The US Supreme Court on Friday upheld a Texas law that mandates that adult consumers of pornographic material verify their ages before accessing the material. Applying intermediate scrutiny, the court held that the law is likely constitutional under the First Amendment. The law, HB 1181, only applies to “commercial” entities, including “corporation, limited liability compan, [...]
The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) on Tuesday said that Serbia needs to take further action to “protect people deprived of their liberty from torture and ill-treatment.” During a week-long mission to Serbia, the SPT visited prisons, police cells, remand centers and homes for the elderly and children. The delegation also conducted interviews [...]
A three-judge panel for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday that US President Donald Trump likely had the authority to mobilize members of the California National Guard over the objections of Governor Gavin Newsom in response to protests against US immigration enforcement in Los Angeles. While the court wrote that Trump’s decision [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from refusing to issue passports to transgender, nonbinary and intersex individuals that reflect their identities. The ruling is an expansion of a previously issued preliminary injunction, wherein Judge Julia Kobick held that the Trump administration’s passport [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Tuesday ruled that the Trump administration’s tariffs may remain in place while it reviews a lower court decision that had blocked them. The original lower court decision, a slip opinion from the US Court of International Trade, held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act [...]
The attorneys general of New York, California, Massachusetts and New Jersey on Thursday asked the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to remove some of the restrictions on access to mifepristone, the so-called “abortion pill.” The four states have requested that the FDA remove mifepristone from the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) program, “including [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a 98-page report on Tuesday said that laws banning gender-affirming care in the US are inflicting severe harm on young people, their families, and on healthcare systems. Many families reported traveling long distances to seek treatment, with many insurance companies routinely denying coverage for out-of-state treatment. Six states—Idaho, North Dakota, [...]
UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Olivier De Schutter said on Friday that Rwanda needs to better distribute its wealth to protect populations that are still living below the poverty line, especially vulnerable rural populations. Although De Schutter praised Rwanda for its marked progress in reducing poverty, he warned that much could [...]
A US federal judge for the District Court of Massachusetts on Friday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from banning Harvard College’s enrollment of international students. Judge Allison Burroughs granted Harvard’s motion for a temporary restraining order and effectively enjoined the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from revoking Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) [...]
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urged Philippine lawmakers on Tuesday to undertake reforms to address the precarious situation for journalism in the country. Despite improvements to the freedom of the press in past years, the country still ranks poorly at 116th out of 180 countries tracked by RSF. In its statement, RSF noted that economic fragility, [...]
