Prosecutors in Mauritania have charged five people, including a Defense Ministry advisor with close ties to ousted autocratic ruler Maaouiya Ould Taya , with "plotting to reverse the constitutional order" by overthrowing the military junta. The suspects, charged Tuesday, were arrested June 19 for allegedly conspiring to disrupt the constitutional referendum that overwhelmingly passed in [...]

Colorado Gov. Bill Owens signed a bill Tuesday that sets the minimum age for a common-law marriage at 18, or at 16 with judicial approval. The new law is a response to a Colorado Court of Appeals decision in June that the English common law minimum age of 12 applied because Colorado had no stated [...]

An Israeli military tribunal has released one of the eight Palestinian Cabinet ministers detained by Israeli forces last month, though the Israel Defense Forces have not explained why planning minister Samir Abu Eisheh was released. Three other Hamas ministers were held for further questioning for five to 10 days, and nine other Hamas leaders detained [...]

Adel al-Lami, the director general of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, and 10 other employees have been arrested after al-Lami surrendered to an arrest warrant, Judge Radhi al-Radhi , chairman of the Iraqi High Commission on Public Integrity , said Tuesday. The 11 suspects were arrested on charges of corruption after five members of [...]

The Internet video site YouTube was sued in federal district court Tuesday for alleged copyright infringement related to video of the beating of trucker Reginald Denny during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. The suit was filed by the Los Angeles News Service, a company founded by helicopter pilot Bob Tur and his wife, who allege [...]

Kyrgyz security forces have arrested six men who reportedly confessed to organizing last year's unrest in Uzbekistan that resulted in the massacre of unarmed Uzbek civilians by government troops in Andijan. Uzbek officials said the men confessed to Kyrgystan's SNB security service, and a Kyrgyz police spokesman said one of the suspects possessed 14 ounces [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Dale Carpenter of the University of Minnesota Law School says while the recent New York Court of Appeals ruling against same-sex marriage is an ostensible legal setback, it may prompt gay marriage advocates to emphasize legislative progress, which will produce gains that are more durable and less likely to infuriate opponents than [...]

Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales urged Congress to authorize military commissions to try terror detainees following the US Supreme Court's decision last month in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld , where the Court held that the military commissions as initially constituted by the Bush administration lacked proper legal authorization [...]

Roe v. Crawford, United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Judge Dean Whipple, July 18, 2006 . Read the full text of the ruling . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, passed by the US Senate July 18, 2006 . Read the full text of the bill . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.