Emergency legislation allows federal courts in New Orleans to relocate News
Emergency legislation allows federal courts in New Orleans to relocate

[JURIST] Emergency legislation allowing federal courts in New Orleans to relocate operations in the wake of Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive] was signed by President Bush Thursday. Faced with a halt in judicial work [JURIST report] at courthouses in the devastated city, the House and Senate hurriedly approved HR 3650 [bill summary], which amends geographic restrictions [Speedy Trial Act of 1974 text] on where federal courts can conduct business, allowing them to operate outside their district boundaries in emergencies. Judges and employees from the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana [official website] are expected to relocate to Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Houma. Bankruptcy court personnel are expected to relocate to Baton Rouge, where they will share space with the bankruptcy court there. The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit [official website], which covers Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi, is already operating [JURIST report] from offices in Houston. Filing deadlines for all the courts have been extended, with specific information available on the court websites. The Administrative Office of the US Courts [official website] has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN General Assembly approves Palestine partition plan

The UN General Assembly approved UN Resolution Resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947, recommending that the British Mandate for Palestine be split into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone for Jerusalem. The vote in the assembly was 33 for to 13 against, with 10 abstentions. The resolution sparked a war between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in 1947 and a wider war after Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the new State of Israel in 1948. Read Resolution 181 (II).

UN divided Palestine between Arabs and Jews

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab territories, leading to the establishment of a Jewish state the following year. Read UN General Assembly Resolution 181.

Defense Secretary Robert McNamara resigns during Vietnam Conflict

On November 29, 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that he was resigning from his office to accept an appointment as head of the World Bank. The announcement came as the Vietnam Conflict was becoming increasingly unpopular in the United States and abroad.