Andal Ampatuan Jr., mayor of the southern Philippine town of Datu Unsay, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to 41 counts of murder related to the November massacre in Maguindanao province that left 57 dead. Prosecutors allege that Ampatuan and a large group of his men took a party of his opposition's supporters and journalists to [...]
Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar on Tuesday warned opposition activists that they could execution if they continue anti-government protests. Najjar's statement came one day after the Intelligence Ministry announced that several foreigners were among those arrested in last month's violent protests . Najjar said that the foreigners would also face punishment if found guilty [...]
The two parties in a prosecutorial immunity dispute before the US Supreme Court announced a settlement Monday, ending the case. The case was Pottawattamie County v. McGhee , in which the Court had been asked to consider whether a prosecutor may be subjected to a civil trial and potential damages for a wrongful conviction and [...]
Sarah Cook : "When Chinese democracy activist and author Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison last week, many around the world appeared stunned by the length of his sentence and absence of due process rights. Such harsh punishment for offering rational, constructive criticism of the government seems more compatible with Soviet times [...]
Civil rights groups on Monday opposed stricter screening procedures for passengers entering the US from 14 countries, calling the measures unconstitutional. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called on the US government to "adhere to longstanding standards of individualized suspicion and enact security measures that are the least threatening to civil liberties and are proven [...]
Al-Bihani v. Obama, et al., United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, January 5, 2010 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on Ghaleb Nassar Al-Bihani.
Farrakhan, et al. v. Gregoire, et al., US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, January 5, 2010 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on the Voting Rights Act.
Commonwealth Brands, Inc., et al. v. United States of America, et al., United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky Bowling Green Division, January 5, 2010 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Monday that Iraq will file lawsuits in both US and Iraqi courts against Blackwater after a US judge dismissed charges last week against five guards indicted for their involvement in the deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians in September 2007. Judge Richardo Urbina of the US District Court for the [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Monday upheld the conviction and life sentence of 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui . Moussaoui's lawyers had requested that his guilty plea and be withdrawn and a new trial be granted, arguing that his plea was involuntary due to Fifth and Sixth Amendment violations. His lawyers [...]
