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[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit [official website] on Tuesday upheld [opinion, PDF] a ban on handguns in two Illinois municipalities. The panel of judges affirmed the district court ruling [opinion, PDF] that the incorporation of the Second Amendment [JURIST news archive] into the Bill of Rights as it is applied to the states is a question for the Supreme Court [official
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[JURIST] An Iraqi court Tuesday convicted and sentenced an Iraqi man to life in prison for the 2004 kidnapping and killing of British aid worker Margaret Hassan [Times Online obituary]. Ali Lutfi al-Rawi, allegedly a member of a gang that kidnapped and killed Hassan in Baghdad, pleaded not guilty to the charges. After a hearing in Baghdad's Central Criminal Court, al-Rawi was found guilty [Times
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[JURIST] Former Enron [JURIST news archive] executive Kevin Howard [DOJ materials] pleaded guilty [plea agreement, PDF] Monday to falsifying books and records in relation to Enron's broadband service. The plea resulted from accusations [complaint text] that Howard indirectly caused the false recording of revenue earnings for Enron by failing to disclose material facts to outside accountant Arthur
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[JURIST] The decision to not release photographs [JURIST report] allegedly depicting detainee abuse followed warnings from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki [official website, in Arabic; BBC profile] that releasing the photos would cause more violence and could delay the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, according to a McClatchy report [text] published Monday. According to the report, Maliki
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[JURIST] US Attorney General Eric Holder [official website] said that appropriate steps would be taken [statement] to help prevent acts of violence related to the Sunday shooting of abortion doctor George Tiller [BBC profile]. Holder has enlisted the US Marshal Service [official website] to offer protection to other at-risk people and facilities in the country. Additionally, Holder maintained
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[JURIST] Canadian Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr [DOD materials; JURIST news archive] Monday asked to have his US military lawyers dismissed [CBC report] for arguing and disagreeing among themselves. The disputes among the members of Khadr's US defense team arose from chief defense counsel Colonel Peter Masciola's efforts to dismiss Lieutenant Commander William Kuebler [JURIST news archive] as
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[JURIST] The US Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative [official website; rule, PDF] went into effect Monday, heightening document requirements [text] for entering and re-entering the US by land or sea. The initiative requires all citizens of the US, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and Caribbean nations to have a passport or other form of approved documentation in order to enter or depart the US. The
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[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] issued an order Monday allowing the government more time to appeal a ruling [JURIST report] mandating the release of photos allegedly depicting detainee abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan. The order, issued by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg [UPI report], follows a Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] request [motion, PDF; JURIST report] last week
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[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Monday granted certiorari [order list, PDF] in Bilski v. Doll [docket; cert. petition, PDF] to review the scope of patentable subject matter. The Court will review a US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit [official website] en banc ruling [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] which affirmed a Board of Patent Appeals and
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[JURIST] The Nevada Assembly [official website] on Sunday approved a same-sex partnership law [SB 283, PDF; materials], overriding the governor's veto [press release, PDF] by a 28-14 vote [roll call vote]. The measure, passed in the state senate [roll call vote] a day earlier by the requisite two-thirds vote, seeks to give same-sex partners the same rights, protections, and benefits as are given
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[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Canada [official website] ruled [judgment text] Friday that a convicted marijuana grower should not have to forfeit her house pursuant to a sentence since asset forfeiture may result in unequal treatment of convicted criminals. The court, reviewing a Court of Appeal for British Columbia [official website] ruling [judgment text], rejected the lower court's totality
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[JURIST] A New York state appeals court ruled [opinion text] that a family court does not have jurisdiction over a child support claim against a same-sex partner with no legal or biological ties to the child. In an opinion released Tuesday, the court ruled that a family court of limited jurisdiction has not been specifically authorized to entertain such claims. Although the court cited precedent
