Senate Judiciary Committee gives nod to Pryor nomination News
Senate Judiciary Committee gives nod to Pryor nomination

[JURIST] The US Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] approved the nomination of William Pryor [DOJ profile] for the US Court of Appeals by a 10-8 party line vote Thursday. Pryor has a temporary place on the US Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals under a recess appointment [JURIST report] made after his nomination failed to pass the committee last year, but he will have to win a full Senate vote to permanently hold the seat. Democrats filibustered Pryor and other Bush nominees during his first term and have threatened to continue the practice. Democrats and activist groups like People for the American Way [advocacy website] contend that Pryor's views on abortion and gay rights would prevent him from being an impartial judge [PFAW press release]. President Bush has repeatedly called for an up-or-down Senate vote [JURIST report] on his judicial nominees, and Republicans have threatened to ban judicial nominee filibusters [JURIST report]. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has said that he expects that a showdown over judicial nominees could begin as soon as next week [JURIST report]. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN General Assembly approves Palestine partition plan

The UN General Assembly approved UN Resolution Resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947, recommending that the British Mandate for Palestine be split into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone for Jerusalem. The vote in the assembly was 33 for to 13 against, with 10 abstentions. The resolution sparked a war between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in 1947 and a wider war after Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the new State of Israel in 1948. Read Resolution 181 (II).

UN divided Palestine between Arabs and Jews

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab territories, leading to the establishment of a Jewish state the following year. Read UN General Assembly Resolution 181.

Defense Secretary Robert McNamara resigns during Vietnam Conflict

On November 29, 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that he was resigning from his office to accept an appointment as head of the World Bank. The announcement came as the Vietnam Conflict was becoming increasingly unpopular in the United States and abroad.