Rudolph pleads guilty to Alabama abortion clinic bombing News
Rudolph pleads guilty to Alabama abortion clinic bombing

[JURIST] Eric Rudolph [Wikipedia profile], who last week agreed to plead guilty [JURIST report] to the Atlanta Olympic bombings, pleaded guilty Wednesday to the 1998 Birmingham abortion clinic bombing [indictment, PDF], which killed two people and left over 100 wounded. Under the plea agreement, Rudolph will receive four consecutive life prison terms, but will not face the death penalty. Following Wednesday's hearing in Alabama, Rudolph was flown to Atlanta where he will plead guilty to charges [indictment, PDF] stemming from three other bombings, including one during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. AP has more. The Birmingham News has local coverage.

4:10 PM ET – AP is reporting that Rudolph has now pleaded guilty to the 1996 Olympics bombing and two other Atlanta-area bombings.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.