Pentagon moves forward with military trial of Canadian teenage terror suspect News
Pentagon moves forward with military trial of Canadian teenage terror suspect

[JURIST] The US Department of Defense [official website] said Thursday that it plans to move forward in the trial against a 19-year old Canadian citizen who was charged [charge sheet, PDF; JURIST report] last month with murdering a US Army medic, despite the judicial stays issued in other cases against terror suspects. Omar Ahmed Khadr was captured at the age of 15 and sent to the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba [JURIST news archive] where his lawyers claim he has been abused and also contend that his detention at age 15 violates American responsibilities under rules governing the treatment of young people during times of war. Judicial stays have halted proceedings for David Hicks [JURIST news archive], Salim Ahmed Hamdan [JURIST news archive], and a third detainee, while the US Supreme Court [official website] considers the constitutionality of military commissions [JURIST report] for terror detainees. Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Maj. Jane Boomer said however that judicial stays have not been handed down for any of the other nine charged prisoners, so the Office of Military Commissions [DOD materials] feels free to proceed with those other trials. The Pentagon has formed a military tribunal [JURIST news archive] comprised of six US officers and two alternates [appointing order, PDF] to hear Khadr's case. No trial date has yet been set. Reuters has more.

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THIS DAY @ LAW

International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism

November 9 is the International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism [UNITED factsheet]. On November 9, 1924, American gay activist Henry Gerber and several associates formed the Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization in the United States. The Society received a charter from the State of Illinois in December but was disbanded in July 1925 after a police raid which led to Gerber's arrest and trial (albeit not conviction). Pay a virtual visit to Henry Gerber House, now a registered Chicago landmark.

Supreme Court strikes down Massachusetts anti-draft law

On November 9, 1970, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 in Massachusetts v. Laird not to hear the case of the state's anti-draft law. Massachusetts had passed a law, which allowed its citizens to decline to fight in any undeclared war, even if the person was drafted. The law was passed in opposition to the draft and the war in Vietnam. The First Circuit found the war constitutional and thus struck down the law.