US House debates Patriot Act extension, vote expected Friday News
US House debates Patriot Act extension, vote expected Friday

[JURIST] The US House of Representatives will debate its version of a bill Thursday to extend the Patriot Act [text], which after months of debate has seen 20 amendments adopted and 47 proposed [JURIST report]. The final version of the bill [JURIST report] to be voted on does not, however, contain proposed amendments that would end the government's investigative powers at libraries and bookstores, or amendments that would renew certain powers for four years instead of 10, as in the final version of the bill. The US Senate is currently debating its own bill [JURIST report] regarding the extension of the Patriot Act. The New York Times has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

No lynchings reported in US for first time

On December 30, 1952, the Tuskegee Institute reported that 1952 was the first year of no lynchings of African Americans in the United States in the 71 years it had kept records. Learn more about lynching and listen to Billie Holiday's jazz recording of the 1938 protest song Strange Fruit.

USSR established

On December 30, 1922, representatives of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and the Transcaucus approved the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, creating the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). During World War II, the USSR would also annex Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Moldova. Learn more about the history of the USSR from the BBC.