The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has asked that a jury verdict finding it negligent in the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center be set aside. According to a motion filed earlier this week, the Port Authority is arguing that the judge in the case, New York Supreme Court Judge Nicholas [...]
Former Hollinger International executive Jack Boultbee Wednesday pleaded not guilty to fraud charges a week after failing to appear for his originally scheduled arraignment. Boultbee appeared in a Chicago court to answer charges stemming from millions allegedly diverted from the company by former CEO Conrad Black . Boultbee, a former executive vice president, was released [...]
The US Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday ruled in a 2-1 decision that restrictions imposed on telemarketers by North Dakota help to maintain privacy and are not overly broad. The court's holding reverses a district court ruling striking down the law. Under the law, Century Code Chapter 51-28 , non-profit groups are no [...]
Australian Human Rights Commissioner Sev Ozdowski , whose statutory appointment to the post ends Wednesday, has urged his successor to push for an Australian bill of rights to counter the tough anti-terror laws that the Australian Senate passed Tuesday. An avid opponent of children in immigration detention, Ozdowski voiced concerns about the lack of a [...]
British playwright Harold Pinter , winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature , has called for war crimes charges against US President Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair in an acceptance speech to be shown Saturday at the award ceremony in Stockholm. Pinter, a longtime critic of the Iraq war , characterized it [...]
Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Calvin Johnson has ordered the release without bail of as many as 100 prisoners who were arrested before Hurricane Katrina ravaged the area, but were never charged. Johnson, who was appointed to hear the cases in Baton Rouge by the Louisiana Supreme Court, ordered the releases of the inmates [...]
The US Supreme Court on Wednesday heard two cases involving jury deliberations in death penalty cases. In the first, Oregon v. Guzek , the Court considered whether juries can weigh any doubts they have about a defendant's guilt in deciding whether to impose the death sentence. In Kansas v. Marsh , the Court considered whether [...]
US Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald on Wednesday presented additional evidence to a newly empaneled grand jury in the CIA leak case . Fitzgerald has continued his probe and is reportedly considering charges against White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove after gathering new information from Washington Post Assistant Managing Editor Bob Woodward . The [...]
US Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) , chairman of the House Armed Services Committee , has said that the final version of the 2006 defense spending bill will likely contain a ban on cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of foreign terrorism suspects and a requirement to use proper interrogation techniques. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) , a [...]
A Chilean appeals court on Wednesday stripped former dictator Augusto Pinochet of immunity from prosecution for the disappearance of an additional 29 leftists under his regime. The ruling allows the 29 cases to be joined with nine others for which Pinochet was previously indicted and declared fit to stand trial . The kidnappings were part [...]
