The Israeli military arrested seven Palestinian Cabinet ministers and some 20 lawmakers Thursday as tensions mounted between Israel and Palestinians sparked by the Sunday abduction of Israeli soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit in Gaza. Israel Army Radio indicated that Israel may trade some of the arrested leaders from the Hamas party that now controls the Palestinian [...]

Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon and Bustillo v. Johnson, Supreme Court of the United States, June 28, 2006 . Read the Court's majority opinion per Chief Justice Roberts, along with a concurrence in the judgment from Justice Ginsburg, and a dissent from Justice Breyer, who was joined in full by Justices Stevens and Souter and in part [...]

Beard v. Banks, Supreme Court of the United States, June 28, 2006 . Read the Court's opinion per Justice Breyer, along with a concurrence in the judgment from Justice Thomas, who was joined by Justice Scalia, a dissent from Justice Stevens, who was joined by Justice Ginsburg, and a separate dissent from Ginsburg. Reported in [...]

League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry, Supreme Court of the United States, June 27, 2006 . Read the Court's opinion per Justice Kennedy, along with a concurrence in part and dissent in part from Justice Stevens, who was joined in part by Justice Breyer; a concurrence in part and dissent in part from [...]

The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly on Wednesday renewed calls for Russia to abolish the death penalty . Russia recently assumed the rotating chairmanship of the COE's Committee of Ministers . The Assembly also suggested that if talks to persuade the US and Japan to abolish the death penalty do not progress by the end [...]

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has urged Nepal's Maoist Communist Party (CPN-M) to end alleged abductions and other abuses committed by the party. In a letter following up on a meeting last week, the OHCHR warned that any abduction of non-combatants would violate international human rights law. Some of [...]

A lawyer for Morgan Stanley asked a three-judge panel of the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal on Wednesday to overturn a "disproportionate" 2005 jury verdict awarded to billionaire financier and Revlon Chairman Ron Perelman. In oral arguments Wednesday, lawyer Bruce Rogow asserted that the suit should have been tried under New York state law, [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday signed off on requirements for obtaining a photo ID card that citizens of Georgia must present to vote in elections. Georgia's State Election Board , which voted last week to clear the rules , will meet Thursday to discuss whether the rules can be implemented before the [...]

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal called for congressional action on regulation of the hedge fund industry, during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday. Blumenthal told the panel that federal oversight was needed to fill a "regulatory void" and said that states would exercise their police powers to regulate hedge funds if Congress hesitates to "toughen [...]

Terry Collins , director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction has set forth several changes in Ohio's lethal injection protocol in a report and letter addressed to Ohio Governor Bob Taft made public Wednesday. The changes were prompted by the problematic May execution of Joseph Clark , where the execution was delayed for [...]