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[JURIST] Defense counsel for Canadian-born media mogul Conrad Black [CBC profile; JURIST news archive] on Thursday submitted [docket] an application for bail [motion, PDF] pending appeal to Justice John Paul Stevens of the US Supreme Court [official website]. The application for bail follows the Supreme Court's recent grant of certiorari [JURIST report] in Black's case, appealing his fraud
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[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] Thursday requested [motion, PDF] the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [official website] to recall an earlier mandate requiring the government to release photos of alleged detainee abuse. The motion asks the court to recall their April ruling [JURIST report] because "the Solicitor General has determined that the government
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[JURIST] German legislators in the lower house of the Bundestag [official website, in German] Thursday approved a bill [text, PDF, in German] that criminalizes training in terrorist camps, among other provisions. Under existing law, prosecution of an individual for involvement in a suspected terrorist organization requires membership in the organization or support of it. The proposed legislation
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[JURIST] The Tokyo High Court [official website, in Japanese] granted an appeal Thursday to consider 30 people for official recognition as atomic bomb victims, ruling that 9 of the plaintiffs who were previously denied should receive the status. Officials said that the government will consider revising [AP report] the way it determines which atomic bomb survivors are to receive free medical care
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[JURIST] A US federal judge Wednesday sentenced [DOJ press release] the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) [ADL backgrounder; case materials] and five of its officials pursuant to their convictions of providing material support to Palestinian group Hamas [BBC backgrounder]. District Judge Jorge Solis sentenced Shurki Abu Baker, Mohammad El-Mezain, Ghassan Elashi, Mufid Abdulqader and Abdulrahman Odeh to
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[JURIST] The photographs of detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib prison [JURIST news archive] that US President Barack Obama [official website] does not want to release include depictions of rape and sexual assault, according to former US Major General Antonio Taguba on Wednesday. In an interview [text] with the Daily Telegraph, Taguba maintained support for Obama's decision [JURIST report] not to
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[JURIST] Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions [official website], the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website], said Wednesday that he does not anticipate a filibuster [AP report] against US Supreme Court [official website] nominee Sonia Sotomayor [official profile]. Sessions addressed [press release] the Judiciary Committee's process, stressing the importance of Sotomayor
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[JURIST] The Constitutional Court of Moldova [official website] has upheld a recent law barring certain government officials from holding dual citizenship. The controversial law no. 273 [backgrounder, PDF] was passed by the Communist Party in April 2008 and, among other provisions, requires citizens to relinquish foreign passports before taking a seat in parliament. The European Court of Human
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[JURIST] Mexican security forces arrested 27 government officials in Michoacan Tuesday on corruption charges related to the illegal drug trade [Los Angeles Times backgrounder]. Those arrested include [Houston Chronicle report] 10 mayors, the chief adviser to the Michoacan attorney general, the director of the Michoacan police academy, and the top public security aide to Governor Leonel Godoy [
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[JURIST] A Tasmanian anti-discrimination court Wednesday upheld [decision text] an Australian Red Cross [organization website] policy [text] to refuse blood donations from sexually active homosexual males. Petitioner Michael Cain tried to donate blood in 2004 but his offer was refused after he affirmatively answered an inquiry into whether he "had male-to-male sex" in the past 12 months. Cain
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[JURIST] A federal judge ruled [order, PDF] Wednesday that recorded conversations [transcript, PDF] between the brother of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich [JURIST news archive], Robert Blagojevich, and Illinois Senator Roland Burris [official profile] could be released to the US Senate Ethics Committee [official website] to be used in the committee's investigation into the appointment of
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[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Sweden [official website, in Swedish] ruled [judgment, PDF, in Swedish] Tuesday that the Swedish government would have the final authority on granting extradition of an alleged Rwandan war criminal. The Republic of Rwanda requested extradition of Hutu Sylvere Ahorugeze for charges of genocide and crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the 1994 genocide [
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[JURIST] An Egyptian court on Monday overturned the conviction of dissident Saad Eddin Ibrahim [professional profile] on charges related to defaming Egypt. Ibrahim, founder of the Ibn Khaldoun Centre for Development Studies [academic website], has been a prominent human rights activist and outspoken critic of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak [BBC profile]. A dual US and Egyptian citizen, he was
