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 [...]

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer Wednesday dropped criminal charges against Theodore Sihpol, a former Bank of America broker accused of aiding illegal trades by a hedge fund, after Sihpol settled related charges with Securites and Exchange Commission . Under the settlement with the SEC , Sihpol agreed to a $200,000 fine and a five-year [...]

Indonesia has agreed to work on strengthening its anti-terrorism laws with help from Australia, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Wednesday. Downer made the announcement after meeting with Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda in Jakarta. Australia had originally hoped to convince the Indonesian government to ban Jemaah Islamiah , a radical Islamic group reportedly responsible [...]

The Clearing House Association v. Eliot Spitzer, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Sydney H. Stein, October 12, 2005 . Read the full text of the ruling here. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The White House Wednesday cited the religious views of US Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers , acknowledging the relevance of those to religious conservatives while denying that they should play any role in the rulings of a judge. Spokesman Scott McClellan confirmed that on October 1, two days before the nomination, top White House aide [...]

Counter-terrorism Legislation and Practice: A Survey of Selected Countries, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, October 12, 2005 . Read the full text of the survey . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.