JURIST Editorial Director Ingrid Burke Friedman contributed to this report. In a decision that fell along starkly partisan lines, the US Supreme Court reversed the bribery conviction of former Portage, Indiana mayor James Snyder on Wednesday. The case, Snyder v. United States, involves James Snyder, the former mayor of Portage, Indiana. Snyder was convicted under 18 U.S.C. [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas and the ACLU petitioned the US Supreme Court to overturn the decision of the Texas 7th Court of Appeals, which affirmed the conviction of three residents of Gainesville, Texas for the alleged “obstruction of a highway or other passageway” during a protest, the groups announced Tuesday. They [...]

US President Biden on Wednesday pardoned American veterans who were forced out of the military because of their sexual orientation or gender identity under a military code for more than 60 years. Biden’s proclamation grants direct clemency to people who had been given court marshal convictions between 1951 and 2013 because of their status in [...]

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange pleaded guilty in a remote US court on Wednesday to one count of conspiracy for releasing troves of US classified documents via WikiLeaks. The Australian national was released with time served. He had spent the past five years in a UK prison, where he had been battling extradition requests from the US. For [...]

The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the creation of a publicly-funded religious charter school, St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School violates the First Amendment and Oklahoma State Constitution. The court said the St. Isidore contract violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which says the government “shall make no [...]

Hunter Biden filed documents on Monday seeking a new trial after his conviction on three felonies on June 11, 2024. He argued that the decision should be vacated since the trial began before an appeal for an earlier motion was concluded. Biden also claimed that one of the laws he was prosecuted under, §922(g)(3), is [...]

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs blamed the US on Monday for a Ukrainian attack on Russian-annexed Crimea that killed four and injured more than 150, saying in a statement they had “no doubt” of the US involvements. Russia also summoned the US ambassador to the country to discuss the issue. According to the Russian [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal of a controversy between Hungary and Holocaust survivors over Hungary’s confiscation of their property during World War II. This will be the second time the US Supreme Court is hearing this case. Republic of Hungary v. Simon was initiated by fourteen Holocaust survivors in [...]

Julian Assange is free after 12 years of confinement, having negotiated a plea deal with the US Department of Justice on charges related to his website WikiLeaks’ publication of classified materials. In 2006, Assange founded WikiLeaks, a website reputed for high-profile releases of leaked classified documents, including unredacted US diplomatic cables and sensitive defense information. [...]

Human Rights Watch in a piece for Newsweek called for the US to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for human rights abuses on Monday, as the US reportedly prepares to lift its ban on the sale of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia. The weapons ban, which was imposed by the US in February of 2021 responded to [...]