Quattrone asks appeals court to overturn conviction News
Quattrone asks appeals court to overturn conviction

[JURIST] Lawyers for former star investment banker Frank Quattrone asked an appeals court Tuesday to throw out his conviction [JURIST report] due to confusing jury instructions given at his trial. Quattrone, sentenced to 18 months in prison [JURIST report], was convicted on charges [indictment, PDF text] of obstructing a federal stock investigation after he sent out an e-mail to employees at Credit Suisse First Boston [corporate website] that instructed them to "clean out their files." Quattrone's lawyer, Mark Pomerantz, argued that when the judge told jurors to find that Quattrone directed workers to destroy files that were subpoenaed for a federal jury trial, he did not order the jurors to recognize whether Quattrone knew that the documents that were destroyed were subpoenaed documents, as the bank regularly destroyed outdated documents. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Indian National Congress founded

The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded on December 28, 1885 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. In subsequent decades, the so-called Congress Party would advocate for Indian independence from the UK, which was eventually achieved in 1947. The first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, was elected as a member of the INC. Learn more about the history and founding of the Indian National Congress.

Congress recognized Pledge of Allegiance

On December 28, 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and encouraged its recitation in schools. The Pledge was supposedly written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day. The words “under God” were added by Congress in 1954. The revised version of the Pledge was the subject of litigation before the United States Supreme Court originally brought by Michael Newdow, a parent who unsuccessfully objected to his daughter's school district policy requiring daily recitation of the Pledge. The court ruled that Newdow had no standing.

Nepal ends monarchy, establishes republic

On December 28, 2007, the Kingdom of Nepal's interim parliament ended the country's monarchy and established the Republic of Nepal. Free elections were held on April 10 of the following year to elect a Constituent Assembly.

Learn more about the rise of democracy in Nepal.