The US Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia has reinstated a $55 million verdict against two former Salvadoran generals for allowing torture and other human rights violations to occur during the El Salvadoran civil war. In March, the court tossed out the jury award against Gens. Carlos Eugenion Vides Casanova and Jose Guillermo [...]

Officials in New Orleans have agreed to temporarily halt the scheduled demolition of thousands of private homes severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina until a federal judge decides if he will hear a legal challenge. Community activists originally filed a lawsuit in state court to block the destruction of nearly 5,500 homes, arguing that some homeowners [...]

JURIST Special Guest Columnist Wendy J. Keefer, former senior counsel and chief of staff in the US Department of Justice Office of Legal Policy and now with Bancroft Associates in Washington DC, says that in keeping with their constitutional role of giving advice and consent, senators at the confirmation hearings for Judge Samuel Alito should [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Carl Tobias of the University of Richmond School of Law says that recent national security issues involving controversial exercises of executive power should encourage senators to carefully analyze Judge Samuel Alito’s perspectives on executive authority, security and liberty in his upcoming confirmation hearings… Recent actions that overemphasize executive power and national security [...]

Presidential Authority to Conduct Warrantless Electronic Surveillance to Gather Foreign Intelligence Information, Congressional Research Service, January 5, 2005 . Read the full text of the report . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) announced in a letter to rank-and-file Republican Representatives Saturday that he was formally stepping down as House Majority Leader . DeLay was forced to temporaily step aside last fall after he was indicted on campaign finance charges in Texas, his home state. He had hoped to resume his duties after clearing [...]

Several French human rights groups led by the French League for Human Rights declared a proposed French immigration bill racist and a "blatant violation of immigrants' rights" in a joint statement issued Saturday. The proposed legislation calls for placing new restrictions on foreign workers, students, and those who want to join their families in France [...]

Former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori , who fled to Japan after a corruption scandal in 2000, registered through intermediaries to run for president of Peru again Friday, shortly after a Chilean judge detained him indefinitely pending consideration of an extradition request from Peru. Fujimori returned to South America in November, but was immediately arrested in [...]

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle vetoed a bill Friday that would have made doctors inform women seeking abortions after the fifth month of pregnancy that their fetuses may feel pain. The bill passed the Republican controlled Assembly by a count of 61-34 in early November and the Senate by a count of 21-12 in late September. [...]

The Congressional Research Service , the non-partisan public policy research arm of the US Congress, reported Friday that although the legality of the NSA warrantless surveillance program could not be determined due to the need for classified materials, the legal justification for the program "does not seem to be as well-grounded" as the Bush administration [...]