Bush administration asks appeals court to allow secret searches of records News
Bush administration asks appeals court to allow secret searches of records

[JURIST] The Bush administration has asked the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals [official website] to overturn a decision [opinion text] made last year by a US District Court preventing the government from conducting secret searches of communications records. The District Court ruling came in a case considering whether an ISP was required to release records to the FBI. The court found the law that authorized these searches wrongly barred legal challenges and imposed a gag order on affected businesses. The filing of the appeal occurs amid a debate in Congress over whether to renew the Patriot Act and expand the FBI's power to to demand records without a judicial order. AP has more.

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.