Speaker of the US House of Representatives Dennis Hastert (R-IL) on Friday announced his support for a deal reached earlier this week by Senate Republicans and the White House on long-term renewal of the USA Patriot Act . Key Democrats and Republicans in the Senate had expressed strong reservations about earlier versions of a renewal [...]

The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) , an umbrella organisation of French Muslim groups, said Friday it will sue several French newspapers that republished controversial caricatures of Muhammad which were originally printed in a Danish newspaper in September. Although the Council has taken lawyers' advice, the legal basis for its suit is not [...]

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday that Iran may reconsider its participation in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) but would not immediately withdraw from the pact. Speaking on the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution, Ahmadinejad said Iran would reevaluate its position if other nations use its membership as a means to pressure its nuclear [...]

Former Connecticut governor John G. Rowland was released from federal prison Friday after serving ten months of a one year sentence he received after pleading guilty to corruption charges in December 2004. In his plea agreement, Rowland admitted to accepting more than $100,000 in illegal gifts from state contractors. In response to the corruption scandal [...]

American Bar Association president Michael S. Greco said Friday that American civil liberties were under stress in a time of conflict, but that policymakers should resist the temptation to "take shortcuts with the Constitution." He made his comments as the ABA released a poll showing that 52 percent of Americans believe the President could not [...]

ACORN v. Blanco, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, February 9, 2006 . Read the complaint . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Revised Interim Guidelines Concerning Free Exercise of Religion in the Air Force, United States Air Force, February 9, 2006 . Read the full text of the guidelines. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Saddam Hussein defense lawyer and former head of the Jordanian Lawyers Association Saleh al-Armouti said Friday that Hussein has claimed that the United States had offered him life in exile "like Napoleon" if he would use his influence to end the Iraq insurgency. Armouti said Hussein made the claim when he visited the ousted Iraqi [...]

The Advancement Project , a Washington, DC-based advocacy group, has filed a federal lawsuit challenging election plans for New Orleans , alleging that the plan puts too much emphasis on absentee voting and would keep blacks out of office. According to the lawsuit , Louisiana's emergency election plan following Hurricane Katrina will disenfranchise or severely [...]

Leading Friday's environmental law news, a California law that makes it illegal to throw away electronic waste went into effect Thursday. Under the law , residents will have to take most consumer electronic equipment, including computers, printers, VCRs, microwave ovens, fluorescent lighting, glass thermometers, old thermostats and batteries, to local household hazardous waste collection centers [...]