Boumedienne v. Bush, Al Odah v. United States, US Supreme Court, April 2, 2007 . Read the denial per Chief Justice Roberts , along with a dissent per Justice Breyer and with a separate statement per Justice Stevens rejecting the appeal on precedural grounds. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart concluded an investigation Monday into the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) , finding that the European financial cooperative did not violate Canadian privacy laws by post-September 11 information-sharing with the US Department of the Treasury . SWIFT was alleged to have illegally disclosed personal information of some customers [...]
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson signed into law the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act Monday, legalizing medical marijuana in the treatment of certain "eligible conditions and symptoms." Eligible conditions include chronic or debilitating diseases such as cancer, AIDS, and glaucoma. The New Mexico Department of Health will establish regulations for licensing, production, and distribution, to [...]
A federal judge on Monday granted former Enron vice president Christopher Calger's request to withdraw his July 2005 guilty plea to a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The case against Calger was based on the same legal theory that was rejected in August 2006 by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth [...]
A military court in Jordan handed down sentences Monday for six men charged with planning suicide bombings at Queen Alia International Airport in Amman and several hotels frequented by Israelis and Americans. None of the defendants are Jordanian citizens and three were tried in absentia and remain at large. Five of the defendants, including leader [...]
Italian Judge Renato La Viola ordered an investigation into the actions of Dr. Mario Riccio, the anaesthetist turned off life support for Piergiorgio Welby , a man who suffered from muscular dystrophy and sought the right to die by euthanasia, according to statements Riccio made to Reuters Monday. Italian prosecutors declined to initiate proceedings against [...]
The president of Kyrgyzstan said Monday that the government will begin steps to amend the Kyrgyz constitution. At a meeting with government officials, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced the formation of a working group for amendment drafting, and indicated that members of different political parties and officials from throughout the government will be included in the [...]
The Moscow City Court upheld a city ban on gay pride parades in the city on Monday, dismissing an extraordinary appeal by parade organizers challenging a ruling by the Tverskoy district court. Organizers say they are prepared to appeal to the Russian Supreme Court , and believe that the high court will be "more objective" [...]
The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Monday upheld the 20-year prison sentence of former Bosnian Croat soldier Miroslav Bralo , dismissing Bralo's appeal alleging the trial chamber failed to consider relevant facts. In its decision , the Appeals Chamber held that Bralo was only repeating the same arguments already [...]
The Durban High Court in South Africa ruled Monday that the country's National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) can seek the release of documents that may be used to file additional corruption charges against former South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma . The court specifically granted the NPA's application to request original documents seized by authorities in [...]