New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D) on Wednesday signed a bill which repealed the use of the death penalty in the state. The bill replaces the use of capital punishment with a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for capital felony convictions. Richardson spoke about his reasons for signing the bill, [...]
Timothy Sandefur : "Thirty years ago, in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, the Supreme Court held that the Constitution is not offended by state laws that take money directly from workers' paychecks to subsidize the activities of unions. This is even true when the subsidies are taken from workers who have chosen not to [...]
Frida Berrigan : "Hidden amidst news of the global financial meltdown, the Bernie Madoff guilty pleas and spring's slow approach in the last week, was the story of global gun violence. A German rampager killed 16, an Alabama man killed 10 people, a man killed five people at a birthday party in Miami, in the [...]
JURIST Contributing Editor Ali Khan of Washburn University School of Law says that while newly-reinstated Pakistani Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry must continue to hold his country's Establishment accountable for breaches of the constitutional rights and freedoms of Pakistani citizens, he and his Supreme Court should henceforward steer of political questions" arising out of disputes between [...]
A judge for the Supreme Court of Singapore ruled Thursday that a Wall Journal Journal Asia (WSJ-Asia) editor was in contempt of court and personally liable for damages for publishing two editorials and a letter that criticized the impartiality of the city-state's judiciary. Judge Tay Yong Kwang ordered Melanie Kirkpatrick to pay USD $13,000 in [...]
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday charged accountant David Friehling with fraud for his alleged role in the securities fraud scheme committed by financier Bernard Madoff . In the complaint, the SEC alleges that Friehling and his accounting firm made fraudulent representations that they had audited Madoff's records in accordance with Generally [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Tuesday called on US Attorney General Eric Holder to commission a special prosecutor to investigate tactics used by CIA interrogators against terrorism suspects. ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said in a letter to Holder that recently published characterizations of CIA methods as torture by the International Committee of [...]
A US magistrate judge in South Carolina ruled Wednesday that suspected al Qaeda operative Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri must remain in prison as the criminal case against him proceeds. Judge Robert Carr denied al-Marri's request to be freed on bail, finding that he had failed to prove that he was not a danger to the [...]
The High Constitutional Court of Madagascar announced in a radio address Wednesday that it would accept the military's decision to install opposition leader Andry Rajoelina as the country's new president, one day after the resignation of President Marc Ravalomanana . The court approved the presidency of 34-year-old Rajoelina despite a requirement in Madagascar's constitution that [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday praised the reinstatement of Pakistan Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry . Pillay's spokesman called the move "an important step in the process of restoring the rule of law in Pakistan," adding that judicial integrity is needed if Pakistan is to make progress in [...]
