The US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on Thursday sentenced Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to life imprisonment for his attempted bombing on an American aircraft. The 25-year old Nigerian national, who has been linked to al Qaeda, unsuccessfully attempted to detonate an underwear bomb while on Northwest Airlines flight 253 from Amsterdam to [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Kevin Snider, Chief Counsel for the Pacific Justice Institute says that the Ninth Circuit panel in Perry v. Brown unanimously acknowledged that a right to same-sex marriage is not supported by Supreme Court or Ninth Circuit precedent, and that sexual orientation is not a suspect classification according to longstanding case law… Lost [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Maureen Duffy of the University of Calgary Faculty of Law says that the use of “blacklists” as a tool for counter-terrorism efforts does not increase public safety, and instead may result in a form of legal punishment based on a subject’s associations alone…
La Procura di Roma, the public prosecutors of Rome, has asked the Tribunale Ordinario di Roma to put former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and his son on trial for tax evasion, judicial sources said on Thursday. La Procura is calling for a tribunal of Berlusconi and 11 others as part of a broader inquiry [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday called for the reduction of overcrowding to improve poor prison conditions in Latin America following a prison fire in Honduras. The fire occurred this past Tuesday and killed more than 300 inmates while injuring dozens more. According to HRW, Honduras prisoners suffer overcrowding which leads to poor prison conditions [...]
The Oklahoma Senate on Wednesday voted to pass a bill that defines life as beginning at the moment of conception. The bill passed 34-8 and will advance to the State House for consideration. If passed, the bill would effectively ban abortions in the state. Oklahoma Senator Brian Bingman (R) , a co-author of the Bill, [...]
Judge Ahmed Refaat will set the date to announce his verdict in a court session next Wednesday in the trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak , the judge told the court Thursday. Mubarak’s lawyers will have their opportunity to make their final remarks at the Wednesday court session, in which they will respond to [...]
The Colorado Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday voted 5-2 to approve a proposed civil union bill , referring it to the Colorado Senate for a full vote. The bill gives same-sex couples the “all legal benefits, protections, and responsibilities of spouses” joined in marriage. On Wednesday, the Judiciary Committee heard testimony from advocates and opponents [...]
United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon Thursday called on Syria to end to violence against civilians and possible crimes against humanity . During a speech in Vienna, Austria, the Secretary General said he had urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to make necessary changes before the unrest spread, but Assad instead took military action against [...]
Philippine President Benigno Aquino called for public support Thursday to encourage impeachment proceedings against Philippine Chief Justice Renato Corona . Aquino warned that the fight against corruption depended on the result of the impeachment. Aquino invoked the “people power” revolution, which gives Filipinos the power to ensure Corona is removed from office. Aquino recalled “civil [...]
