FBI congressional office raid ruling [DC Circuit] News
FBI congressional office raid ruling [DC Circuit]

United States of America v. Rayburn House Office Building, US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, August 3, 2007 [reversing a district court ruling and finding that the FBI's raid on the congressional offices of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) was unconstitutional because the FBI searched privileged materials and violated the Speech or Debate Clause]. Read the full text of the opinion [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

India sues Union Carbide over Bhopal industrial disaster

On April 8, 1985, the government of India filed a lawsuit against the Union Carbide Corporation for the Bhopal industrial disaster in which forty-two tons of methyl isocyanate gas was released from the pesticide plant of a Union Carbide subsidiary in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. The disaster initially killed 2,000 Indians and injured another 200,000. These injuries led to another 16,000 deaths as a result of exposure to the gas. In 1989, the parties reached a $470 million settlement out of court. Learn more about the Bhopal industrial disaster from the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department of the government of Madhya Pradesh.

Seventeenth Amendment ratified

On April 8, 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment to the US Constitution, providing for the election of senators by popular vote rather than selection by state legislatures, was ratified. Learn more about the Seventeenth Amendment.