The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida announced that Eric James Rennert (56), of Champaign, Illinois, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for sending multiple threatening emails to a U.S. …
Month: February 2026
Trump’s vicious attacks on judges fuel his bid for unchecked power
Steven Greenhouse argues that Donald Trump’s recent tirade against supreme court justices (after they ruled against his tariff policy) is not an isolated outburst, but part of a broader, intentional campaign by Trump and key …
Travel ban and judicial control on lawyer Necat Çiçek not lifted
On February 24, 2026, the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court held the eighth hearing in the case against lawyer Necat Çiçek, who is being prosecuted over his legal work and participation in press statements. Çiçek …
EU sanctions Russian officials over trials, prisons and crackdowns on dissent
The European Union imposed sanctions on eight Russian individuals over alleged serious human rights violations, repression of civil society and democratic opposition, and actions undermining democracy and the rule of law in Russia. Those listed …
Condemning lengthy prison sentences imposed on Turkish lawyers for lawful professional and human rights work
A coalition of international legal and human rights organizations, including the New York City Bar Association, issued a joint statement condemning the January 28, 2026 convictions of 10 ÖHD lawyers and 20 TUAD executives/staff by …
The price of public life: Judges and other officials doxed, swatted, threatened with death
A CBS News investigation documents a sharp rise in threats targeting U.S. public officials—especially judges—amid a political climate where online harassment is increasingly common and sometimes escalates into real-world violence. The story begins with a …
How Trump and Bondi transformed the DOJ to push his agenda and challenge detractors
In a PBS NewsHour report (Feb. 17, 2026), Ali Rogin examines how the Trump administration and Attorney General Pam Bondi have reshaped the U.S. Department of Justice. The report highlights a sharp decline in DOJ …
2026 WILJ Symposium on Lawyers, Judges, and Creeping Authoritarianism
On February 12–13, 2026, the Wisconsin International Law Journal Symposium—co-sponsored by the Lawyers and Democratic Decline (LADD) project—brought scholars and practitioners to the University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison for two days of conversation …
Albanian PM seeks to stop judiciary from suspending ministers
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said his government will change the law to prevent ministers from being suspended while under criminal investigation, after a court suspended Deputy PM Belinda Balluku in November over alleged tender …
Trump instructs spy agencies to provide intelligence to his ‘Stop the Steal’ lawyer
President Donald Trump has directed the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies to give classified election-related intelligence to Kurt Olsen, a former Trump campaign lawyer who helped lead post-2020 election challenges and was later hired …