Category: Law News

Uganda anti-gay law: More LGBTQ+ people seek to flee

NAIROBI, Kenya – Pretty Peter flicked through frantic messages from friends at home in Uganda. The transgender woman is relatively safe in neighboring Kenya. Her friends feel threatened by the latest anti-gay legislation in Uganda prescribing the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.” Frightened Ugandans are searching for a way to get out like Pretty Peter did. Some have stayed indoors since the law was signed on Monday, fearing that they’ll be targeted, she said. “Right now, homophobes have received a validation from the government to attack people,” the 26-year-old said, standing in a room decorated with sombre portraits from a…Continue Reading

Mississippi absentee ballot law harms voters with disabilities, lawsuit says

Breadcrumb Trail Links PMN World PMN Politics PMN News Author of the article: The Associated Press Emily Waster Pettus Published June 02, 2023 • 3 minute read FILE – Absentee ballots waiting to be processed at the Lee County Circuit Clerk’s Office in Tupelo, Miss., on Nov. 3, 2020. A lawsuit filed Wednesday, May 31, 2023, seeks to block a Mississippi law that will put new restrictions on who can gather other people’s absentee ballots. The law is set to take effect July 1, and the lawsuit argues that it could disfranchise voters with disabilities by preventing them from receiving…Continue Reading

Groups file court application over whether Canada’s laws allow entry of former Israeli PM

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is facing a court application aimed at forcing him to determine whether Canada’s war crimes laws prevent former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett from attending a speaking engagement in Toronto later this month. The application — known by its technical term of a mandamus — was filed Friday in Federal Court and asked a judge to compel Mendicino into making a decision on Bennett’s admissibility. It was filed by Khaled Mouammar, a former national president of the Canadian Arab Federation, human rights groups Palestinian and Jewish Unity and Just Peace Advocates, and the think-tank Canadian…Continue Reading

Bill 96: Rules for accessing English services in Quebec could change

Parts of Quebec’s controversial language law that took effect Thursday could still be tweaked, according to the minister responsible for the French language. “Of course, we will adjust during the next days and weeks to improve our way,” said Jean-Francois Roberge on Friday. “It’s important that in Quebec we know French is the only official language.” Despite the City of Cote Saint-Luc poking fun at the requirements for service in English, Roberge says it’s up to common sense, not a burden of proof. “We will rely on the good faith of Quebecers. We won’t ask people to bring a card…Continue Reading

Italy detains two NGO vessels for defying new migrant rescue law | Migration News

Rescue ships Sea-Eye 4 and Mare*Go have been blocked for 20 days for flaunting Italian legislation they call ‘unjust’. The Italian Coast Guard has apprehended two vessels from non-governmental organizations operating in the Mediterranean Sea, after they were found to be in breach of a new law preventing ships deployed to rescue migrants from carrying out multiple operations in a row. A 20-day detention was imposed on the German rescue ships Sea-Eye 4 and Mare*Go on Friday evening, said the organizations Sea-Eye and Sea-Watch that operate the vessels. The law passed in Italy on February 24 prevents rescue ships from…Continue Reading

Tennessee law restricting drag shows unconstitutional, federal judge rules

A federal judge has ruled that Tennessee’s law restricting drag performances in public or where children are present is unconstitutional, striking a blow to efforts to regulate LGBTQ conduct in US states. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee in March signed the bill passed by the state’s assembly that aimed to restrict drag performances, putting the state at the forefront of a Republican-led effort to limit drag in at least 15 states in recent months. US District Judge Thomas Parker, an appointee of former Republican president Donald Trump, ruled late on Friday that the law was “both unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad,”…Continue Reading

High profile case highlights potential risks in defamation proceedings

The Federal Court of Australia recently handed down its decision in the defamation proceedings brought by Ben Roberts-Smith against various media outlets and journalists. The high-profile cases attracted significant public and media attention. In the proceedings, Mr. Roberts-Smith alleged that various publications communicated imputations (meanings) concerning unlawful and unethical conduct in the course of his military service in the Special Air Service Regiment. He alleged that certain publications also communicated imputations to the effect that he had engaged in bullying other defense personnel, committed family violence and that he was a hypocrite as he publicly supported family violence prevention initiatives…Continue Reading

‘Devastating’: Transgender adults forced to flee Florida as law strips their health care

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The debate surrounding Florida’s new restrictions on gender-affirming care focused largely on transgender children. But a new law that Republican presidential candidate and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed last month also made it difficult — even impossible — for many transgender adults to get treatment. Eli and Lucas, trans men who are a couple, followed the discussions in the Legislature, where Democrats warned that trans children would be more prone to suicide under a ban on gender-affirming care for minors and Republicans responded with misplaced tales of mutilated kids. Eli said he and his partner felt “blindsided” when…Continue Reading