Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Calvin Johnson has ordered the release without bail of as many as 100 prisoners who were arrested before Hurricane Katrina ravaged the area, but were never charged. Johnson, who was appointed to hear the cases in Baton Rouge by the Louisiana Supreme Court, ordered the releases of the inmates [...]

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday heard two cases involving jury deliberations in death penalty cases. In the first, Oregon v. Guzek , the Court considered whether juries can weigh any doubts they have about a defendant's guilt in deciding whether to impose the death sentence. In Kansas v. Marsh , the Court considered whether [...]

US Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald on Wednesday presented additional evidence to a newly empaneled grand jury in the CIA leak case . Fitzgerald has continued his probe and is reportedly considering charges against White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove after gathering new information from Washington Post Assistant Managing Editor Bob Woodward . The [...]

US Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) , chairman of the House Armed Services Committee , has said that the final version of the 2006 defense spending bill will likely contain a ban on cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of foreign terrorism suspects and a requirement to use proper interrogation techniques. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) , a [...]

A Chilean appeals court on Wednesday stripped former dictator Augusto Pinochet of immunity from prosecution for the disappearance of an additional 29 leftists under his regime. The ruling allows the 29 cases to be joined with nine others for which Pinochet was previously indicted and declared fit to stand trial . The kidnappings were part [...]

A nonpartisan group that tracks the records of federal government personnel has sued the Bush administration for withholding the names and job information of about 900,000 civilian employees. The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) filed a complaint Tuesday under the Freedom of Information Act . TRAC alleged that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has [...]

Iraqi Special Tribunal Chief Justice Rizgar Mohammed Amin on Wednesday adjourned proceedings in the Saddam Hussein trial until December 21 in order to avoid holding hearings during the upcoming parliamentary elections. The court held a brief session Wednesday, hearing testimony from two prosecution witnesses who recounted their experiences during the 1982 massacre in Dujail . [...]

A series of not guilty verdicts returned by a federal jury Tuesday for former Florida professor Sami Al-Arian on terrorism charges is being called a major defeat for law enforcement officials. Al-Arian was indicted for allegedly supporting terrorists, but the jury found him not guilty on the most serious charges, including conspiring to kill people [...]

South Korea's Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) ruled Wednesday that Microsoft breached antitrust rules and ordered the company to pay a $32 million fine and offer multiple versions of its Windows operating system because the automatic inclusion of Microsoft programs with Windows has hurt consumers. Microsoft said the decision could force it to pull Windows out [...]

Alexander Vershbow , the US ambassador to South Korea, on Wednesday called North Korea a "criminal regime" that is involved in arms sales, drug trafficking and currency forgery. Vershbow's comments came as he was explaining why the US has imposed economic sanctions against the country and follow North Korea's warnings that it could walk out [...]