200+ Florida immigration detainees could be released after high court ruling News
200+ Florida immigration detainees could be released after high court ruling

[JURIST] More than 200 foreign nationals currently being detained in US immigration facilities could be released under a recent Supreme Court ruling [JURIST Gazette report] according to figures released Monday by Cheryl Little [official profile], executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center [advocacy website]. Last month in Clark v. Martinez [PDF text], the high court held that illegal immigrants could only be held subject to a detention order and not be held simply because they could not be returned to their home countries. The US Department of Homeland Security [department website] estimated that about 920 detainees around the country have been affected by the ruling, but hasn't released the location or names of those detainees. The Miami Herald has local coverage.

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.