Three big issues in Ukraine were set for a nationwide referendum May 25, but the majority of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, voted against the referendum Tuesday. The three issues pressing in Ukraine that were to be addressed in the referendum were territorial integrity, the status of the Russian language in Ukraine, and decentralization of … Read more
Human Rights Watch has just released a report finding that too many US laws violate basic principles of justice. The report, released today, entitled “Nation Behind Bars: A Human Rights Solution,” finds that the US has the highest reported rate of incarceration in the world because punishments are far more severe than are necessary to … Read more
Another major newspaper believes that the Russian government is paying internet users to spam the comments section under their articles with aggressive, provocative pro-Russian propaganda. UK’s The Guardian newspaper moderators believe this is an orchestrated campaign. The Guardian moderators, who deal with 40,000 comments per day, and The Guardian users believe the Russian government is … Read more
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Council on the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights has published a report that finds that the Crimean referendum that served as the sole pretense of validity in Putin’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea, was falsified. Council member Yevgeny Bobrov, human rights worker Svetlana Gannushkina and lawyer Olga Tsetlina prepared the report … Read more
The 15-member UN Security Council unanimously voted to lift the 2005 resolution banning rough diamond imports from Cote d’Ivoire, as well as partially lift the 2004 arms embargo on the West African nation. A review of progress made by the Republic of the Ivory Coast showed that the nation had made headway towards the 2003 … Read more
Feb. 1, 2014, an amendment to Russia’s “On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection” law took effect. The amendment allows the government to restrict access to websites with content that calls for riots, extremist activities, and participation in mass public events. The bill is part of a trend in Russian law which began with President Vladimir Putin’s … Read more
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In a vote of 115 to 1, the parliament of Georgia outlawed discrimination against homosexuals. The most debated point had been the inclusion of the terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” Orthodox Christian groups had opposed what “believers view” as “non-traditional sexual relations” and “a mortal sin,” according to the head of the Georgian church, … Read more
In the 2013 trial, Elane Photography, LLC, v. Vanessa Willock, Willock sued Elane Photography for refusing to photograph Willock’s “commitment ceremony” i.e. wedding. The New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously found that Elane–despite religious convictions against gay marriage and despite her willingness to serve gays in services Elane already provided–violated the New Mexico Human Rights Act … Read more
Criticism by privacy advocates has caused the U.S. Homeland Security Department (DHS) to review its proposal for private companies to provide the government with a U.S.-wide database of licence plate tracking information. The concerns raised by privacy advocates include the gratuitous nature of the privacy intrusion, the lack of regulations and safeguards regarding the data … Read more
Two cases mark the recent change in the legal status of homosexual marriage: Baehr v. Lewin (1993) and Goodridge v. Department of Public Health (2003). In Baehr, the finding of a constitutional right based on the guarantees of equal protection was not enough to change laws prohibiting gay marriage, but in Goodridge, where the same … Read more
James Madison wrote 19 proposed Amendments to the Constitution. Ten were ratified in 1791, becoming the Bill of Rights. The right to bear arms is the second Amendment: “A well guarded Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” … Read more