Vioxx new trial ruling [US DC] News
Vioxx new trial ruling [US DC]

In re: Vioxx Products Liability Litigation, Barnett v. Merck & Co., US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, August 30, 2006 [rejecting as "grossly excessive" a $50 million jury award against Merck in compensatory damages for a retired FBI agent who claimed Merck's painkiller Vioxx caused his heart attack, and ordering a new trial]. Read the full text of the ruling [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Anti-apartheid activist Stephen Biko died in police custody

On September 12, 1977, South African anti-apartheid activist Stephen Biko died in police custody after having suffered a massive head injury during interrogation following his arrest. The story of journalist Donald Woods' investigation into the circumstances of Biko's death was the basis of the 1987 film Cry Freedom.

Read an address on Stephen Biko delivered by then-South African President Nelson Mandela on the 20th anniversary of Biko's death in 1997.

Supreme Court unanimously rejects state challenge Brown v. Board of Education

On September 12, 1958, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected a state government challenge to Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka Kansas, which had overturned segregation. In Cooper vs. Aaron, the State Government of Arkansas challenged the authority of the Court to implement desegregation. The Court responded by forcefully re-asserting its authority and the authority of the federal government over the states.