Voting Rights Act Section 5 Recommendation Memorandum, US Department of Justice staff, December 12, 2003, disclosed December 2, 2005 . Read the full text of the memorandum . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

A panel of judges from the Santiago Appeals Court ruled Friday that human rights charges against former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet can proceed, rejecting the defense's arguments that Pinochet is too ill to stand trial. Pinochet was charged last week in connection with the kidnapping and disappearance of six dissidents in 1974 after they were [...]

US District Judge Richard M. Berman ruled Friday that random police searches of bags on the New York City subway system are a minimal invasion of privacy and do not violate the Constitution. The decision comes in a lawsuit brought by the New York Civil Liberties Union challenging the random searches as unreasonable searches and [...]

Uganda's High Court ordered the military Friday to suspend proceedings against main opposition leader Kizza Besigye until the court decides whether the military trial is legal. Besigye was arrested earlier this month on charges of treason and rape, and was later brought before a military court on terrorism charges . Besigye's defense team has argued [...]

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) , chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee , said Friday that US Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito has promised that his views on abortion will not be a factor in his rulings. Several documents released in recent weeks have highlighted Alito's opposition to abortion, including a 1985 memo authored by Alito [...]

Leading Friday's environmental law news, the Maine Board of Environmental Protection has approved regulations that set "California" emissions standards for new cars and trucks sold in Maine beginning in 2009. Maine becomes the sixth state to adopt the standards, designed to reduce pollution linked to global warming, joining California, Washington, Oregon, New York, and Vermont. [...]

A weak response from the justice system in Kosovo to the 2004 Albanian attacks on Serbs has created an "impression of impunity" for such ethnically motivated crimes, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said Friday. Nineteen people died and over 4,000 were forced to flee their homes during mob violence that erupted [...]

Lawyers for Saddam Hussein said they would appeal to a higher Iraqi court if the Iraqi Special Tribunal refuses to divulge the names and backgrounds of four anonymous judges in charge of the trial. Chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin is the only one of the five judges to identify himself. Security concerns have led the [...]

The Belarussian parliament on Friday voted 97-4 to approve a law imposing harsh penalties for anyone convicted of inciting demonstrations or spreading harmful information. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko wants the laws to stop anti-government protest movements like Ukraine's Orange Revolution which led to a change in leadership last year. Lukashenko is running for re-election next [...]

Iraqi officials announced on Friday that non-Iraqi Arabs will not be allowed to enter the country as a security measure leading up to the December 15 elections . No end date for the prohibition was set. The ban applies even to those holding valid entry visas . Both Iraqi and US officials anticipate increased violence [...]