11th Circuit throws out $55 million verdict against Salvadoran generals News
11th Circuit throws out $55 million verdict against Salvadoran generals

[JURIST] The US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals [official website] has reversed a $54.6 million verdict against two retired Salvadoran generals for allegedly allowing torture and other abuses during a 12-year civil war in El Salvador. The court ruled Monday that the three victims had not proven circumstances that prevented them from filing the suit within the 10-year statute of limitations under the Torture Victim Protection Act [text] of 1991, which allowed US courts to decide cases involving torture in other countries. A jury convicted Salvadoran Gens. Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova and Jose Guillermo Garcia, both of whom now live in the US, for allowing torture and other human rights violations during the civil war that ended in 1992. Read the court's opinion [text, PDF]. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Pope Urban II sparks First Crusade

Pope Urban II threw his support behind what would become the First Crusade on November 27, 1095 during the Council of Clairmont. The Pope urged the council's participants to render aid to the Byzantine Empire, which was being attacked by the Seljuks. Pope Urban called for a wide coalition of rich and poor to combat the threat, which eventually resulted in the conquest of much of the Muslim-controlled Levant by the Crusaders and the establishment of the Crusader States. Read Pope Urban's address.  

Catholic Code of Canon Law revised

On November 27, 1983, the revised Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church went into effect. Learn more about the history of Canon Law from Professor Kenneth Pennington of the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law.

Alfred Nobel creates Nobel Prize in his will

On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his will, creating the Nobel Prize. Learn more about the history of the Nobel Prize and the Nobel Commission.