Second Gitmo detainee to be released following status review hearing News
Second Gitmo detainee to be released following status review hearing

[JURIST] The Department of Defense announced Monday that according to a DOD panel a detainee held at Guantanamo Bay was wrongly classified as an enemy combatant and would be released soon. Navy Secretary Gordon England refused to identify the man or where he was from. The determination by a combatant status review tribunal sitting at Guantanamo is only the second finding that a detainee has been wrongly held. In 228 other hearings already decided, the military has upheld the enemy combatant designation. Other detainees have been released by the US prior to their detention being reviewed by the tribunal. The Pentagon provides recorded video of today's press briefing by Secretary England here. JURIST's Paper Chase has more coverage on legal developements at Guantanamo Bay. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism

November 9 is the International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism [UNITED factsheet]. On November 9, 1924, American gay activist Henry Gerber and several associates formed the Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization in the United States. The Society received a charter from the State of Illinois in December but was disbanded in July 1925 after a police raid which led to Gerber's arrest and trial (albeit not conviction). Pay a virtual visit to Henry Gerber House, now a registered Chicago landmark.

Supreme Court strikes down Massachusetts anti-draft law

On November 9, 1970, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 in Massachusetts v. Laird not to hear the case of the state's anti-draft law. Massachusetts had passed a law, which allowed its citizens to decline to fight in any undeclared war, even if the person was drafted. The law was passed in opposition to the draft and the war in Vietnam. The First Circuit found the war constitutional and thus struck down the law.