US House votes to extend Patriot Act News
US House votes to extend Patriot Act

[JURIST] The US House of Representatives [official website] voted Thursday to extend the Patriot Act [text], a key document used to combat terrorism in the US. The measure was approved 257-171 [roll call] with 43 Democrats joining 214 Republicans in voting to extend key provisions of the Act that were set to expire at the end of the year. The majority of the nine-hour debate centered on language making permanent 14 of 16 provisions that had four-year sunset provisions. The bill also includes 10-year extensions to two provisions; one allowing roving wiretaps and another allowing investigations into library and medical records. President Bush praised the vote while some democrats expressed concern that the law may allow civil liberties to be trampled. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Ku Klux Klan founded

The US hate group known as the Ku Klux Klan was founded on December 24, 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee as a reaction to reconstruction efforts following the Union victory in the American Civil War. The group would later become notorious for its attacks on Black Americans, being targeted by the Enforcement Act of 1871, which imposed civil and criminal liability for deprivation of constitutional rights. Read the Enforcement Act of 1871.  

Hamid Karzai born

On December 24, 1957, Hamid Karzai was born in Karz, Afghanistan. He would go on to become in 2004 his country's first elected president after the end of Taliban rule in 2001.