Detainee deaths in US custody report [HRF] News
Detainee deaths in US custody report [HRF]

Command's Responsibility: Detainee Deaths in US Custody in Iraq and Afghanistan, Human Rights First, February 22, 2006 [reporting that at least 98 prisoners have died in US custody as a result of detainment or interrogation, with 34 being reported as victims of suspected or confirmed homicide caused by the use of "intentional or reckless behavior"]. Read the full text of the report [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Mao Zedong widow sentenced to death in China

On January 25, 1981, Jiang Qing, the widow of Mao Zedong, was sentenced to death by a special court in China. The charges stemmed primarily from Jiang's role in the Cultural Revolution. Saying "I was Chairman Mao's dog. I bit whomever he asked me to bite," Qing unsuccessfully argued that she was merely acting at the direction of her late husband, who had died five years earlier. In 1983, Jiang's sentence was commuted to life in prison so that she would have "time to repent." Her official trial documents have still not been released.

Charles Manson and "family" convicted of Tate murders

On January 25, 1971, Charles Manson and three women of his "family" were convicted of murder and conspiracy for the 1969 slayings of seven people, including actress Sharon Tate. Learn more about the trial of Charles Manson from Professor Douglas Linder of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.