Varanasi, India – “Hum paani ke jeev hain. We are creatures of water,” says 29-year-old Vishwakarma Sahni. Sahni belongs to Varanasi’s community of approximately 8,000 mallah, the boatmen whose lives are deeply intertwined with the Ganges – a river considered sacred in India and which they hold in profound reverence. To them, the Ganges is … Read more
Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill into law Monday that officially eliminates most restrictions on how many unrelated roommates can live together in Colorado. House Bill 1007 prohibits local governments from enacting occupancy limits, which Polis and other critics of the policy have derided as discriminatory and outdated. Roughly two dozen Colorado cities have such … Read more
CONCORD, N.H. — A New Hampshire town’s new ordinance that was pitched as “a path forward” for public artwork hasn’t resolved a bakery owner’s First Amendment dispute over a large pastry painting, and his lawyer predicts it will only lead to more litigation as town officials become “speech police.” Conway residents passed the ordinance by … Read more
Bangkok, Thailand – Thanadech Jandee is thrilled that Thailand’s marriage equality bill, allowing same-sex couples to marry, is moving closer to becoming law. Thanadech, who was born biologically female and had gender reassignment surgery to identify as male last year, lives with his girlfriend and her son from a previous relationship. “I want the equal … Read more
NEW ORLEANS — A Texas law that allows the state to arrest and deport migrants suspected of illegally entering the U.S. will remain on hold for now, a federal appeals court ruled. The order late Tuesday from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals followed a March 20 hearing by a three-judge panel of the … Read more
Following a pivotal year in the movement to discard the term “excited delirium,” momentum is building in Colorado and several other states to ban the discredited medical diagnosis from death certificates, law enforcement training, police incident reports, and civil court testimony. In January, California became the first state to prohibit the medical term from many … Read more
The Indian government on Monday announced the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a law that was passed by parliament in 2019 but was not enforced until now. This decision on the CAA – whose passage in parliament had set off protests across the country five years ago over allegations of an anti-Muslim bias … Read more
Colorado lawmakers are drafting legislation that would deliver a sweeping overhaul of the Regional Transportation District — significantly reshaping and downsizing the governing board to remove nearly all elected seats while attempting to align the transit agency’s planning with broader housing and climate initiatives. As formulated by the legislation’s three Democratic sponsors, who represent suburban … Read more
ORLANDO, Fla. — Disney on Thursday appealed a judge’s dismissal of its free speech lawsuit over what it described as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ retaliatory takeover of Walt Disney World’s governing district, as the Florida governor separately called any appeal “a mistake.” “They should move on,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Jacksonville a day … Read more
ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed Disney’s free speech lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, leaving the company’s remaining hopes of regaining control of the district that governs Walt Disney World to a separate state court challenge. U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor in Tallahassee said in his decision that Disney lacked standing … Read more