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[JURIST] The California Supreme Court [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Tuesday that constitutional challenges to Proposition 8 [text, PDF], which amended the California Constitution [text] to prohibit same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive], lacked merit and that the amendment stands as lawful. The proposition, which took effect in November, 2008 after voter approval [JURIST report],
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[JURIST] US President Barack Obama [WH profile] on Monday announced [press release] Sonia Sotomayor [official profile] as his nomination for the US Supreme Court [official website]. Sotomayor, currently a justice for the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [official website], would replace Justice David Souter [official profile, PDF; JURIST news archive] when he retires [JURIST report] at
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[JURIST] US military lawyers for Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Mohammed Jawad [ACLU materials, JURIST news archive] asked the Supreme Court of Afghanistan [official website] Monday to demand his release from the facility. The lawyers have petitioned the Afghan high court because the planned closure of Guantanamo [JURIST news archive] has allegedly delayed the case [AP report] in
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[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia [official website] on Friday affirmed [opinion, PDF] a district court ruling [JURIST report] that tobacco manufacturers conducted a scheme to deceive American consumers as to the health effects of their products through a pattern of mail and wire fraud. The US brought the initial action under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
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[JURIST] The South Korean Supreme Court [official website, in Korean] on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling allowing a brain-damaged patient the right to die [JURIST news archive]. The patient, a 76-year old woman on life-support at a Yonsei University medical center [hospital website], is brain-dead [Hankyora report] and unable to survive without the use of a respirator. Chief Justice Lee
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[JURIST] Former US soldier Steven Green [JURIST news archive] was sentenced Thursday to life in prison for the rape and murder of an Iraqi teenage girl [JURIST news archive] and the murder of her family in Mahmudiya. A federal jury in the US District Court for the Western District of Kentucky [official website], which convicted [JURIST report] Green earlier this month, was instructed [proposed
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[JURIST] Former US vice president Dick Cheney [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] on Thursday defended national security policies [speech transcript] of the Bush administration. Speaking at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) [organization website], Cheney criticized many of the security policies of President Barack Obama [official profile] and described how the 9/11 terrorist attacks affected
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[JURIST] A French Internet piracy law [text, in French; JURIST news archive] has been challenged on constitutional grounds by the opposition Socialist party [party website, in French] in front of the Constitutional Council [official website, in French]. The bill, introduced by cultural minister Christine Albanel and supported by President Nicholas Sarkozy [official websites, in French], is aimed
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[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] announced [press release] Thursday that accused bomber and Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani [GlobalSecurity profile] will be prosecuted in a US federal court for his alleged role in the 1998 bombings of US embassies [PBS backgrounder] in Kenya and Tanzania. The announcement follows the ordered
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[JURIST] The New Hampshire House of Representatives [official website] on Wednesday rejected a same-sex marriage bill [text] after it was amended [text] at the request [JURIST report] of Governor John Lynch [official website]. The bill was defeated by a 186-188 vote [roll call vote] after a religious liberty protection clause was added to gain Lynch's approval. The amended bill, which specified
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[JURIST] An Italian judge ruled Wednesday that the trial of 26 Americans and seven Italians [JURIST news archive] involving the 2003 abduction of Egyptian cleric Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr by the CIA will proceed despite excluded evidence. Judge Oscar Magi of the Fourth Chamber of the Court of Milan [official website, in Italian] determined that the case will continue despite a ruling [Reuters
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[JURIST] US President Barack Obama [official profile] on Wednesday signed into law [press release] the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act [S 386 materials], which aims at expanding the federal government's authority to prosecute acts of financial fraud. Obama said [press release] that the legislation would "ensure that the problems that led us into this [economic] crisis never happen again." The
