North Korea detainee abuse civil damages ruling [US DC] News
North Korea detainee abuse civil damages ruling [US DC]

William Thomas Massie, et al. v. The Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, US District Court for the District of Columbia, December 31, 2008 [ruling in favor of three US servicemen suing North Korea for mistreatment they suffered while under North Korean detention]. Read the full text of the opinion [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Eighteenth Amendment came into effect

On January 16, 1920, the Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution came into effect as scheduled one year after ratification, marking the beginning of Prohibition. Learn more about Temperance and Prohibition from Professor K. Austin Kerr of the Ohio State University Department of History.

English Parliament bans Roman Catholicism

On January 16, 1581, the English Parliament banned Roman Catholicism throughout the country during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. From that time on, Catholicism declined in England until the Catholic Emancipation of the late 18th century.

Read the history of the Roman Catholic Church in England.