October 2012 - Page 18 of 21 - JURIST

Syria must release detained human rights lawyer: AI

October 5, 2012 08:31:38 am

Amnesty International (AI) on Thursday urged Syria to release a prominent human rights lawyer and his friend believed to be detained by security forces. AI contends that both men should be released immediately unless they...

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Google, publishers settle dispute over book scanning initiative

Sarah Posner

October 5, 2012 07:04:15 am

Google and the Association of American Publishers (AAP) on Thursday announced a settlement over Google's book-scanning initiative . Authors and publishers have alleged that Google was illegally profiting off of their works by...

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Eighth Circuit affirms dismissal of health care law challenge

Brandon Gatto

October 4, 2012 03:41:23 pm

The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on Thursday upheld the dismissal of a challenge to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) due to the plaintiffs' lack of...

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UN rights chief urges Serbia to allow gay pride parade

Brandon Gatto

October 4, 2012 02:56:15 pm

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Thursday urged Serbia to protect universal freedoms and allow a banned pride parade for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The pride parade, which was...

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Bosnia court acquits two former policemen in Srebrenica massacre case

Rebecca DiLeonardo

October 4, 2012 12:55:17 pm

The war crimes court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on Wednesday acquitted two Serbian defendants of involvement in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre . Dragan Neskovic and Zoran Ilic were charged with...

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Philippines court orders arrest of former president

Rebecca DiLeonardo

October 4, 2012 12:25:02 pm

An anti-graft court in the Philippines on Thursday ordered the arrest of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in a corruption case alleging the misuse of state lottery funds. This is the third corruption case pending...

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Iraq court sentences US citizen to life in prison for aiding al Qaeda

Max Slater

October 4, 2012 10:44:13 am

An Iraqi court on Wednesday sentenced an American citizen to life in prison for funding terrorist activities in Iraq and aiding al Qaeda. Iraq's central criminal court convicted Omar Rashad Khalil following a confession he made in...

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Federal judge strikes down Montana campaign finance law

Max Slater

October 4, 2012 09:45:43 am

A judge for the US District Court for the District of Montana on Wednesday ruled that a state law that limits campaign contributions violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment...

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Supreme Court hears arguments on habeas corpus, takings clause

Jaimie Cremeans

October 4, 2012 07:39:42 am

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in two cases. In Johnson v. Williams the court heard arguments on whether a state court can "adjudicate on the merits"...

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Sixth Circuit upholds Ohio law limiting ‘abortion pill’

Jerry Votava

October 3, 2012 03:45:03 pm

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a lower court ruling that permitted an Ohio law limiting the use of the "abortion pill." The law requires that the...

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THIS DAY @ LAW

President Carter authorizes Chrysler bailout

On January 7, 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed the Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979 (Public Law 96-185) into law. The act granted to Chrysler $1.5 billion to save the company from bankruptcy. Twenty-eight years later in 2008, President George W. Bush authorized $17.4 billion to again bailout Chrysler in addition to the other two major American automobile manufacturers, Ford and General Motors.

Anglo-Irish Treaty ratified

On January 7, 1922, Dáil Éireann ratified the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Signed on December 6 of the preceding year, the treaty ended the Irish War of Independence against Great Britain. The British Parliament voted to approve the treaty on December 16, 1921. Ratification was completed on January 14, 1922, when the House of Commons of Southern Ireland became the third and final party to approve the document. The Anglo-Irish treaty effectively split the island into its current state. While the lower counties of Ireland were granted autonomy under the treaty, Britain insisted that the six Protestant counties of Northern Ireland be allowed to determine their own future. On the day after the treaty was signed, these counties elected to remain part of Great Britain. Today, they remain part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

New York State Assembly expels five socialist assemblymen

The New York State Assembly, the state's lower house, expelled five duly elected assemblymen from the Socialist Party over their political affiliation on January 7, 1920. The US was in the midst of the first Red Scare, a panic resulting from the ascendancy of the Bolsheviks in Russia, which resulted in the repression of socialists across the country. The result of the expulsion vote was 140-6. Thus, Assemblymen August Claessens, Samuel A. DeWitt, Samuel Orr, Charles Solomon and Louis Waldman were removed from their posts. Learn more about the expulsions from the Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York.

Rehnquist sworn in as US Supreme Court Justice

On January 7, 1972, the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist was sworn in as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Read a short profile of Chief Justice Rehnquist here.