Joseph Sher v. Lafayette Insurance Company, et al., Supreme Court of Louisiana, April 8, 2008 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday launched a new initiative to combat income tax evasion. The National Tax Defier Initiative (TAXDEF) will investigate and prosecute those who actively "defy and deny" US tax laws, while also educating the public about the consequences of tax evasion. Assistant Attorney General Nathan J. Hochman said: This [...]

The anesthetic dosage delivered under Ohio's lethal injection protocol is sufficient to prevent the condemned inmate from suffering during an execution, according to Tuesday testimony from an anesthesiologist during a court hearing on the constitutionality of Ohio's death penalty procedure . The testimony by Dr. Mark Dershwitz contradicts that given Monday by another anesthesiologist , [...]

The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that an insurance company was not required to pay for water damage caused when New Orleans levees breached after Hurricane Katrina . Homeowner Joseph Sher sued Lafayette Insurance Company after the insurer refused to cover damage resulting from a four-foot water rise in his home after the 2005 hurricane; [...]

The War Crimes Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday issued a custody order for a former Bosnian Serb special police officer suspected of involvement in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre . Vaso Todorovic is accused of genocide stemming from the detention and murder of 1,000 Muslim men within the UN-protected zone of [...]

Indonesian Internet providers blocked access Tuesday to file-sharing websites including YouTube, Google Video, and MySpace , one week after a government order sought to prevent the transmission of a controversial anti-Islamic film created by far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders . Indonesia's secular government issued an order to block the websites last Wednesday, citing fears of [...]

Two rights groups have filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Arizona challenging the constitutionality of Arizona's Proposition 100 , which denies bail to illegal immigrants accused of committing serious felonies. In court papers filed Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona and the Mexican American Legal Defense and [...]

JURIST was nominated Tuesday for a prestigious Webby Award as the best Law website of 2008. Called the "Oscars of the Internet" by the New York Times and presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences , the "Webbys" are the leading international awards honoring excellence in interactive design, creativity, usability and functionality [...]

A High Court judge in Harare agreed Tuesday to expedite a lawsuit seeking to compel the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission (ZEC) to immediately release the results of the nation's March 29 presidential elections , but continued to refrain from issuing an immediate ruling in the case. On Monday, the High Court ruled it had jurisdiction to [...]

The Switzerland Foreign Ministry has barred former ICTY chief prosecutor and current Swiss ambassador to Argentina Carla Del Ponte from publicly promoting her new book "The Hunt: Me and War Criminals," according to Tuesday reports. The Swiss government has said that statements made in the book that condemn the actions of several politicians of the [...]