requests from Representative Robert C. Scott [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania (ACLU-PA) filed a lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) on Tuesday over a new policy that requires that only photocopies of incoming mail be delivered to inmates instead of the original copies. The ACLU-PA is joined by the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP), Abolitionist Law Center (ALC) [...]
