On January 12, 2006, New Jersey Governor Richard J. Codey signed a bill imposing a moratorium on executions into law. The suspension was to last until 60 days after a special commission on the death penalty, which was created by the bill which was passed by the state legislature three days earlier, released its findings. The commission's recommendation to abolish the death penalty in New Jersey was enacted into law on December 17, 2007. Learn more about New Jersey and the laws governing the death penalty from the JURIST news archive.
On January 12, 2008, the Iraqi parliament approved a bill allowing members of Saddam Hussein's now-defunct Baath Party not charged with crimes to be reinstated to public life. The Iraqi De-Baathification Commission had forced the removal of almost 30,000 members of the party from public office. The reform bill had stalled following opposition from a leading Shiite cleric in April 2007, who called it "dangerous." The passage of the reform legislation was praised by the US as meeting one of the stability benchmarks set by the Bush administration in September 2007. Flag of Iraq Learn more about Iraq from the JURIST news archive and read an overview of the Iraq