The Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey on Tuesday struck down two municipal ordinances that prohibited convicted sex offenders (CSOs) from living near schools, parks, playgrounds and day care centers. The Appellate Division ruled that New Jersey's statewide sex offender registry program, known as Megan's Law , preempted the local ordinances and [...]
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday asked a judge at the US District Court for the District of Columbia to deny a motion by Guantanamo Bay detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan to stay his trial, now scheduled to begin July 21. Hamdan's lawyers argued earlier this month that the trial should be postponed until [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist David Scheffer, former US Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues (1997-2001), now at Northwestern University School of Law, reflects on the tenth anniversary of the conclusion of negotiations on the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court ICC), in which he played a central role…
The Washington DC City Council on Tuesday passed emergency temporary legislation to amend the city's long-standing ban on handguns. The amendment is intended to bring the city ordinance more in line with the recent US Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia v. Heller , which found that the ban violated the Second Amendment to [...]
The Spanish Justice Ministry Tuesday filed a challenge in Spain's Constitutional Court to block a planned Basque region referendum on increased autonomy. The referendum, approved by the Basque Parliament last month, will ask citizens whether the Basque government should begin negotiations for increased regional self-determination and whether it should initiate peace talks with Basque separatist [...]
Charles Stimson : "One thing you don't hear a lot about is the practical side of telecom immunity. Think about all the government contractors contributing to our national security who are fearful that doing their duties could lead to massive civil liabilities. The point was driven home to me earlier this summer, when I sat [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said Monday that the US terrorist watchlist is too large, contains inaccuracies, and should include more safeguards to prevent the unnecessary targeting of passengers for additional security screenings. The group estimated that the register now includes more than one million names , which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) [...]
Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme submitted his resignation Monday night because of his coalition government's inability to successfully divide federal powers between the Flemish- and French-speaking communities. Leterme had set a deadline of July 15 for the four-month-old coalition to agree on constitutional reforms to grant increased autonomy to the two regions. Leterme said that [...]
A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Tuesday upheld the dismissal of a libel case brought against the New York Times by former US Army biodefense research scientist Dr. Stephen Hatfill . In its ruling, the court agreed with the decision of the US District Court for the [...]
An Italian court Monday found 15 police officers and medical staff members guilty of abusing anti-globalization protesters who were taken into custody during the 2001 G8 summit in Genoa . The protesters said they were subjected to threats and physical abuse, and were denied food and access to their consulates while being held in a [...]
