Recess appointment for Bolton could come this week News
Recess appointment for Bolton could come this week

[JURIST] With the Senate stalled on a vote [JURIST report] for the controversial nomination of John Bolton [JURIST report] as the US Ambassador to the United Nations, President Bush may install him via recess appointment [CRS backgrounder, PDF] before the end of the week. The appointment would allow Bolton to step in as an ambassador without Senate approval, but only until January 2007. On Monday, White House spokesman Scott McClellan declined to say if Bolton would receive a recess appointment after Congress begins a month-long recess at the end of the week. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism

November 9 is the International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism [UNITED factsheet]. On November 9, 1924, American gay activist Henry Gerber and several associates formed the Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization in the United States. The Society received a charter from the State of Illinois in December but was disbanded in July 1925 after a police raid which led to Gerber's arrest and trial (albeit not conviction). Pay a virtual visit to Henry Gerber House, now a registered Chicago landmark.

Supreme Court strikes down Massachusetts anti-draft law

On November 9, 1970, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 in Massachusetts v. Laird not to hear the case of the state's anti-draft law. Massachusetts had passed a law, which allowed its citizens to decline to fight in any undeclared war, even if the person was drafted. The law was passed in opposition to the draft and the war in Vietnam. The First Circuit found the war constitutional and thus struck down the law.