Federal District Judge Larry Burns ordered on Friday that the federal mug shots of accused Tucson shooter Jared Lee Loughner temporarily be kept from public view. Defense counsel for Loughner filed an emergency motion to bar release of those photos to the public, arguing that release of the photos would bring unwanted media attention . [...]
A federal judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Michigan on Friday ruled that Wal-Mart did not wrongly fire an employee who had been using medical marijuana to treat a brain tumor. In dismissing plaintiff Joseph Casias’ lawsuit, Judge Robert Jonker determined that the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act (MMMA) is in [...]
A federal judge of the US District Court of the Central District of California on Friday held that the city of Los Angeles violated the Americans With Disabilities Act by not accounting for people with disabilities in the city’s emergency disaster planning. Judge Consuelo B. Marshall stated that it is the duty of the city [...]
Amnesty International (AI) on Friday denounced the detention of British resident Shaker Aamer at Guantanamo Bay , calling it a “mockery of justice”. Aamer has been held by the US since 2002 on claims that he was fighting with the Taliban. This weekend marks the ninth full year of his detainment, and the US is [...]
A Turkish government inquiry into the Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla faulted Israeli soldiers Friday for violating international law. The panel’s final report indicates at least two activists were killed before commandos boarded the Mavi Marmara, the largest ship in the flotilla. According to the report, an additional five persons were shot in the [...]
Prominent Chinese rights activist Chen Guangcheng and his wife have been “beaten senseless” by authorities, according to Friday reports from China Aid and Hong Kong-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) . Chen, who is blind, is currently under house arrest, and the beating may have been related to a video released on Wednesday by China [...]
The Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces pledged Friday to lift the country’s emergency laws , which have been in place for nearly 30 years, as soon as circumstances improve. The announcement came shortly before President Hosni Mubarak resigned, placing the council in charge of affairs of state. The statement, read on national television, [...]
Judges for the Special Court of Sierra Leone (SCSL) on Friday indefinitely postponed closing arguments in the trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor in order to allow the defense to appeal a prior decision. The SCSL will allow Taylor to appeal a ruling that denied the admission of a defense document due to untimely [...]
Seven suspected Somali pirates appeared Friday in Malaysian court charged with firearms offenses and, if convicted, they could face the death penalty. Malaysia is the first Asian country to take formal legal action against suspect pirates. Under the Malaysian Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act of 1971 , anyone who fires a gun with the intent to [...]
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) announced Thursday that she and state Attorney General Tom Horne had filed a counterclaim in the US District Court for the District of Arizona against the US government in the lawsuit challenging the controversial Arizona immigration law . The counterclaim contains five counts accusing the federal government of violating the [...]
