Nine US states reject Bush policy, contemplate pact on greenhouse gases News
Nine US states reject Bush policy, contemplate pact on greenhouse gases

[JURIST] Nine northeastern US states are working on a plan to cap and then reduce the level of greenhouse gas emissions from power facilities, an agreement which would see the states breaking with President Bush, who earlier this summer rejected [JURIST report] the Kyoto Protocol [text] on climate change. Each state legislature in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont would have to approve the cap for carbon dioxide emissions, set at 150 million tons a year. Beginning in 2015, the cap would be lowered, and emissions would be slashed by 10 percent in 2020. California, Washington and Oregon are considering a similar agreement. Reuters has more.

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.