BREAKING NEWS ~ Texas indicts DeLay PAC, business group for campaign contribution violations News
BREAKING NEWS ~ Texas indicts DeLay PAC, business group for campaign contribution violations

[JURIST] A Texas grand jury has indicted a political action committee formed by US House Majority Leader Tom DeLay [official website] and a Texas business group on charges relating to campaign contributions for DeLay's 2002 congressional campaign, though DeLay himself was not charged. Texans for a Republican Majority was charged with illegally accepting a $100,000 political contribution, and the Texas Association of Business has been charged with unlawful political advertising, unlawful contributions to a political committee, and unlawful expenditures. The Austin American-Statesman has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Indian National Congress founded

The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded on December 28, 1885 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. In subsequent decades, the so-called Congress Party would advocate for Indian independence from the UK, which was eventually achieved in 1947. The first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, was elected as a member of the INC. Learn more about the history and founding of the Indian National Congress.

Congress recognized Pledge of Allegiance

On December 28, 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and encouraged its recitation in schools. The Pledge was supposedly written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day. The words “under God” were added by Congress in 1954. The revised version of the Pledge was the subject of litigation before the United States Supreme Court originally brought by Michael Newdow, a parent who unsuccessfully objected to his daughter's school district policy requiring daily recitation of the Pledge. The court ruled that Newdow had no standing.

Nepal ends monarchy, establishes republic

On December 28, 2007, the Kingdom of Nepal's interim parliament ended the country's monarchy and established the Republic of Nepal. Free elections were held on April 10 of the following year to elect a Constituent Assembly.

Learn more about the rise of democracy in Nepal.