Lawyers for US Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada filed an emergency motion with the US District Court for the Western District of Washington on Wednesday, requesting that his court-martial, scheduled to begin next Tuesday , be stayed pending the outcome of his appeal. Watada, a 28-year-old Honolulu native, publicly refused deployment to Iraq in July [...]
Myanmar police arrested dozens of people for questioning during nighttime raids late Wednesday night as the government continues its crackdown on dissidents. Also Wednesday, monks crowded into train stations after being ordered to leave their monasteries and return to their hometowns. Police arrested dozens of monks last week in response to widespread anti-government protests, led [...]
Officials from South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), or North Korea, said Thursday that the two countries will work on a peace treaty formally ending the Korean War to replace a cease-fire agreement reached in 1953 which was never signed by the South Korea. The announcement followed an agreement between the [...]
New Turkish President Abdullah Gul Wednesday proposed amending a law that makes it a crime to insult Turkish national identity. Gul said at a Council of Europe meeting in Strasbourg that the law had hindered Turkey's attempts to join the EU, and that he expects the ruling AK Party will soon consider changing it. This [...]
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said Wednesday that reported Pakistani promises to drop pending corruption charges against her amount to "disinformation" and indicated that talks with President Pervez Musharraf on a possible power-sharing agreement have broken down. Pakistani officials said Tuesday they had agreed to drop charges against Bhutto, a move that would permit [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a certiorari petition Wednesday asking the US Supreme Court to hear a challenge of the government's domestic surveillance program that was rejected by the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in July. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include attorneys, advocacy groups, scholars, and journalists who said that they could [...]
The Constitutional Court of Indonesia Wednesday upheld marriage laws limiting polygamy , despite teachings in the predominantly Islamic country's largest religion allowing men to take up to four wives. Under Indonesian law , a man can only take a second wife if his first wife gives permission, or if his first wife is disabled or [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in New York Board of Elections v. Torres , 06-766, to consider whether the procedure by which the state of New York currently selects its trial judges violates the First Amendment rights of both candidates and voters. State election officials joined both the Democratic and Republican parties [...]
Michael V. Strong, as Assessor, etc., v. State Board of Equalization, Tom Kidwell, as Assessor, etc., Equality California, et al., Court of Appeal for the State of California Third Appellate Division, October 2, 2007 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
A California appeals court ruled Tuesday that domestic partners, like married couples, can inherit real estate from one another without an increase in property taxes. The Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento found that the California Legislature and the state Board of Equalization were within the bounds of the California Constitution when they made [...]
