Peru constitutional court bars fugitive ex-president Fujimori from presidential run News
Peru constitutional court bars fugitive ex-president Fujimori from presidential run

[JURIST] The Peruvian Constitutional Court [official website, in Spanish] has announced that former president Alberto Fujimori [Wikipedia profile; personal website] is barred from running in Peru's 2006 presidential election [Wikipedia backgrounder]. Court President Javier Alva Orlandini said Sunday that the Peruvian Congress banned Fujimori from seeking public office until 2010. Fujimori, who announced plans to run for president [AP report] last Thursday from his refuge in Japan, is also disqualified from seeking that particular office. Alva said Fujimori, a Japanese citizen currently avoiding extradition back to Peru [JURIST report] after fleeing the country in 2000, can return, but he must face a list of charges [JURIST report], including embezzlement of public funds and dereliction of duty. Xinhua has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Georgia became first US state to ban lynching

On December 20, 1893, Georgia became the first state in the Union to pass a law against lynching, making the act punishable by four years in prison. The statute was not particularly effective—read the text of the 1899 pamphlet Lynch Law in Georgia by anti-lynching activist Ida Wells-Barnett.