New York must offer vaccine to all prisoners immediately, judge rules
A judge in the Bronx ruled that people incarcerated in the state’s prisons and jails had been arbitrarily excluded from the coronavirus vaccine rollout.
Courts
This archive collects milestones involving courts — judicial bodies at local, national, and international levels — as actors in meaningful change. Stories here cover rulings, legal precedents, and decisions that advanced rights, accountability, or justice around the world.
U.S. Federal Judge blocks further oil and gas extraction in Ohio’s Wayne National Forest
The ruling rebuked the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for failing to consider threats to public health, endangered species, and watersheds before opening more than 40,000 acres of the forest to fracking last year.
Supreme Court Of Canada upholds national carbon tax
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled this week a federal carbon tax that is legal pursuant to the “peace, order, and good government” provisions of the Canadian constitution.
Japanese court rules same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional
The court ruled that sexual orientation, like race, is not a matter of individual preference and therefore denying same-sex couples the same benefits as straight couples is unconstitutional.
Court makes “historic” ruling that France is responsible for climate inaction
The court gave the French government two months to take appropriate steps before ordering it to lower emissions or compensating for the effects of its inaction, The New York Times reported.
Dutch court orders Shell Oil to pay for harm done to Nigerian farmers
Royal Dutch Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary must pay punitive restitution to Nigerian villages for oil spill contamination that brought death, illness, and destruction to Nigerian farmers and communities.
The U.S. Supreme Court has fully restored DACA protections
DACA protects people who immigrated to the US with their guardians as children, shielding them from deportation, regardless of citizenship status.
U.S. Supreme Court hands victory to transgender students in locker room case
The Supreme Court has declined to take up a case brought by Oregon parents who want to exclude transgender students from school locker rooms and restrooms.
Ecuador’s highest court will allow communities to vote on mining projects
The decision follows a petition by the Ecuadorian city of Cuenca to allow a ballot referendum on mining near water sources, including near the Tomebamba, Machángara, Norcay, Yanuncay, and Tarqui rivers.
U.S. Supreme Court says eastern half of Oklahoma is Native American land
The 5-4 decision, with an opinion authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, endorsed the claim of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation to the land, which encompasses three million acres.