DeLay to get new judge in Texas criminal case News
DeLay to get new judge in Texas criminal case

[JURIST] Texas Judge C.W. Duncan ruled Monday afternoon that Rep. Tom DeLay [official website; JURIST news archive] will get a new judge to preside over his trial on money laundering and criminal conspiracy charges [JURIST report]. In granting DeLay's recusal motion [JURIST report], Duncan said that Judge Bob Perkins should be replaced because of his donations to Democratic candidates and causes. Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle [official website] has said that Perkins should not be required to recuse himself [Houston Chronicle report] or be disqualified merely for exercising his constitutional right to make political contributions, but DeLay's attorney on Monday argued that Perkins should be removed [AP report] to "protect the integrity" of the judicial system because his campaign donations to democratic groups create an "appearance of bias." AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Ku Klux Klan founded

The US hate group known as the Ku Klux Klan was founded on December 24, 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee as a reaction to reconstruction efforts following the Union victory in the American Civil War. The group would later become notorious for its attacks on Black Americans, being targeted by the Enforcement Act of 1871, which imposed civil and criminal liability for deprivation of constitutional rights. Read the Enforcement Act of 1871.  

Hamid Karzai born

On December 24, 1957, Hamid Karzai was born in Karz, Afghanistan. He would go on to become in 2004 his country's first elected president after the end of Taliban rule in 2001.