Judge Patricia Williams of the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Washington on Thursday rejected a $45.7 million settlement agreement offered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane to 75 clergy sex abuse complainants in February. William ruled that because the settlement only covered 75 of approximately 185 abuse complaints against the diocese, [...]
Fifteen Saudi detainees who were being held at Guantanamo Bay arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday. The US transferred the detainees to Saudi custody after the transfers were approved by a Guantanamo Administrative Review Board . Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal on Wednesday said that 16 Saudi detainees would be returned to the country, where [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Victor Hansen of New England School of Law says that the development of US detainee policy at Guantanamo demonstrates what can happen when government lawyers forget that their duty is not to a governmental official or a political party, but rather to their departments and the Constitution and people of the United [...]
The US Senate on Thursday approved two controversial amendments to the immigration reform bill on the status of English in the United States. The first amendment, proposed by Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) and passed 63-34 , would make English the national language of the United States. The measure drew some heated opposition, most notably from [...]
Brenda Haglund, executrix vs. Philip Morris Incorporated, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, May 18, 2006 . Read the full text of the opinion. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
A federal judge Thursday dismissed a highly-publicized lawsuit brought by the ACLU against CIA Director George Tenet and other agency officials and employees on behalf of Khalid El-Masri , a German national who alleges that he was kidnapped in Macedonia in 2003 in an instance of extraordinary rendition , held by the CIA in Afghanistan [...]
Proclamation, Nepal House of Representatives, May 18, 2006 . In respect of the sacrifices and participation made by the Nepalese people in the peaceful joint people's movement, In due attention to the fact that the people had shown keen interest through the peaceful joint people's movement that took place some time back, on establishing that [...]
General Michael Hayden defended the legality of the NSA's domestic surveillance program Thursday and said that the program was a critical tool in tracking down terrorists, in testimony during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on his nomination as CIA director. Though Hayden, who headed the NSA from 1999-2005, answered questions [...]
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned in a speech delivered in Japan Thursday that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty faces a twin crisis of "confidence and complicity":The Treaty embodies a contract between the nuclear weapon States and the rest of the international community. The former committed themselves to move towards general disarmament, and to refrain from threatening [...]
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled Thursday that tobacco giant Philip Morris Inc. cannot avoid liability in a wrongful death lawsuit by claiming that smokers should know that cigarettes are dangerous. Brenda Haglund had sued the tobacco company for the wrongful death of her husband. The court said that her lawsuit could proceed because the [...]
