Saddam wants firing squad if sentenced to death News
Saddam wants firing squad if sentenced to death

[JURIST] Issam Ghazzawi, a defense lawyer for Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive], said Tuesday that Hussein, on trial [JURIST news archive] for his involvement in the 1982 Dujail massacre [JURIST report], would prefer to die by firing squad rather than hanging if he is sentenced to death, which is possible under the rules of the Iraqi High Criminal Court (formerly the Iraqi Special Tribunal [official website]). Ghazzawi, in an interview with the Washington Times, said that Hussein made the statement during a five hour meeting with Ghazzawi and another defense lawyer, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark [JURIST news archive] in a courthouse basement on December 7, during which he also praised the insurgency for hindering US attempts to "formulate a new world." Hussein's trial is scheduled to resume [JURIST report] on January 24. The Independent has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt born

Carrie Chapman Catt, suffragist, womens' rights advocate and co-founder of the League of Women Voters, was born on January 9, 1859.

Visit the Carrie Chapman Catt Childhood Home.

Great Britain's first income tax introduced

On January 9, 1799, British Prime Minister William Pitt introduced Great Britain's first income tax. The tax was announced the previous December as a means of raising money for war against Napoleon. Pitt's successor, Henry Addington, repealed the tax when hostilities subsided in 1802. Addington then reinstated the tax during the following year when fighting was renewed. The Addington tax model later became the model for the modern British income tax. Learn about the history of income taxation in Great Britain from Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs.