Ex-New Orleans mayor calls for compensation fund for Katrina victims News
Ex-New Orleans mayor calls for compensation fund for Katrina victims

[JURIST] Former New Orleans mayor and current President and CEO of the National Urban League [advocacy website] Marc Morial [official profile] has called for a Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive] victim's compensation fund, similar to the one created in the wake of the 9/11 attacks [Wikipedia backgrounder]. Speaking at the University of Pennsylvania Monday, Morial also called [press release] for a "Victims Bill of Rights," asking Congress to pass legislation to ensure disaster unemployment assistance for those who have lost their jobs and the protection of voting rights for the displaced. He also recommended the creation of a bipartisan commission to investigate the "miserably failed response" to the storm. In a statement [text] Tuesday, President Bush said that he took responsibility [AP report] "to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right." AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Hitler and Nazis attempt failed coup in Beer Hall Putsch

Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party attempted an ill-faited coup in Munich, Germany on November 8, 1923. Instead of seizing power, the conspirators suffered 15 casualties and their leaders were arrested, including Hitler. The future dictator would spend a year in prison as a result, where he would write his infamous Mein Kampf. Learn more about the Beer Hall Putsch.

Oregon legalized physician-assisted suicide

On November 8, 1994, Oregon passed the Death With Dignity Act by voter initiative, becoming the first US state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. Read the Death With Dignity Act,

France government opens the Louvre as a public museum

On November 8, 1793, the revolutionary government in France opened the Louvre for the first time as a public museum. Learn more about the history of the Louvre.