The Fake Filibuster: A Clear and Present Danger to Democracy
Judging by much of the debate over the Senate filibuster rule, you’d think it was some honorable tradition worth keeping — “an elegant weapon of a more civilized age,” as Obi-Wan Kenobi described the lightsaber to Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars. Not so. The filibuster is a dangerous relic with a deeply destructive [...]
US State Department downgrades China to lowest rating in human trafficking report
In the 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report released on Tuesday, the US State Department downgraded China to Tier 3, which is the lowest tier for human trafficking. Tier 3 represents "countries whose governments do not fully...
The Galactic Empire: Lessons in Geopolitics from a "Galaxy Far, Far Away"
JURIST Guest Columnist Roy Lee discusses the applications of principles from the Star Wars film series to contemporary issues in international relations... In the ever-popular Star Wars series, the Jedi and the Rebel Alliance are pitted against the Sith and...
Chelsea Manning was released from US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, a military prison, on Wednesday. In 2013 Manning was convicted of stealing 700,000 documents and releasing them to WikiLeaks while she was an intelligence analyst in Iraq....
Race to Death: A Critical Look at the Death Penalty as Arkansas Executes Eight
JURIST Guest Columnist Valena Beety of West Virginia University College of Law, discusses the impending Arkansas execution of eight people in ten days ... The state of Arkansas plans to execute eight people across ten days this April. Arkansas...
Montana legislature introduces bill to charge doctors assisting in suicides
On Thursday the Montana House of Representatives introduced HB 536 which would allow homicide charges to be brought against doctors engaged in physician-assisted suicide. This legislation would run against the current policy of the State of...
US President Barack Obama granted 64 pardons and 209 commutations yesterday, including commuting the sentence of Chelsea Manning. Manning worked as a low-level intelligence analyst where she leaked documents regarding the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in 2010...
Egypt's Court of Cassation on Tuesday overturned the life sentences of former president Mohamed Morsi and 16 other members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Morsi had been convicted for conspiring with the Palestinian...
Europe rights court: Russia violated rights of chess player Kasparov
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Tuesday that the 2007 detention of political activist and chess champion Garry Kasparov by Russian authorities was illegal. Kasparov was detained in Moscow for five...
Chelsea Manning sentenced to solitary confinement over suicide attempt
Chelsea Manning, a former US soldier imprisoned for leaking classified documents, was sentenced on Thursday to two weeks of solitary confinement as a punishment for a suicide attempt, as well as for keeping a banned book in her quarters. According...
