The US Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled 7-2 in Padilla v. Kentucky that the Sixth Amendment guarantee of effective assistance of counsel requires a criminal defense lawyer to advise a non-citizen client that pleading guilty to an aggravated felony will trigger mandatory, automatic deportation. The Supreme Court of Kentucky ruled that a guilty plea induced [...]
The Serbian Parliament adopted a declaration early Wednesday morning condemning the 1995 Srebrenica massacre , in which 8,000 Muslims were killed. After a day-long debate, "The Declaration of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Condemning the Crime in Srebrenica" was passed by a narrow margin, with 127 out 250 members voting in its [...]
The US Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled 5-4 in Shady Grove Orthopedic Associates v. Allstate Insurance Co. that a state legislature cannot prohibit the federal courts from using the class action device for state law claims. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the state law was substantive and could be [...]
Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday asked Swiss officials to reopen a corruption investigation against Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari . The request was made in a letter from the NAB, the country's chief anti-corruption body, to Swiss officials, but the Swiss Federal Department of Justice has not confirmed receipt of the request. Zardari [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia criticized the government Tuesday for a lack of accountability, despite granting approval to a $3 million settlement agreement in a civil suit brought by former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Richard Horn. The government evoked the state secrets privilege to prevent documents from [...]
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed suit on Tuesday challenging the strict visitation and communication restrictions at two experimental federal prison units called "Communications Management Units" (CMUs). The complaint alleges that the prisoners have suffered "severe and unjustifiable emotional distress" as a result of being deprived of fundamental constitutional rights. Prisoners at the CMUs [...]
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday signed into law the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act , which represents a group of amendments to the recently approved health care legislation and also provides changes to the administration of the federal student loan program. The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act , a rider attached to [...]
Corruption, abuse of power, and a focus on short-term security goals in Afghanistan have intensified the issue of poverty, affecting more than two-thirds of the population, according to a Tuesday report from the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) . According to the report 36 percent, or nine million people, live [...]
The Turkish ruling party on Tuesday submitted its controversial reform package to parliament, despite warnings from Turkish President Abdullah Gul that the party should take more precautions before amending the constitution. The reform package contains seven revisions from the original amendments unveiled last week , including a highly-disputed reform to the judiciary system that would [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in two cases. In Dillon v. United States , the court heard arguments on whether the federal sentencing guidelines are binding when a federal judge imposes a new sentence. Under the Supreme Court's 2005 ruling in United States v. Booker , the guidelines are advisory only, but [...]
