Republicans offer compromise on Patriot Act renewal News
Republicans offer compromise on Patriot Act renewal

[JURIST] Two days after US House Judiciary Committee [official site] Chairman James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-WI) [official profile] introduced a bill [HR 3199 text] to make existing provisions of the Patriot Act [JURIST news archive] permanent, Judiciary Committee members Wednesday debated a possible GOP compromise on term lengths for the new provisions. Dan Lungren (R-CA) [official website] has proposed renewing two provisions for 10 years instead of permanently: the government's power to secretly obtain private records, and the power to wiretap multiple phones used by a suspect with a warrant for only one line. Bobby Scott (D-VA) [official website] previously proposed an amendment calling for reauthorization in 2009 that was defeated along party lines; Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) [official website] offered another with a 2011 date. Sensebrenner hopes to bring the bill to the full House for a vote next week. Reuters has more.

8:30 PM ET – The House Judiciary Committee later approved the renewal legislation as amended by a vote of 23-14. The Committee has issued this press release.

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.