The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases Tuesday, with newly appointed Chief Justice John Roberts taking an active role in both. Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal involves a religious dispute over the use of hallucinogenic tea used by a small Brazil-based church. While the church maintains that the [...]

Members of the Louisiana Legislature have been summoned by Governor Kathleen Blanco for a two-week session to deal with the consequences of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. The special session will start this Sunday and last for two weeks through November 22. Among the 77 topics on the agenda are various tax proposals, borrowing and [...]

In Tuesday's environmental law news, the US Environmental Protection Agency has announced that is will be awarding over $40 million to over 140 American Indian tribes for environmental protection projects. The tribes , mainly in the Pacific Southwest, will use the money to build water and sewage treatment systems, implement air pollution controls, solid waste [...]

A same-sex couple on Tuesday petitioned the Israeli High Court of Justice to force the country's Population Registry to recognize their same-sex marriage , performed legally in Toronto, Canada in July 2005. Jonathan Herland, a 29-year-old Canadian immigrant to Israel, and Ayal Walerauch, 26, accuse the Registry of “unlawful discrimination” for refusing to register them [...]

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Tuesday defended the US government's decision to prohibit UN human rights observers from interviewing detainees on any visit to the prison facilities at Guantanamo Bay . The UN observers said Monday they would not accept the invitation unless they could interview the detainees. UN Special Rapporteur on Torture [...]

Texas Judge C.W. Duncan ruled Monday afternoon that Rep. Tom DeLay will get a new judge to preside over his trial on money laundering and criminal conspiracy charges . In granting DeLay's recusal motion , Duncan said that Judge Bob Perkins should be replaced because of his donations to Democratic candidates and causes. Travis County [...]

An influential Ohio Republican said Tuesday that US Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito had a judicial philosophy "clearly within the mainstream" and that he should not be filibustered. Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) was a member the bipartisan group of fourteen Senators that fashioned an agreement in May that headed off the so called "nuclear option" [...]

The US military released 500 prisoners Tuesday from the Abu Ghraib prison in observance of Eid ul-Fitr , the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan . The 500 prisoners, like the 1,000 prisoners released at the beginning of October at the start of Ramadan, were given a copy of the Koran, $25 and [...]

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia on Tuesday transferred its case against Rahim Ademi and Mirko Norac to Croatia, marking the first time a case involving persons already indicted by the ICTY has been transferred to the country. In 2004, ICTY prosecutors charged Ademi and Norac, both former officials in the Croatian army, [...]

The Syrian government on Tuesday sharply criticized a UN resolution ordering Syria to fully cooperate with the international investigation into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri or face serious diplomatic consequences. In Tuesday's response, the Syrian government characterized the UN resolution as politically motivated. A member of Syria's foreign ministry further asserted [...]