Federal judge bars US from sending detainees abroad without notice News
Federal judge bars US from sending detainees abroad without notice

[JURIST] US District Judge Henry Kennedy [official profile] issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday ordering the military to give detainees' lawyers 30 days' notice before transferring a detainee from Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] to the custody of foreign governments, allowing time for the transfer to be challenged. After considering whether US courts have jurisdiction to oversee decisions about where to move Gitmo detainees [JURIST report], Judge Kennedy said he was preventing transfers without advance notice to bar the government from "unilaterally and silently taking actions" to move detainees outside the reach of US courts. Read Judge Kennedy's memorandum opinion [PDF text] and order [PDF text]. The Washington Post 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.