The US Supreme Court on Monday ruled unanimously in Astrue v. Ratliff that an award of attorney's fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) is payable to the prevailing party rather than to the party's attorneys and can therefore be used to satisfy a preexisting debt owed to the government. The [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Itzchak Kornfeld of the Faculty of Law at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem says that Israel is in a state of war with Hamas and, pursuant to the UN Charter, has the right to self-defense, including the right to inspect foreign vessels for weapons being brought to the group… The recent Israeli [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday ruled in Carachuri-Rosendo v. Holder that a person convicted under state law for simple drug possession, a federal law misdemeanor, has not been "convicted" of an "aggravated felony" for immigration removal purposes. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) , a lawful permanent resident who has been "convicted" of [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday ruled 7-2 in Holland v. Florida that the statute of limitations for a federal habeas corpus petition can be tolled where a state-appointed attorney fails to file in time despite repeated instructions from the client. The court held the one-year time limit for filing a habeas petition under the [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday ruled 5-4 in Dolan v. United States that a district court may enter a restitution order beyond the time limit prescribed in 18 USC § 3664(d)(5) if the sentencing court made clear prior to the deadline that restitution would be ordered. The petitioner, Brian Dolan, attacked a hitchhiker and [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal of an order to reduce the California prison population . The court postponed consideration of the question of jurisdiction in Schwarzenegger v. Plata to hear the case on its merits. In August, a special panel of federal judges ordered California to reduce its prison [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday denied certiorari in Arar v. Ashcroft , a case concerning the US government's extraordinary rendition policy. Canadian citizen Maher Arar asked the court in February to overturn a lower court ruling that he cannot sue the US government for damages based on his detention in the US and his [...]
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) on Sunday announced the closure of approximately 23 miles of the state's coastline to commercial harvesting of saltwater fish, crabs and shrimp out of concern for possible health risks associated with fish from oil-contaminated water. The order went into effect Monday and was issued due to the [...]
Kyrgyzstan interim President Roza Otunbayeva on Sunday issued shoot to kill orders to the nation's military as violence continued against ethnic Uzbeks. The orders were issued after the reservists were activated and sent to quell the ethnic conflict that has been primarily focused in the southern cities of Osh and Jalal'abad. The reserves were activated [...]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday announced the composition of an internal probe into the May 31 Israeli raid on several Turkish ships bound for the blockaded Gaza Strip . To head the probe, Netanyahu appointed former Israeli Supreme Court Justice Yakov Tirkel, along with Shabbtai Rosen, an international law professor and former Israeli [...]
