UPDATE ~ UN Security Council puts East Timor tribunal report on hold News
UPDATE ~ UN Security Council puts East Timor tribunal report on hold

[JURIST] Despite calls for urgent action by advocacy groups [JURIST report] and a UN panel recommendation, UN officials indicated Wednesday that the UN Security Council was moving slowly on the establishment of a tribunal in investigate the East Timor violence of 1999 [BBC backgrounder], waiting to publish the full UN panel report proposing the establishment of a tribunal [JURIST report] until both Indonesia and East Timor have added their views. The decision to hold off on publication came at the request of the US, China, and Russia. The report, leaked but not officially published, has already been rejected by Indonesia [JURIST report]. 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.