Rifaat al-Assad, Bashar al-Assad’s uncle, on Wednesday was sentenced to four years in prison by a Paris court for embezzling Syrian state funds to buy millions of dollars worth of property throughout France and the United Kingdom. Rifaat has lived in exile, primarily in France and Spain, since being accused of trying to seize power [...]
![Supreme Court grants last minute stay of execution to Texas inmate](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/06/800px-Execution_chamber_Florida-768x512-1.jpg)
The US Supreme Court stayed the execution of Texas inmate Ruben Gutierrez Tuesday. The order came only an hour before the execution was scheduled to take place and was granted in response to Gutierrez’s argument that his First Amendment rights were violated by the state’s refusal to grant his request to have a Christian chaplain [...]
![EU expresses ‘grave concern’ over US decision to sanction ICC](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/05/EU_1588776829.jpg)
Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, expressed his “grave concern” Wednesday over the US’s decision to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC). US President Donald Trump’s June 11 executive order authorized the imposition of economic sanctions and visa restrictions on those associated with the ICC, including those in the US who might be willing to [...]
![UN removes Saudi-led coalition in Yemen from child rights violators ‘list of shame’](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2018/02/Children-in-Taizz-Yemen.jpg)
UN Secretary-General António Guterres published his annual children and armed conflict report Tuesday, which controversially removed the Saudi-led Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen from the list of those who have committed grave violations against children within the last year. The annual children and armed conflict report, which has been required by the security council [...]
![Louisville Metro Council unanimously bans no-knock warrants](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/08/police_1596803986.jpg)
The Louisville Metro Council on Thursday voted unanimously to ban no-knock warrants. The legislation was entitled Breonna’s Law in honor of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman who was fatally shot during a raid by Louisville Metro Police Department on her home earlier this year. Taylor’s death has become one of the focal points in the [...]
![ICC concerned over US decision to impose sanctions](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2018/05/icc.png)
The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday expressed “profound regret” and concern thatat the US decision to impose sanctions against it that may impede ongoing investigations throughout the world. US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday a litany of sanctions against the ICC, its staff and those aiding the investigation. The announcement followed the recent [...]
![Federal judge rules ICE cannot arrest immigrants at New York courthouses](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/08/793px-100203houston_lg.jpg)
Judge Jed Rakoff of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled on Wednesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must stop targeting those traveling to or at New York courthouses. The case stems from a 2019 lawsuit filed by authorities from the state of New York. They are attempting to [...]
![Federal judge grants stay of execution for Texas death row inmate](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/11/Death-penalty-.jpg)
A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas on Tuesday granted a stay of execution for Ruben Gutierrez, a Texas death row inmate who was scheduled to die next week. Gutierrez has continually maintained his innocence in the 1998 murder of Escolastica Harrison when Gutierrez was 20. Harrison reportedly did [...]
Retired federal judge John Gleeson on Wednesday published an 82-page memo accusing the US Department of Justice (DOJ) of a “gross abuse of prosecutorial power,” and urging the court to reject the attempt to drop the criminal case against Michael Flynn. Gleeson also accused the attorney general of giving special treatment to a presidential ally [...]
![North Carolina judge rules state must establish plan to test every prison inmate for COVID-19](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2018/06/Prison_Bars_5997920696.jpg)
Wake County Superior Court Judge Vinston Rozier ruled, on Monday, that the North Carolina prison officials must come up with a plan for testing every inmate for COVID-19 and must drastically reduce the number of inmate transfers between prisons. The ruling comes after NAACP and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit arguing that the [...]