What American Intelligence and Especially the NSA have been Doing to Defend the Nation, National Press Club, Deputy Director of National Intelligence General Michael Hayden, January 23, 2006 . Read the full text of the address. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The US Army has issued new regulations governing the military death penalty . What the Army is calling a "major revision", however, raises questions whether the military is considering its first execution since 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was put to death after being convicted of rape and attempted murder. Currently, there are six [...]

Defense lawyers for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby , the former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney indicted last October in the CIA leak case , petitioned Monday to use classified evidence in his trial, a move that could delay the case. The request and the documents are classified but defense lawyers hinted that [...]

Wisconsin Right to Life v. Federal Election Commission, Supreme Court of the United States, January 23, 2006 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

A federal judge Monday overturned as unconstitutional a Louisiana law that would have moved the state's congressional primary from November to October. Louisiana passed the legislation under the impetus of its "open primary" system that allows all candidates to run together, regardless of party affiliation. If no candidate won over 50%, a run-off primary election [...]

A European Union spokesman said Monday that Turkey's action in dropping charges against novelist Orhan Pamuk for "insulting Turkishness" was "good news". EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn cautioned, however, that other "journalists, editors, writers and academics still face similar charges" in Turkey, and said that the country's lawmakers needed to revise Turkey's penal code to [...]

Cook County Circuit Court Judge Bernetta D. Bush Monday approved a $20 million final settlement in a class action suit against newspaper publishing giant Hollinger International Inc. . Advertisers brought the suit claiming they had been defrauded by inflated circulation numbers for the Chicago Sun-Times and Daily Southtown newspapers. The final settlement terms incorporated the [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday refused to reconsider a federal court ruling that the BlackBerry , the hand-held internet and email device from Research in Motion (RIM) , violated existing patent rights. Last August, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a trial court determination that RIM violated patents held by [...]

Iraq's newly-elected parliament will ignore a constitutional provision on setting the date for their first meeting, officials announced Monday. According to the constitution , approved in the 2005 October referendum , parliament is to meet 15 days after the final certification of an election to elect a speaker and president. Final results of the December [...]

A ban on public gatherings, night-time curfews and other restrictions in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal capital, has been lifted by government officials. Nepalese officials have also lifted a ban on mobile phone use and released senior opposition leaders from house arrest. Nepal's government implemented the restrictions last week in anticipation of expected large-scale demonstrations; [...]