Specter previews confirmation hearing questions for Miers

News

Specter previews confirmation hearing questions for Miers

October 26, 2005 03:29:00 pm

[JURIST] US Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website; JURIST news archive] previewed a range of confirmation questions for controversial US Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers [JURIST archive] Wednesday. In a letter [AP text], he told Miers she should expect inquiries about the war on terror and whether she would give "special deference" to President Bush. Specter also said he wanted to know Miers' views on constitutional issues such as whether the president should be allowed to militarize troops without a declaration of war from Congress and whether there are limits for how long prisoners can be detained at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. Specter's letter follows repeated Senate requests for more information from Miers and the White House about her qualifications and record. AP 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.

UN Drug Trafficking Convention signed

On December 20, 1988, the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances was signed in Vienna, Austria. The treaty provides mechanisms for international coordination in preventing the manufacture and distribution of drugs worldwide. Over 170 countries have signed the treaty to date.