AL court rules against dead ex-Klansman convicted of 1963 church bombing News
AL court rules against dead ex-Klansman convicted of 1963 church bombing

[JURIST] The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals issued a ruling Friday denying a rehearing for Bobby Frank Cherry, a former Ku Klux Klansman convicted in 2002 of the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. The bomb killed four black girls. The ruling came one day after Cherry died in prison at the age of 74. The appeals court in August had upheld Cherry's four murder convictions and life sentences in the death of the girls. Two other former Klansman were convicted in the bombing: Robert Chambliss, who died in prison, and Thomas Blanton Junior, who remains in prison on a life sentence. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Laws of Burgos put into effect

The Spanish Crown put the Laws of Burgos into effect on December 27, 1512. These laws governed the relationship of Spanish settlers with the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean. The laws established the encomienda system of labor, promoted conversion to Catholicism, and safeguarded the indigenous peoples from physical abuse.  However, historians argue that the laws were ineffective at protecting the rights of the indigenous population. Learn more from the Library of Congress.

Prohibitionist Carrie Nation carried out her first public bar smashing

On December 27, 1900, militant Prohibitionist Carrie Nation carried out her first public smashing of a bar, at the Carey Hotel in Wichita, Kansas. Nation argued that destroying bars was an acceptable means of battling the liquor trade since the Kansas Constitution prohibited alcohol. Learn more about Carrie Nation.

World Bank created

On December 27, 1944, the World Bank was created during the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA. Learn more about the history of the World Bank.