The Rhode Island House of Representatives voted 59-13 on Tuesday in favor of overriding the veto of Gov. Don Carcieri of a bill legalizing the prescription of marijuana to seriously ill patients. The law, effective immediately, allows critically ill people to grow as many as 12 plants, or to purchase as much as 2.5 ounces [...]

Libyan human rights group Human Rights Solidarity (HRS) said Tuesday that 131 political dissidents affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood opposition group have begun a hunger strike in a Tripoli prison to draw attention to a previous government promise to release them. The prisoners were assured of their eventual release by an influential and reform-minded son [...]

Cambodian police Wednesday arrested the vice-director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) after arresting the president of the group and a CCHR lawyer last weekend. No charges have been filed in the latest arrest, though the police charged the president with defamation in connection with a banner he held at a rally last [...]

President Bush addressed a group of federal prosecutors on Tuesday, outlining his argument in favor of passing a long-term reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act . Bush reluctantly signed a one-month authorization of the legislation last Friday and hopes to sign legislation soon that will permanently extend provisions of the Act that were set to [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday filed notice with federal judges overseeing the habeas corpus petitions of Guantanamo Bay detainees informing them that a provision in Title X of the defense spending bill signed into law last week strips federal courts of jurisdiction to hear the detainees' challenges. The DOJ plans to file [...]

In the weeks following the Sept. 11 attacks, the National Security Agency expanded its domestic surveillance program without formal authorization from President Bush, documents released Tuesday revealed. According to an October 2001 letter released by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi , after being briefed with other members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees Pelosi [...]

The newly elected Dover Area School District school board on Tuesday evening unanimously voted to rescind the district's policy of teaching intelligent design theory as an alternative to evolution in high school science classes. The vote follows last month's federal court ruling that the policy, approved in October 2004, was an unconstitutional violation of the [...]

An advisor to the Syrian Ministry of Information said Tuesday that President Bashar al-Assad will refuse a request for an interview made Monday by the UN commission investigating the death of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri . A member of parliament said that such requests violate the Syrian constitution, which provides sovereign immunity to [...]

US v. Jack A. Abramoff, Plea Agreement, United States District Court for the District of Columbia, January 3, 2006 . Read the full text of the plea agreement . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

US v. Jack A. Abramoff, United States District Court for the District of Columbia, January 3, 2006 . Read the full text of the criminal information . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.