British AG denies lack of involvement on Iraq legal justification News
British AG denies lack of involvement on Iraq legal justification

[JURIST] British Attorney General Lord Goldsmith [official profile] issued a statement Friday denying reports that his 2003 parliamentary answer [text; JURIST report] on the legality of the Iraq invasion had been drawn up in the Prime Minister's office. Earlier this week, British papers reported that the answer, presented to Parliament as Lord Goldsmith's official opinion, was drawn up in No. 10 Downing Street [JURIST report], not the attorney general's chambers. In his Friday statement, Lord Goldsmith said the answer had been prepared in his own office and "I was fully involved throughout the drafting process and personally finalised, and of course approved, the answer." The UK Press Association has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Georgia became first US state to ban lynching

On December 20, 1893, Georgia became the first state in the Union to pass a law against lynching, making the act punishable by four years in prison. The statute was not particularly effective—read the text of the 1899 pamphlet Lynch Law in Georgia by anti-lynching activist Ida Wells-Barnett.