Guantanamo detainee habeas petition ruling [US DC] News
Guantanamo detainee habeas petition ruling [US DC]

Mohammed El Gharani v. George W. Bush, et al., US District Court for the District of Columbia, January 14, 2009 [ruling that the government had failed to establish by a preponderance of evidence that Guantanamo detainee Mohammed El Gharani was an "enemy combatant", and directing the detainee's release]. Read the full text of the opinion [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

First Fleet departs from England to establish penal colony in Australia

On May 13, 1787, the First Fleet departed from England, carrying 780 British convicts to establish a penal colony in Australia. Led by Captain Arthur Philip, all eleven ships arrived safely in Botany Bay, New South Wales, Australia in January of 1788.

Read Captain Philip's account of his voyage on Project Gutenberg, and learn more about the journey and its impact from First Fleet online.

Federal government denied funding to segregated school districts

On May 13, 1966, the US federal government took its first action against violators of the desegregation guidelines of the 1964 Civil Rights Act by denying federal education funding for 12 segregated Southern school districts. Learn more about school desegregation.