Party allies of opposition leader and democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi Tuesday renewed calls for unconditional talks between Suu Kyi and junta leader Senior General Than Shwe . Members of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) urged the military government to drop its condition that Suu Kyi abandon support for international sanctions against [...]
The Rhode Island Supreme Court Tuesday heard arguments in a case on whether a lesbian couple legally married in Massachusetts has the right to divorce in Rhode Island. In Chambers v. Ormiston , Rhode Island residents Cassandra Ormiston and Margaret Chambers are seeking to end their 2004 Massachusetts marriage. Lawyers for the couple argued Tuesday [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in Stoneridge Investment v. Scientific-Atlanta , 06-43, to determine when a "secondary" actor in securities fraud, such as a bank, lawyer, or accountant, can be treated as a "primary" actor in terms of shared liability for the actions. The case was filed by cable giant Charter Communications [...]
Evaluating Fairness and Accuracy in State Death Penalty Systems: The Pennsylvania Death Penalty Assessment Report, An Analysis of Pennsylvania's Death Penalty Laws, procedures, and Practices, American Bar Association, October 9, 2007 . Read the full text of the report . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
A military court in Jordan Tuesday sentenced Dr. Ahmad Oweidi al-Abbadi , a former member of parliament and head of the Jordanian National Movement , to two years in prison after convicting him on charges that included slandering officials, harming the government's reputation, and violating government laws regarding e-mail practices. The charges stem from an [...]
Approximately 40 inmates in a Tanzania prison awaiting trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) began a hunger strike Monday to protest the planned transfer of three ICTR cases to the national courts of Rwanda. In September, the ICTR prosecutor asked the tribunal to transfer the cases so that the prosecution could be [...]
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday denied without comment the petition for certiorari filed by Khaled el-Masri against the US government, ostensibly supporting the Bush administration's contention that allowing el-Masri's lawsuit to proceed would require the revelation of state secrets. El-Masri, a German national of Lebanese descent, claims that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [...]
The Iraqi government intends to oust Blackwater USA , the private security firm involved in a September shooting incident , from its borders over the next six months, according to a report complied by Iraqi authorities and the Iraqi National Police. The report, which is the culmination of an investigation by the Iraqi government into [...]
European laws need to be strengthened in order to more effectively fight organized crime throughout Europe, Italian prosecutor Nicola Gratteri said Monday. Gratteri is investigating the August slayings of six Italians in Duisburg, Germany , widely believed to be the result of a decades-old feud involving the Italian 'ndrangheta mob. Gratteri noted that 'ndrangheta has [...]
Serbian police arrested 56 neo-Nazis for protesting the potential independence of Kosovo from Serbia despite a ban against their planned demonstration, Serbian police said Monday. The arrests were made after fighting broke out Sunday between the neo-Nazis protesters and a group of anti-fascists, who were holding a counter-protest. The anti-fascist organizers accused Serbian police of [...]
