JURIST Guest Columnist William G. Ross of Cumberland School of Law, Samford University, says that although a president should naturally be careful to avoid demonstrating disrespect for the Supreme Court, the remarks President Obama recently made about the Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission during the State of the Union address did [...]
Canadian citizen Maher Arar on Monday asked the US Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that he cannot sue the US government for damages based on his detention in the US and his detention, interrogation, and torture in Syria after he was mistakenly identified as a terrorist. Arar is attempting to challenge the [...]
The Obama administration continued to criticize the Supreme Court Monday for its recent decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission , which eased restrictions on political campaign spending by corporations and labor unions. In an appeal for political campaign spending legislative reform, special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform Norm Eisen [...]
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating whether Blackwater , now known as Xe, bribed Iraqi officials to allow them to continue operating in the country following shooting deaths in 2007 , the New York Times reported Monday. The fraud division of the DOJ reportedly began an inquiry into the alleged $1 million bribery [...]
Police in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on Monday arrested former Bosnian Army commander Zulfikar Alispago for war crimes allegedly committed during the Bosnian civil war . Alispago, the former commander of a special unit known as "Zulfikar," is under investigation by the BiH war crimes prosecutor and is suspected of leading a 1993 attack on [...]
Top Iranian judge Sadeq Larijani said Monday that any further executions of anti-government protesters will be based on the law rather than on political pressure. Refusing to heed calls for more executions to stop opposition demonstrations, Larijani emphasized that all penalties will observe Iranian law, which is rooted in Islamic Sharia law . The comments [...]
Two high-ranking Israeli military officers have been disciplined for firing shells into a populated area of the Gaza strip during last year's Operation Cast Lead , it was revealed Monday. The information was contained in a 46-page report presented to the UN on Friday describing Israel's role in the January 2009 Gaza conflict . According [...]
Haitian authorities confirmed Sunday that 10 US citizens have been arrested after attempting to bus 33 children across the border into the neighboring Dominican Republic. Haitian Social Affairs Minister Yves Christallin said that a total of 12 people were arrested Friday, including the 10 Americans and two Haitians. The Idaho-based Baptist group New Life Children's [...]
Ambassadors from eight countries met with Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada on Saturday to urge Japan to sign an international treaty that will help prevent parental child abductions across borders. Representatives from the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, France, New Zealand, Italy, and Spain encouraged Japan to join the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil [...]
More than 50 countries, including the US, China, and EU member states, submitted plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the UN Framework on Climate Change (UNFCC) prior to a Sunday deadline set by the non-binding Copenhagen Accord . Relative to 2005 levels, the US has pledged to reduce emissions to 17 percent, while China [...]
