Innocence project movement in China rises to aid the wrongfully convicted

China's death penalty train, widely believed to be the world's most active, is showing some signs of slowing down. And domestic innocence projects may be having an effect, though small, on getting wrongful convictions in capital crimes overturned.

Dec 1, 2015 2:30 AM CST

Northern Ireland’s abortion prohibitions violate human rights, Belfast judge rules

A judge on the Belfast High Court in Northern Ireland ruled Monday that the region’s prohibition of abortions in cases of rape, incest and fetal abnormality violates the human rights of women, Reuters reports. Judge Mark Horner upheld arguments by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission that the prohibition went…

Nov 30, 2015 12:55 PM CST

Black sheriff’s deputy alleges in lawsuit he was asked to prepay for breakfast at restaurant

A black sheriff’s deputy in Oregon is suing the owner and operator of a Vancouver, Washington, restaurant for allegedly requiring him to prepay for his breakfast. Multnomah County sheriff’s deputy Brian Eason, 44, filed suit last week against Karson Inc., owner and operator of the Elmer’s restaurant franchise location where…

Nov 2, 2015 2:00 PM CST

Black US citizen seeks refugee status in Canada on account of his race

A U.S. citizen is seeking refugee status in Canada because he says he’s afraid of being killed by police in this country because he is black. Kyle Lydell Canty, 30, argued his case at an Oct. 23 hearing before Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board in Vancouver, B.C., CBC News reports.…

Oct 27, 2015 4:30 PM CDT

Justice Department announces $44 million in grants against human trafficking

Attorney General Loretta Lynch today announced more than $44 million in grant funding to fight human trafficking. In remarks to the Seattle-based Washington Advisory Committee on Trafficking, Lynch said the grants will fund efforts to fight trafficking, support victims and expand research. “Human traffickers prey on some of the most…

Sep 24, 2015 5:34 PM CDT

After UK kills citizens in Syria in drone strike, critics question policy

Four years after a U.S. killing of an American-born cleric in Yemen through a drone strike sparked concern and criticism, the U.K. is facing similar questions about the drone-strike deaths last month of two British men in Syria. The target, Reynaad Khan, 21, was said to be an Islamic State…

Sep 9, 2015 2:44 PM CDT

ABA Commission on Immigration report excoriates federal detention policy for immigrant families

A report released Aug. 19 by the ABA Commission on Immigration with the assistance of the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers takes the federal government to task for its policy of detaining immigrant mothers with young children. “Family Immigration Detention: Why The Past Cannot Be Prologue” (PDF) concludes that…

Aug 20, 2015 10:38 AM CDT

US immigration detention policies are ‘incompatible with basic principles of justice,’ says law prof

At an ABA Annual Meeting panel on Friday, speakers had strong criticisms of the federal government’s detention policies for immigrant mothers with children. “The government’s family detention policies of widespread detention of families and secure lockdown facilities are just incompatible with basic principles of justice and liberty,” said Denise Gilman,…

Aug 1, 2015 11:30 AM CDT

Political powers blunt good law, human rights lawyer says

Aug 1, 2015 1:20 AM CDT

UK trade envoy: ‘I’d give anything’ for the ABA to work with the Iraqi judiciary

Aug 1, 2015 1:00 AM CDT

Corporations have a role in (and gain benefits from) promoting the rule of law

Aug 1, 2015 12:40 AM CDT

ABA cites health and well-being of asylum-seeking mothers and children

Aug 1, 2015 12:35 AM CDT

China cracks down on lawyers said to have ‘sabotaged the legal order’

China’s crackdown on lawyers is likely intended to crush a movement to defend the rights of individuals, according to an editorial. Chinese authorities have detained more than 200 lawyers and associates in recent weeks, and some believe it is the most serious assault on lawyers in decades, according to the…

Jul 31, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

China detains or queries 100 lawyers, activists and others in sweep targeting human rights law firms

An unprecedented crackdown focused on one of China’s most prominent human rights lawyers and her firm has resulted in the arrest and/or questioning of over 100 attorneys, activists and others during the past week. The lawyer, associate Wang Yu of the Fengrui Law Firm in Beijing, has been criminally detained,…

Jul 13, 2015 2:40 PM CDT

ABA commends court’s decision to release human rights lawyer and editor

The ABA is commending the Swaziland Supreme Court decision to release a human rights lawyer and an editor who were sent to prison for publishing articles questioning the independence of the judiciary. The court overturned the contempt of court convictions last Tuesday of lawyer Thulani Maseko and Nation editor Bheki…

Jul 6, 2015 10:32 AM CDT