US soldier found not guilty of murder in Iraqi death News
US soldier found not guilty of murder in Iraqi death

[JURIST] Army staff sergeant Shane Werst was acquitted of murder Thursday for shooting unarmed Iraqi Naser Ismail after a trial that began Monday [JURIST report]. Werst said he fired his weapon at the suspected insurgent during house raids in Iraq to save a fellow soldier when Ismail lunged for the soldier's weapon. After shooting him, Werst fired Ismail's weapon into a couch and told another soldier to put the Iraqi's fingerprints on it to make the shooting look like self-defense. The jury included two officers and four soldiers and deliberated for only three hours before finding Werst not guilty. 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.