Constitutional Court Rules On NPD Ban

KARLSRUHE, GERMANY - JANUARY 17: A general view at the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) to hear the court's verdict on whether to ban the far-right NPD (German National Democratic Party) political party on January 17, 2017 in Karlsruhe, Germany. The case was brought to the court by representatives of the German states (Bundeslaender) in December, 2015, with the argument that the NPD is a racist, anti-Semitic and anti-democratic party with an ideology very similar to the National Socialist Party (NSDAP) of Adolf Hitler and that is in violation of the German constitution. This is the second attempt by the states to ban the party after the first attempt failed in 2003. The NPD, which has been active in Germany since the 1960s, has in recent years lost ground to other parties, most notably the AfD, the Alternative fuer Deutschland, a populist party that has positioned itself to attract right-wing votes. (Photo by Simon Hofmann/Getty Images)