US District Judge Reggie B. Walton Friday granted defense attorneys for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby access to Libby's personal handwritten notes taken over a nine-month period around the time that the identity of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame was first published in the media. Libby's defense team plans to use the notes to support Libby's [...]

In a speech Friday in Cleveland, US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Mark Everson said that the IRS had found a sharp increase in prohibited political activity by 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charities, including some churches, during the 2004 election cycle. According to an IRS study , three quarters of 82 charitable organizations examined engaged in some [...]

HB 1215, State of South Dakota, passed by the South Dakota House of Representatives February 24, 2006 . Excerpt: No person may knowingly administer to, prescribe for, or procure for, or sell to any pregnant woman any medicine, drug, or other substance with the specific intent of causing or abetting the termination of the life [...]

Proclamation No. 1017, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President, Republic of the Philippines, February 24, 2006 . Read the full text of the proclamation. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The Prosecutor v. Slobodan Milosevic, Decision on Assigned Counsel Request for Provisional Release, Trial Chamber, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, February 24, 2006 . Read the full text of the decision. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey filed suit in a New Jersey Superior Court Friday to try to block Dubai Ports World , a company from the United Arab Emirates , from taking control of several United States ports. Citing security concerns, the Port Authority claimed that DP World violated its lease [...]

Defense contractor Mitchell Wade pleaded guilty in US District Court in Washington, DC on Friday to conspiring to funnel more than $1 million in bribes to former US Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham . Wade, the former president of MZM Inc, a Washington firm that does classified intelligence work for the military, admitted that he intended [...]

AP is reporting that the South Dakota House of Representatives has given final approval to a bill that would ban nearly all abortions in the state. The state Senate approved the abortion ban earlier this week. Under the bill, doctors who perform abortions would face up to five years in jail, except when necessary to [...]

Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared a national emergency in a taped television address Friday after uncovering a plot to oust her from office. The state of national emergency declaration issued under Article 2, Section 4 of the Philippines Constitution keeps the judicial system intact and allows Arroyo to use the military to quash uprisings. Arroyo, [...]

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counterterrorism Martin Scheinin sharply criticized Turkey's anti-terrorism laws Thursday, claiming Turkey's definition of terrorism is too broad and vague with respect to local terrorist groups. In particular, Scheinin stated that the 2001 law "defines terrorism based on its purpose or aims rather than referring to specific [...]