Judge urges Louisiana prosecutors to charge hospital workers or drop case News
Judge urges Louisiana prosecutors to charge hospital workers or drop case

[JURIST] A judge in the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court [official website] on Monday urged prosecutors to either charge hospital workers accused of killing four patients in the wake of Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive] or drop the case. Judge Calvin Johnson said he is concerned that no formal indictment has been brought against the workers and said that the case must "go forward or end."

Dr. Anna Pou and nurses Cheri Landry and Lori Budo were arrested [JURIST report] in July in connection with patient deaths at the Memorial Medical Center [hospital website] in New Orleans. After Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti [official website] launched an investigation into the deaths [JURIST report] of at least 140 patients at six Louisiana hospitals and 13 nursing homes. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

South Africa becomes first country on continent to legalize same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriages became legal in South Africa on November 30, 2006 as the country's Civil Union Act, 2006 went into effect, making South Africa the only country on the African continent to legalize same-sex marriage. Read the Civil Union Act, 2006.