Soldier won’t be charged with Iraqi deaths News
Soldier won’t be charged with Iraqi deaths

[JURIST] Charges will not be brought against a US Army captain for allegedly ordering his subordinates to kill Iraqi insurgents in retaliation for an attack on a US base, the Army announced Friday. Captain Michael Cunningham was facing possible charges of solicitation of murder and involuntary manslaughter, but following the acquittal of one of Cunningham's subordinates [coverage of acquittal], a 4th Infantry Division spokesperson said the case had "lost prosecutorial merits." Prosecutors believed Cunningham gave subordinates a list of insurgents who were "not to come back alive" if they were found alive. Cunningham was also one of three officers reprimanded last year [JURIST report] for covering up an incident where an Iraqi man drowned after US soldiers forced him into a river for violating a curfew. 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.