A two-day referendum on a proposed new Serbian constitution which includes a controversial preamble asserting Serbia's ongoing claim to Kosovo got underway on Saturday, but only a small number of voters turned out in its early stages. The Serbian Election Commission announced Saturday evening that 17.81% of eligible voters had cast their ballots by 8 [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Friday withdrew a three-year-old lawsuit challenging Section 215 of the Patriot Act . Congressional amendment of the Act in March 2006 was cited as the reason for dropping the suit. Before amendment, Section 215 provided that federal agents, empowered by an order from a secret court, can access personal [...]

The US DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that Iraqi-American Mohammed Munaf had to be given ten days to appeal his case to the US Supreme Court and then the high court had to be accorded time to rule on that before the US military can legally transfer him to Iraqi custody and likely [...]

Former White House official David Safavian , convicted in June of lying and obstructing justice in connection with the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, received an 18-month prison sentence Friday. In January, Abramoff pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges stemming from a 2000 casino purchase and was sentenced to nearly six years in prison . [...]

A Florida appeals court overturned a lower court ruling Friday and granted state election officials permission to post polling area signs telling voters that ballots cast for Mark Foley would count as votes for his Republican replacement candidate. Foley's name appears on the ballot because it was too late to take his name off when [...]

A federal judge Friday rejected a claim by US Air Force Academy graduates that a military chaplain illegally forced Christianity on them . US District Judge James A. Parker dismissed the case because the cadets could not give specific examples of when cadets were harmed and because they no longer attend the academy. He wrote: [...]

President George W. Bush insisted Friday that the US does not torture prisoners when asked whether he agreed with a comment by Vice President Dick Cheney that a "dunk in the water" is a "no-brainer" when it comes to interrogating terror suspects. Scott Hennon of Fargo North Dakota-based WDAY Radio asked Cheney in an interview [...]

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Friday designed to alleviate crowded conditions in California's Los Angeles County jail system . The order from US District Judge Dean D. Pregerson came in response to a suit by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) seeking to remedy "almost unspeakable conditions" in county jails, where up [...]

The US Supreme Court agreed to hear four cases Friday, including one where the Court will decide whether the parents of an autistic child must hire a lawyer or whether they can represent themselves in an accommodation lawsuit against a school district. In Winkelman v. Parma City School District, the boy's parents are appealing a [...]

Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act of 2005, Parliament of India, taking effect October 27, 2006 . Read the full text of the act . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.