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Pakistan urged to protect journalists from violence
[JURIST] Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] called on the Pakistani government on Wednesday to address human rights abuses [press release] against media workers in Pakistan. In a report [text, PDF] also released Wednesday, AI documents the brutal treatment of media workers in Pakistan, claiming that many journalists have been threatened, harassed, abducted, tortured and murdered. AI's Asia-Pacific Director David Griffiths says of the media situation in Pakistan:Pakistan's media community is effectively under siege. Journalists, in particular those covering national security... [more].
Posted by Julie Deisher on Apr 30, 2014 07:16 pm

Chemical weapons watchdog group to investigate attacks in Syria
[JURIST] The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) [official website] announced Tuesday that it would begin a fact-finding mission into allegations of the use of chlorine gas [press release] in Syria. Although both rebel forces and the Syrian government acknowledge that the chemical weapon was used [Al Jazeera report] on the Syrian town of Kafr Zita, both factions deny responsibility for the attack. Chlorine was not a chemical Syria was required to give up, but the use of... [more].
Posted by Julie Deisher on Apr 30, 2014 06:34 pm

Supreme Court hears final arguments of term
[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] on Wednesday heard its final oral arguments [day call, PDF] of the term. In Limelight Networks v. Akamai Technologies [transcript, PDF; JURIST report] the court heard arguments on whether a company can be held liable for inducing patent infringement even when no one company has committed direct patent infringement. Akamai Technologies [corporate website] and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology [academic website] sued Limelight Networks [corporate website] over Akamai's patented method for redirecting requests... [more].
Posted by Jaclyn Belczyk on Apr 30, 2014 05:45 pm

Ohio couples challenge same-sex marriage ban
[JURIST] Six Ohio couples on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit [complaint, PDF] challenging the state's same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive] ban. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio [official website], challenges the constitutional prohibition [text] against same-sex marriage, approved by voters in 2004. The lawsuit alleges that the ban violates the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the US Constitution. According to the complaint, the six couples "are in love, but Ohio... [more].
Posted by Jaclyn Belczyk on Apr 30, 2014 01:07 pm

Oklahoma death row inmate dies after botched adminstering of lethal injection
[JURIST] Oklahoma death row inmate Clayton Lockett died of an apparent heart attack Tuesday shortly after doctors called off a failed attempt to execute him using a new cocktail of lethal injection drugs. According to the state corrections department, 13 minutes after administering [Reuters report] the drug cocktail Lockett regained some level of consciousness at which point doctors called off the execution. Locket died 27 minutes later. Lockett's botched execution came less than a week after the Supreme Court of... [more].
Posted by Peter Snyder on Apr 30, 2014 12:03 pm

Federal judge strikes down Wisconsin voter ID law
[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Tuesday that Wisconsin's Act 23 [text, PDF], which requires residents to present photo identification to vote, violates the Voting Rights Act and the US Constitution. US District Judge Lynn Adelman found that the requirement violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act [DOJ backgrounder], which prohibits states from imposing or applying "any voting qualification or prerequisite to voting or standard, practice,... [more].
Posted by Peter Snyder on Apr 30, 2014 11:34 am

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