Former US Army Pfc. Steven D. Green may raise an insanity defense at his scheduled 2009 civilian trial for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the murder of her family in Mahmudiya (also "Mahmoudiya"), according to two motions filed Thursday. Green's lawyers said they may raise the defense both at trial [...]

The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court order denying an injunction against a US Forest Service plan to allow commercial logging in the Plumas National Forest in California. The Forest Service had argued that commercial logging would help pay for forest maintenance that would reduce the risk of fires, but [...]

Cain v. Horne, Arizona Court of Appeals, May 16, 2008 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

A jury in the US District Court for the District of Columbia Thursday convicted an Afghan national originally held as an enemy combatant on charges of drug distribution and narco-terrorism. Khan Mohammed was charged in 2006 with distribution of heroin destined for the US, thereby aiding and abetting terrorism. AP has more. This was one [...]

US Marine Sgt. Jermaine Nelson will face a court martial later this year for murder, according to an order given by Marine Lt. Gen. Samuel T. Hellman . The murder charge, announced Wednesday, stems from an incident during the Multinational National Force-Iraq's November 2004 offensive in Fallujah in which unarmed Iraqi prisoners were allegedly killed. [...]

Convicted Kosovo Albanian war criminal Haradin Bala has been transferred to a prison in France to serve out the rest of his 13-year sentence , the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) announced Thursday. In 2005, Bala was found guilty of the torture, cruel treatment, and murder of prisoners held at a camp run [...]

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil complaint in the US District Court for the Central District of California Wednesday against California-based microchip maker Broadcom in conjunction with a scandal over the backdating of company stock options. The complaint alleges that from 1998 to 2003, Broadcom's former president and chief executive officer, [...]

Former Colombian militia leader Salvatore Mancuso pleaded not guilty in a Florida court Thursday to drug trafficking charges after being extradited to the US Tuesday on suspicion of organizing violent massacres and drug smuggling operations. Mancuso and 13 other men are suspected of being members of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia , which is [...]

Approximately 2,500 minors under the age of 18 have been detained as illegal enemy combatants by the US military at facilities in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay since 2002, according to a US government report made public Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) . As of April 2008, the US is reportedly holding [...]

The Supreme Court of California Thursday overturned a state ban on same-sex marriage , ruling 4-3 in In re Marriage Cases that the ban violated protections on the right to "form a family relationship" enshrined in the California Constitution . Rights groups said that the decision could lead to California becoming the second state after [...]