Judge lifts contempt order for NYT reporter News
Judge lifts contempt order for NYT reporter

[JURIST] US District Judge Thomas F. Hogan [official profile] has lifted a contempt order against New York Times reporter Judith Miller [JURIST news archive] following her testimony Wednesday before a federal grand jury investigating the 2003 leak of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame [JURIST news archive]. Judge Hogan lifted the order hours after Miller testified for a second time before the jury regarding notes she took during a discussion in June 2003 with I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby [official profile], chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. Miller spent 85 days in prison, the longest term ever served by a journalist held in contempt, for refusing to testify until she was released to do so by her source. Miller's most recent testimony referred to notes she found after testifying previously and that referred to Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador who had criticized the Bush administration for its handling of the run up to the war in Iraq. The New York Times has said that it will publish a full account of Miller's story following her testimony. The New York Times has more.

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THIS DAY @ LAW

International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism

November 9 is the International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism [UNITED factsheet]. On November 9, 1924, American gay activist Henry Gerber and several associates formed the Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization in the United States. The Society received a charter from the State of Illinois in December but was disbanded in July 1925 after a police raid which led to Gerber's arrest and trial (albeit not conviction). Pay a virtual visit to Henry Gerber House, now a registered Chicago landmark.

Supreme Court strikes down Massachusetts anti-draft law

On November 9, 1970, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 in Massachusetts v. Laird not to hear the case of the state's anti-draft law. Massachusetts had passed a law, which allowed its citizens to decline to fight in any undeclared war, even if the person was drafted. The law was passed in opposition to the draft and the war in Vietnam. The First Circuit found the war constitutional and thus struck down the law.