The debate about abortion-related commercial speech has long been contentious in the United States. Since 1975, abortion-related publications have been protected under the First Amendment as commercial speech that serves a public interest.[1] However, in a post-Dobbs era, reproductive healthcare providers and advocacy groups are renewing challenges to abortion literature […]
International Law
63 posts
Introduction Since the 1980s under the Reagan administration, privatized prisons have slowly gained traction as one of the main forms of detention centers for criminal detainees.[1] By the mid-nineties, privatization of immigration detention centers slowly became more common, as new legislation expanding the United States immigrant detention systems went into […]
Dangerous heat threatened people around the globe during the summer of 2023. According to NASA, the summer of 2023 was the hottest on record, and the consequences have been disastrous to people and the environment alike.[1] Such heat exacerbated wildfires across Canada and Hawaii, and contributed to deadly heat waves […]
In February of 2022, Russia ended an era of peace in Europe by invading Ukraine.[1] Over a year later, the war continues with an estimated 5,987 civilian casualties.[2] Now, organizations are beginning to investigate the actions of parties involved in the conflict, and in March of 2023, the International Criminal […]
Introduction Subjecting people to torture is a human rights violation to their right for a life with dignity.[1] International organizations and several sovereign nations advocate against the use of torture for any reason.[2] Article 5 of the UDHR holds that no person shall be subjected to torture.[3] Under international law, […]
Forfeiture is a common practice wherein local police or government bodies seize property or money in connection with a civil violation.[1] Most Western countries have similar legislation to freeze and seize assets.[2] The practice has been criticized by legal scholars and civil rights advocates as cruel, unusually harsh, and prejudicial.[3] […]
Introduction Administrative closure is a docket-management mechanism used by immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) since the 1980s.[1] Typically, administrative closure is used when the decision on a case is affected by an application pending before another government agency, for example, when a decision for removal relies […]
Introduction After two years of violent war, the Ethiopian government and authorities from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (“TPLF”) announced on November 2, 2022 a “cessation of hostilities.”[1] Overshadowed in the media by coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, this two-year-long war has been dubbed as […]
Abstract The tyrannical Sri Lankan Prevention of Terrorism Act (“PTA”) has been in effect for over forty years. Dating back to the decades-long civil war, the PTA has terrorized Sri Lankan citizens. The PTA authorizes the Sri Lankan government to arbitrarily detain citizens without warrants for up to eighteen months; […]
Since 9/11, the United States has continuously used unmanned drone strikes in counterterrorism efforts in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.[1] Drones have become a preferred weapon as they allow for military objectives to be fulfilled without placing soldiers in physical danger.[2] Drones also allow pilots to distance themselves from the […]