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[JURIST] US President Barack Obama [official profile] on Wednesday directed [memorandum] heads of executive departments and agencies that a sufficient legal basis is required to preempt state laws and that any legitimate state prerogatives should be fully considered, marking a departure from Bush administration policy. The memo directs against the inclusion of preemption provisions in federal
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[JURIST] Spain's Congress of Deputies [official website], the lower house of the Spanish parliament, passed a non-binding resolution Tuesday aimed at limiting the exercise of universal jurisdiction [AI backgrounder] over foreign nations in Spanish courts to those cases in which there is no current domestic investigation underway and where there exists a clear connection to Spain. The requisite
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[JURIST] A US military judge on Tuesday granted a government motion to postpone hearings [ruling, PDF] for Saudi Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al-Darbi [DOD materials]. Chief judge for military commissions Colonel James Pohl granted the government's motion for a continuance until September 24, 2009, reasoning that such a delay will permit the government
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[JURIST] A council for the European Union (EU) [official website] on Tuesday said that Turkey should do more [press release, PDF] in terms of judicial reform, protection of citizens' rights, and various other efforts in order to further their request to be granted accession to the EU [criteria materials]. The 47th meeting of the EC-Turkey Association Council was held in Brussels on Tuesday to
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[JURIST] Judge John Bates of the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Tuesday on the limits of detaining terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] who are not actual members of terrorist groups under the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) [text, PDF], rejecting the Obama administration's "substantial support"
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[JURIST] US President Barack Obama [official profile] on Tuesday announced plans [press release] for national fuel efficiency requirements. The policy is aimed at increasing fuel economy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and is projected to conserve 1.8 billion barrels of oil and reduce emissions by an approximate 900 million metric tons. The estimated effect of the emissions reduction [press
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[JURIST] Pro-democracy advocate and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] went on trial Monday in Myanmar for violating the terms of her house arrest. Suu Kyi allegedly violated these terms earlier this month by allowing an American man who swam across a lake [NYT report] to stay with her and faces up to five years imprisonment. Her arrest was controversial and highly
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[JURIST] Five Somalians suspected of piracy [JURIST news archive] went on trial Monday before a Dutch court in Rotterdam. The men are accused of attempting to hijack [NRC Handelsblad report] a Dutch Antilles freighter in the Gulf of Aden in January. The Danish navy seized the Somalians in February and handed them over to Dutch authorities. While at least one of the men has admitted an intention
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[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Monday granted certiorari [order list, PDF] in four cases. In Free Enterprise Fund and Beckstead and Watts, LLP v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board [docket; cert. petition, PDF], the Court will consider whether the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 [GPO materials] violates Constitutional separation of powers by affording
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[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] on Friday reported to Congress [text, PDF] that 2,083 wiretap and search requests for investigating terrorism suspects were granted in 2008 through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) [text; JURIST news archive], a decline from 2,370 in 2007. This was the first decrease in warrants since the 9/11 terror attacks [JURIST
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[JURIST] Sudanese war crimes suspect and rebel leader Bahr Idriss Abu Garda on Sunday surrendered to the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website]. Abu Garda is accused [press release] of committing three crimes against the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) [official website] during a September 2007 attack. The ICC alleges that the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) [official
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[JURIST] A Malawi court on Saturday barred former president Bakili Muluzi [BBC profile] from participating in the upcoming election. The court held [AP report] that the Malawi Constitution [text] prohibits Muluzi from running for office after serving two consecutive five-year terms beginning in 1994. Article 83 of the Malawi Constitution provides that the president, vice president and second vice
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[JURIST] The German Bundestag [official website, in German] voted Wednesday in favor of heightened requirements for late-term abortions including a three-day waiting period and a mandatory psychological evaluation. Current law in Germany outlaws abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy [text, PDF, in German] except in circumstances in which the mental or physical health of the mother is threatened