Congress urged to ban government agencies from racial profiling News
Congress urged to ban government agencies from racial profiling

[JURIST] Civil rights groups have been pushing Democratic lawmakers to reconsider a bill banning racial profiling by any government entity since an airline's decision to remove a group of imams from a flight [Detroit News report] in November. Rep. John Conyers [official website] (D-MI), chairman of the US House Judiciary Committee, and Senator Russ Feingold [official website] (D-WI), who first championed the bill in the last Congress, are the primary advocates [press release] of the proposal. Although no bill has yet to be introduced, Feingold has made it clear that he intends to pursue the legislation in this year's Congressional session.

The original bill [S.2132 text] proposed banning federal, state and local law enforcement officials from "relying to any degree on race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion" in any government based investigation unless information exists linking a person of a particular race, ethnicity, national origin or religion to a specific incident or plot. Security-oriented groups, such as 9/11 Families for a Secure America [official website], have also begun mobilization against such a bill. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.