The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has failed to formulate a coordinated response to an attack involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD), according a report released Tuesday by DOJ Inspector General Glenn Fine . Fine lauded the preparations of the FBI in developing response plans, but stated in the report that all other agencies that [...]
Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia on Tuesday filed an amicus curiae brief supporting the right to limit protests around military funerals in the case of Snyder v. Phelps . The US Supreme Court granted certiorari in the case to determine if the First Amendment right to freedom of speech can be limited in [...]
Three judges were killed and three people were injured Tuesday in a Chinese courthouse by a security officer at a local bank. The shooter, Zhu Jun, was the head of security at a local Postal Savings Bank in Hunan province and is alleged to have been upset over the division of marital assets by the [...]
US Attorney General Eric Holder announced Tuesday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is reviewing whether any criminal or civil laws were violated by BP resulting in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill . Holder cited several statutes being examined by government lawyers including the Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 [...]
The Australian government on Monday initiated proceedings against Japan in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) , claiming Japan has breached its obligations under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling . The move was expected after the Australian government announced last week that it would file suit against Japan. Australia is seeking an [...]
JURIST Special Guest Columnist Andrea Prasow, senior counter-terrorism counsel at Human Rights Watch, says that while the new system of Detainee Review Boards at Bagram is a significant improvement over past US practice, the US and its coalition partners need to do much more to get a functioning Afghan judicial system up and running… Even [...]
UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay on Monday called for an international inquiry into the conduct of the Sri Lankan government during its civil war . Pillay, speaking at the opening of the fourteenth session of the Human Rights Council , commended the Sri Lankan government for progress made on the resettlement of internally displaced [...]
US Attorney General Eric Holder called Monday for increased international efforts in fighting corruption. Speaking to the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) Holder reaffirmed the US commitment toward fighting corruption and called on several countries including China, India, and Russia to adopt the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention . Holder indicated that the only way [...]
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled unanimously in Levin v. Commerce Energy that federal courts lack original jurisdiction over state tax claims based on discrimination. The court held that, under the comity doctrine, a taxpayer's complaint of allegedly discriminatory state taxation, even when framed as a request to increase a competitor's tax burden, must [...]
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled 5-4 in Berghuis v. Thompkins that when Miranda warnings are properly given, a person wishing to invoke the right to remain silent must do so unambiguously. The court overturned a ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which held that the defendant's nearly three-hour [...]
