Peru won’t commute sentence of American woman News
Peru won’t commute sentence of American woman

[JURIST] Peru says it will ignore any ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights advocating the release of American Lori Berenson. Berenson has been jailed in Peru since her 1995 arrest and 2001 conviction for terrorist collaboration with Marxist guerrillas, the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. She was originally sentenced to life in prison, but was retried and is currently serving a 20 year sentence. Peruvian legal experts believe President Alejandro Toledo has not reduced the sentence because of political pressure to appear tough on terrorism. The IACHR is scheduled to consider this week whether she received a fair trial; read a court press release here (No. 6, in Spanish). AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emporer

On December 25, 800 A.D., Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III in Rome, Italy. During his lifetime, Charlemagne united most of Western Europe for the first time since the fall of the Western Roman Empire. He is credited with spreading the rule of law throughout his dominions as well as starting the French and German monarchies.

President Andrew Johnson pardoned Confederates

On December 25, 1868, President Andrew Johnson granted an unconditional pardon to all who had been involved in "insurrection or rebellion" during the US Civil War.