Chesapeake Bay group files suit against EPA to stop nitrogen pollution News
Chesapeake Bay group files suit against EPA to stop nitrogen pollution

[JURIST] The Chesapeake Bay Foundation filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Environmental Protection Agency seeking to force the agency to take action on nitrogen entering the bay and harming animals. According to the environmental group, nitrogen entering the watershed from a variety of sources, such as manure runoff from farms and sewage plants, creates huge algae blooms that choke out other forms of life like fish and crabs. The group has been seeking a permit program on nitrogen releases by sewage plants since last December, but EPA has yet to take action. Read the complaint [PDF] and a press release. Read more about EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program. The Washington Post has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.