The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in three cases. In United States v. Stevens , the Court heard arguments on whether a federal law that bans depictions of animal cruelty, violates the First Amendment. The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that the law illegally restricts speech, overturning the conviction [...]
Former Hutu intelligence chief Idelphonse Nizeyimana , wanted for his role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide , has been arrested in Uganda, officials announced Tuesday. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) indicted Nizeyimana in 2000 for genocide and crimes against humanity, but the military leader had evaded authorities until his arrest Tuesday. Prosecutors claim [...]
A Russian court ruled Tuesday that Russian law defines marriage as between a man and a woman, affirming a registry office's refusal to recognize a marriage between two women. The couple, Irina Fedotova-Fet and Irina Shipitko, applied for a marriage license in March, but were refused by the registry. They appealed to the Tverskoi District [...]
In the matter of an application by _______ for a warrant pursuant to sections 12 and 21 of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act, Federal Court of Canada, October 6, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
ICE Detention Reform: Principles and Next Steps, US Department of Homeland Security and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, October 6, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on the conditions of ICE's detention facilities.
US Attorney General Eric Holder told federal prosecutors in a letter released Monday that the US government will not seek the death penalty for a former Guantanamo detainee now facing a civilian trial. Tanzanian national Ahmed Ghailani is accused of involvement in the 1998 bombing attacks against US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya that left [...]
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland on Monday issued a temporary reprieve of two scheduled executions in order to give officials an opportunity to review the lethal injection procedures employed by the state. The reprieve comes after an unsuccessful lethal injection attempt last month resulted in corrections officials trying for two hours to find a vein in [...]
An Israeli cabinet minister canceled a trip to the UK out of concern that he would be arrested for war crimes allegedly committed during his tenure as the Israeli military's chief of staff, a foreign affairs spokesperson said Monday. Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon decided to call off the scheduled trip to attend a fundraising [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Witold ("Vic") Walczak, Legal Director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Pennsylvania, says that the First Amendment took a serious beating at the recent G-20 summit in Pittsburgh when police and National Guard troops silenced demonstrators using tactics reminiscent of repression methods used in martial law-era Poland in the early [...]
The UK Supreme Court held its first session Monday, hearing an appeal by a group of four terrorism suspects whose assets were frozen by the government. The new Supreme Court, created by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 , replaces the judicial panel of the House of Lords as Britain's highest tribunal, with 12 Law Lords [...]
