The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in Smith v. Texas , 05-11304, where the court must decide whether the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals was correct to apply a "daunting standard of harm ('egregious harm')" in correcting the constitutional violation found by the Supreme Court in an earlier decision in the same case. [...]
Former Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan will be sentenced to death at a hearing before the Iraqi High Tribunal now scheduled for January 25, according to a court spokesperson speaking to the press on Tuesday. Ramadan was convicted in November in connection with crimes against humanity committed in the town of Dujail in 1982. [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that an alien convicted for aiding and abetting a theft offense can be deported under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) . In Gonzales v. Duenas-Alvarez , Luis Alexander Duenas-Alvarez, a legal permanent resident, pleaded guilty to the unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle in violation of California [...]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the European Parliament at a session in Strasbourg Wednesday that EU member nations should ratify the European constitution before the next round of European Parliament elections scheduled for June 2009, saying "failure would be a historic mistake." Merkel emphasized the advantages of the proposed constitution, including the clear demarcation of [...]
US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales used the occasion of a Wednesday speech to the conservative American Enterprise Institute on the perils of judicial activism to suggest that judges are not the appropriate agents to rule on national security issues, and that they should otherwise exercise extreme caution when declaring executive and legislative action as unconstitutional. [...]
Spain's National Court has reissued a warrant for the arrest of three US soldiers who killed Spanish Telecinco cameraman Jose Couso in 2003 when their tank opened fire on a hotel in Baghdad. The warrant follows a December Supreme Court reversal of a March 2006 ruling by a panel of three National Court judges revoking [...]
US Defense Department Deputy Assistant Secretary for Detainee Affairs Charles "Cully" Stimson apologized Wednesday for remarks he made last week criticizing lawyers at top US law firms for representing Guantanamo detainees pro bono. In a letter published in the Washington Post, Stimson wrote:During a radio interview last week, I brought up the topic of pro [...]
President Bush Tuesday offered his strongest criticism yet of the Iraqi government's handling of the execution of Saddam Hussein , saying in a PBS Newshour interview with Jim Lehrer that it resembled a “revenge killing:” I was disappointed and felt like they fumbled the – particularly the Saddam Hussein – execution. It reinforced doubts in [...]
Russian Prosecutor-General Yuri Chaika confirmed Tuesday that his office is preparing new money laundering and embezzlement charges against former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky . Lawyers for Khodorkovsky first said they expected new charges last month, but Chaika's comments Tuesday are the first official confirmation of the new investigation. Reuters has more. Khodorkovsky was convicted in [...]
A UN human rights expert has received permission from US officials to visit the United States to examine US practices when detaining terror suspects. Martin Scheinin , the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism , issued a statement on the upcoming visit Tuesday: I look forward to having [...]
