Legal news from JURIST's Paper Chase‏

Here's your daily summary of legal news from Paper Chase, the real-time legal news arm of JURIST...

 Egypt extends state of emergency for two months
[JURIST] The office of interim Egyptian President Adly Mansour [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] announced Thursday that the government is formally extending Egypt's state of emergency for two months due to security concerns. The interim government has sent military troops, tanks and armored personnel carriers into the city streets, claiming that extraordinary measures are needed to fight the war on terrorism. Constitutionally, the interim government may only impose a state of emergency for three months before it is subject to... [more].
Posted by Addison Morris on Sep 13, 2013 05:24 pm

Lawsuit challenges Kentucky same-sex marriage ban
[JURIST] The Kentucky Equality Federation [advocacy website] has filed a lawsuit [complaint, PDF] to overturn Kentucky's amendment [text] banning same-sex marriage [JURIST backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. The constitutional amendment, passed in 2004 with approval of 75 percent of voters, allows only a marriage between man and woman to be valid or recognized. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, argues that this amendment was passed in violation of the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the US Constitution. In addition, the organization... [more].
Posted by Addison Morris on Sep 13, 2013 04:23 pm

HRW: new evidence of executions by Syria government
[JURIST] The Syrian government and pro-government forces were responsible for executing at least 248 people in the coastal towns of al-Bayda and Baniyas in early May of this year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] stated in a report [text] released on Friday. The report is based on interviews with residents from al-Bayda and Baniyas, including witnesses who saw or heard forces detain and then execute their relatives. The advocacy group determined from the witness accounts as well as from... [more].
Posted by Theresa Donovan on Sep 13, 2013 02:56 pm

California lawmakers approve bill allowing driver's license for some immigrants
[JURIST] The California State Assembly [official website] on Thursday approved a bill [HB 2189, text] that will allow some undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children to obtain driver's licenses. The bill, which the California Senate [official website] passed hours earlier, directs California's Department of Motor Vehicles to issue driver's licenses to people without a social security number who can prove they are authorized to be in the US under federal law. The bill justifies allowing undocumented immigrants... [more].
Posted by Theresa Donovan on Sep 13, 2013 02:04 pm

California governor signs prison housing bill
[JURIST] California Governor Jerry Brown [official profile] on Thursday signed into law a bill [SB 105, text] that prevents the early release of inmates and allows the state to comply with a federal court order. The order requires the department to achieve a population of 137.5 percent of design capacity no later than December 31, 2013. The bill appropriates $315 million this fiscal year to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation [official website] for inmate housing. The bill explicitly states... [more].
Posted by Lauren Laing on Sep 13, 2013 12:50 pm

Pennsylvania judge orders to stop issuing same-sex marriage licenses
[JURIST] A Pennsylvania judge on Thursday ordered [opinion, PDF] a Philadelphia court clerk to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The Montgomery County Register of Wills [official website] court clerk Bruce Hanes issued 116 marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the state's Attorney General Kathleen Kane [official website] said the Pennsylvania Marriage Law [text] was unconstitutional under the US Supreme Court holding in United States v. Windsor [JURIST reports]. Commonwealth Court Judge Dan Pellegrini [official profile] said that Hanes... [more].
Posted by Lauren Laing on Sep 13, 2013 11:48 am

Forced evictions in Somalia lead to human rights abuses: AI
[JURIST] Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] on Friday warned [press release] that the forced evictions of people from makeshift camps in Mogadishu has led to human rights abuses. For the past two years, Mogadishu has been undergoing reconstruction, while tented camps continue being cleared for development. Some residents have been forced to move to the outskirts of the city, where security forces are unable to have effective control. Currently, more than 300,000 people are living in the nation's capital in... [more].
Posted by Kimberly Bennett on Sep 13, 2013 10:49 am

Spain lawmakers advance transparency law to fight corruption
[JURIST] Spanish lawmakers on Thursday passed amendments to Spain's freedom of information law that aim to combat political corruption. The amendments, which increase accountability for the use of public funds [Reuters report], include political parties, the royal family, lobbies, unions and employers' associations. The new law will require all levels of government to provide clear public records concerning which companies have government contracts. The current transparency law [text, in Spanish] has been criticized for lacking these key features. Currently, Spain... [more].
Posted by Kimberly Bennett on Sep 13, 2013 10:18 am