Colombia ex-justice minister to be charged in death of presidential candidate News
Colombia ex-justice minister to be charged in death of presidential candidate

[JURIST] Colombian prosecutors plan to file charges against former justice minister Alberto Santofimio Botero [BBC report] in connection with the 1989 assassination of Liberal party presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan [Wikipedia profile], the attorney general's office announced Wednesday. Santofimio will face homicide and conspiracy charges for Galan's assassination, which took place as he spoke at a political rally. Drug kingpin Pablo Escobar [Wikipedia profile], killed by police in 1993, allegedly ordered the assassination at Botero's suggestion. Botero has denied the charges and said his accuser, a former hit man, should not be trusted. AP has more. From Medellin, El Mundo has local coverage.

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.