Canadian Conservative leader backpedals on ‘activist judges’ in election run-up News
Canadian Conservative leader backpedals on ‘activist judges’ in election run-up

[JURIST] In the final run-up to next Monday's Canadian federal election that is expected to bring his Conservative Party [party website] to power after 13 years in the political wilderness, leader Stephen Harper [CBC profile] has backpedaled after suggesting that a Conservative government could not have a "true majority" [CP report] because the Canadian courts would still be staffed by judges appointed by the long-governing Liberal Party [party website]. Opponents immediately accused Harper of "showing contempt" for the judiciary [Liberal press release], forcing him to acknowledge Wednesday that "some [judges] are, some [judges] aren't" activists handing down decisions based on their own personal agendas. The Globe and Mail has local coverage.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Tojo and other Japanese WWII leaders executed for war crimes

On December 23, 1948, former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and six other Japanese war leaders were executed for war crimes in Tokyo.

Learn more about the Tokyo War Crimes Trials.

Terry Nichols convicted for Oklahoma City bombing

On December 23, 1997, Terry Nichols was found guilty of conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter for assisting Timothy McVeigh in bombing the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. He was later sentenced to life in prison. On April 19, 1995, McVeigh detonated a truck bomb that gutted the building and killed 168 people, making it the deadliest terrorist attack on US. soil until the attacks of September 11, 2001. McVeigh was convicted for his role before Nichols on June 2, 1997. Learn more about the trials of Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh.