DOJ motion to dismiss war powers lawsuit [US DC] News
DOJ motion to dismiss war powers lawsuit [US DC]

Doe v. Bush, United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, US Department of Justice, motion to dismiss a lawsuit against President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld challenging the authority of the Bush and Rumsfeld to wage war against Iraq absent a clear declaration of war by the US Congress, February 20, 2003. Read the memorandum in support of the motion to dismiss [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

No lynchings reported in US for first time

On December 30, 1952, the Tuskegee Institute reported that 1952 was the first year of no lynchings of African Americans in the United States in the 71 years it had kept records. Learn more about lynching and listen to Billie Holiday's jazz recording of the 1938 protest song Strange Fruit.

USSR established

On December 30, 1922, representatives of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and the Transcaucus approved the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, creating the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). During World War II, the USSR would also annex Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Moldova. Learn more about the history of the USSR from the BBC.