Obama announces nominee for solicitor general News
Obama announces nominee for solicitor general
Photo source or description

[JURIST] US President Barack Obama announced [press release] Monday that he will nominate veteran Supreme Court lawyer and former clerk for Supreme Court Justice William Brennan Donald Verrilli [Oyez profile] for the position of solicitor general [DOJ backgrounder]. Verrilli, who currently serves as deputy counsel to the president, has argued a dozen cases [WSJ report] before the Supreme Court [official website], including Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd. [opinion]. In that case, the court found for Verilli’s clients, MGM, that companies can be held liable if their software is used to illegally distribute copyrighted material. If confirmed, Verrilli would replace former solicitor general Elena Kagan [FJC profile; JURIST news archive], who was sworn in [JURIST report] as a Supreme Court justice in August. The White House also announced Monday that Obama will nominate David Cohen [official profile] for Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes.

The solicitor general is formally responsible for conducting all litigation on behalf of the US government in the US Supreme Court and supervising the handling of US litigation in federal appellate courts. Neal Katyal [official profile] has been the Acting Solicitor General since Kagan left the office for the Supreme Court. The Senate confirmed Kagan as solicitor general in March 2009, two months after Obama nominated her [JURIST reports].

THIS DAY @ LAW

Pope Urban II sparks First Crusade

Pope Urban II threw his support behind what would become the First Crusade on November 27, 1095 during the Council of Clairmont. The Pope urged the council's participants to render aid to the Byzantine Empire, which was being attacked by the Seljuks. Pope Urban called for a wide coalition of rich and poor to combat the threat, which eventually resulted in the conquest of much of the Muslim-controlled Levant by the Crusaders and the establishment of the Crusader States. Read Pope Urban's address.  

Catholic Code of Canon Law revised

On November 27, 1983, the revised Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church went into effect. Learn more about the history of Canon Law from Professor Kenneth Pennington of the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law.

Alfred Nobel creates Nobel Prize in his will

On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his will, creating the Nobel Prize. Learn more about the history of the Nobel Prize and the Nobel Commission.