Ohio man indicted for threatening to blow up Supreme Court, attack Thomas News
Ohio man indicted for threatening to blow up Supreme Court, attack Thomas

[JURIST] Ohio resident David Tuason was indicted [PDF text; press release] Wednesday for allegedly threatening to blow up the US Supreme Court building and attack black men, including Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas [OYEZ profile]. Tuason was charged with six counts of mailing threatening communications and two counts of transmitting threatening interstate communications. AP has more.

Threats of violence against judges are an increasing problem in the United States; last month, the US Marshals Service [official website] reported that threats against federal judges had risen for the fifth straight year in a row [statistics, PDF]. In 2006, retired US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor [OYEZ profile] warned against growing efforts at "judicial intimidation" in a Wall St. Journal op-ed [text; JURIST report]. Earlier that year, both O'Connor and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg [OYEZ profile] said they had received death threats [JURIST report] after Republican politicians criticized judges for citing foreign law or being "activist" in their rulings. Then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales later acknowledged that the security of judges was becoming a national concern [JURIST report].

THIS DAY @ LAW

Montgomery started racially-integrated bus service after boycott

On December 21, 1956, buses in Montgomery, Alabama, started racially integrated service following federal court rulings ending on-board segregation. Bus boycott leaders Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy were among the first riders under the new scheme. Learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Stalin born

On December 21, 1879, Joseph Stalin was born in Gori, Georgia. In 1922, he became leader of the USSR until his death in 1953. During his time as Soviet dictator, Stalin industrialized his country, which he then led to become one of the world's two superpowers after WWII. Through his infamous purges, show trials and nationwide famines, Stalin also became responsible for millions of deaths.