The US Senate Judiciary Committee approved the National Security Surveillance Act of 2006 Wednesday, a bill that pushes forward Republicans' efforts to confer legal status on the Bush administration's domestic surveillance program , which involves warrantless wiretapping by the National Security Agency . The bill would subject the program to a review to determine its [...]
Texas' highest court for criminal cases announced Wednesday that it will consider whether to reinstate conspiracy charges against former US Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) . The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a request by Travis County Prosecutor Ronnie Earle , although it did not set a date for oral arguments. The charges of conspiracy [...]
China's Supreme People's Court has promulgated new rules aimed at preventing leaks of information regarding sensitive cases, and has established a system whereunder all court information will flow through court spokesmen, 65 of whom have already been appointed, according to a Wednesday China Daily report . The report did not say how the new spokesman [...]
A federal judge Tuesday ordered the state of Missouri to submit new protocols for carrying out the state death penalty by lethal injection and has refused to authorize executions until revisions are approved. The order by US District Judge Fernando Gaitan , issued Tuesday, marks the second time that Missouri has had to make revisions [...]
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he will not make an exception to the Russian Constitution or other laws in order to pursue a third term for himself in the scheduled 2008 Russian election. In a transcript posted on the Kremlin's website Tuesday, Putin was quoted as acknowledging public polls indicating that the people of [...]
The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) presented a report to the Australian Parliament Wednesday recommending that references to the term "sedition" in the new Australian anti-terrorism laws be removed. The ALRC report presents the group's conclusions after a five-month inquiry. ALRC President David Weisbrot said that continued use of the word is misleading because the [...]
The National Assembly of Serbia voted 219-5 on Tuesday to refer to Kosovo as an "integral and historic" part of Serbia in Serbia's forthcoming constitution, voicing its opposition to efforts by Kosovo to form a fully independent nation. UN-sponsored talks over the Kosovo issue began in February ; in July Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica [...]
Former US Attorney General John Ashcroft , who resigned from the post in November 2004, told an audience at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Tuesday that President Bush has done less harm to civil liberties than any other wartime president in US history, and said that Bush administration efforts to combat terrorism, including [...]
The US military will not pursue the death penalty against US Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr. in the fatal shooting of an Iraqi civilian in Hamdania , a military prosecutor said Tuesday during an Article 32 hearing. Shumate, 21, is accused of firing at Hashim Ibrahim Awad and then providing false official [...]
A lawyer for Momin Khawaja , the first person charged under Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act , urged an Ontario Superior Court judge Tuesday to strike down the anti-terror legislation because it is unconstitutionally vague and violates several provisions of the Canadian Charter on Rights and Freedoms . In a second day of arguments, Lawrence Greenspon told [...]
