Human Rights Watch accuses Alabama of violating constitution
Human Rights Watch says law HB56 breaches legal rights that apply to anyone regardless of their origin
Alabama is systematically violating US and international conventions by depriving undocumented immigrants of equal protection under the law, according to Human Rights Watch.
HB56, the controversial immigration law that came into effect in Alabama in September, has driven a wedge between Latino residents who lack authorisation papers and the courts that are supposed to afford them equal treatment. In a survey of the impact of the legislation, Human Rights Watch found that discrimination was creeping into both criminal and civil law.
Under the legislation, known as the Beason-Hammon Act, section 27 says that "no court of this state shall enforce the terms of, or otherwise regard as valid, any contract between a party and an alien unlawfully present in the US".
Crowds are descending on Papua New Guinea's Parliament House as the country's leadership impasse worsens, with Peter O'Neill demanding the Governor-General swear him in as the prime minister.
Early today, Governor-General Michael Ogio reinstated Sir Michael Somare as prime minister and swore in his new 19-member cabinet, as directed by the Supreme Court.
But this morning, supporters of Mr O'Neill passed a motion on the floor of Parliament, the second day they attended Parliament as the government, that Mr Ogio arrive by 2pm (3pm AEDT) to swear Mr O'Neill in as prime minister.
Police implicated in Burundi bar massacre trial
The main defendant accused of taking part in the September massacre of at least 37 people in a Burundi bar Tuesday accused senior police officers of responsibility for the bloodbath.
The defendant, Innocent Ngendakuriyo, told judges in his first hearing before the Bujumbura High Court that he was not involved in the killings in Gatumba, near the capital Bujumbura, and close to the border with DR Congo.
On the night of September 18, heavily armed men in uniform burst into the Gatumba bar and ordered the customers to duck for cover, then opened fire indiscriminately.
Meditating behind bars: How yoga in prisons could cut overcrowding
Yoga can teach prisoners the self-control and self-discipline that they never learned as youths.
Earlier this year the Supreme Court ruled that state of California prisons were so bad as to be inhumane, violating the 8th amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment.
The reason? Overcrowding. California must to reduce its prison population by 30,000 prisoners, according to the ruling.
Overcrowding is a perennial issue in US prisons in no small part because the recidivism rate is remarkably high. In 1994 the largest study of prisoner recidivism ever done in the United States showed that, of nearly 300,000 adult prisoners who were released in 15 different states, 67.5 percent were re-arrested within three years.
COLUMN ONE
Chinese reindeer wrangler won't be herded into city
Ninetysomething Maliya Suo decided to let the beasts, not the government, determine her path after members of her tribe were forcibly relocated to a theme-park-like site with the soul of the projects.
By Jonathan Kaiman, Los Angeles Times
In her old age, Suo is taking on an even tougher adversary: the Chinese government. A member of the nomadic Ewenki community that lives primarily in China's Inner Mongoliaregion, Suo has resisted the government's effort to resettle her in the world of buildings, money and cars.
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