Border protection bill [US House] News
Border protection bill [US House]

Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, passed by the US House of Representatives, December 16, 2005 [legislation tightening illegal immigration controls, including plans to build a security fence across 621 miles of the Mexican border and authorizing the US Department of Homeland Security to study the possibility of placing barriers across the famously "undefended" US border with Canada]. Read the full text of the legislation [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.