The Philippine government has agreed "in principle" to give southern Muslims the authority to develop their own tax system, build their own institutions, and write their own charter, according to a report in Thursday's Philippine Daily Inquirer confirmed by an anonymous government official. The official said the government's peace panel is optimistic that a final [...]

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has subpoenaed personal records of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in its investigation into possible insider trading by Frist, the Washington Post reported Thursday . The subpoena was reportedly issued at some time in the past two weeks, sources said. The SEC's investigation had previously been announced , but [...]

China has expressed "resolute opposition" to a US report critical of the country for its handling of human and religious rights, with a spokesman from the Foreign Ministry of China arguing that the US was meddling in China's internal affairs. The report was released earlier this week by the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China , [...]

US District Judge Thomas F. Hogan has lifted a contempt order against New York Times reporter Judith Miller following her testimony Wednesday before a federal grand jury investigating the 2003 leak of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame . Judge Hogan lifted the order hours after Miller testified for a second time before the [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Robert Schapiro of Emory University School of Law says that lacking judicial experience, White House counsel Harriet Miers may find it difficult to demonstrate the independence from executive power appropriate for a Supreme Court justice… Amid the debates over Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, a simple fact stands out. She has never [...]

A US district judge has awarded $91 million for emotional distress to the family of Joseph Cicippio, who was held hostage in Lebanon by the paramilitary group Hezbollah from 1986 to 1991. US District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. issued a default judgment under a 1996 amendment to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act that allows [...]

Detainees at prisons across Iraq who have not yet been tried cast their votes in the country's constitutional referendum Thursday as authorities stepped up security in preparation for the full referendum on Saturday. Those casting votes included detainees at Abu Ghraib prison and Camp Bucca as authorities sent ballot boxes to the prisons. The Iraqi [...]

Letters of US Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers to then-Texas Governor George W. Bush, released by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, October 11, 2005. Read selected letters via The Smoking Gun. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

United States v. Bennett, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, October 12, 2005 . Read the full text of the complaint here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said Wednesday that it was reconsidering a ban on firearms for people living at emergency housing parks in Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina after being pressured by gun-rights groups. FEMA spokesman Butch Kinerney said attorneys were taking another look at the rules to determine whether they are legal. The dispute [...]