Pakistan's Supreme Court Tuesday overturned the acquittals of 13 men in a gang-rape case and ordered them re-arrested after an appeal by the victim, Mukhtar Mai . The attack was supposedly ordered by village elders in retaliation for an affair her brother had with a higher-caste woman. At first, six men were convicted and sentenced [...]

National Cable and Telecommunications Association v. Brand X Internet Services, et al.; FCC v. Brand X Internet Services, et al., Supreme Court of the United States, June 27, 2005 . Read the full text of the opinion here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Castle Rock v. Gonzales, Supreme Court of the United States, June 27, 2005 . Excerpt from the opinion, by Justice Scalia: We conclude, therefore, that respondent did not, for purposes of the Due Process Clause, have a property interest in police enforcement of the restraining order against her husband. It is accordingly unnecessary to address [...]

Van Orden v. Perry, United States Supreme Court, June 27, 2005 . Excerpt from the opinion, by Chief Justice Rehnquist: The placement of the Ten Commandments monument on the Texas State Capitol grounds is a far more passive use of those texts than was the case in Stone, where the text confronted elementary school students [...]

MGM Studios v. Grokster, United States Supreme Court, June 27, 2005 . Excerpt from the opinion, by Justice Souter: We hold that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting [...]

McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky, Supreme Court of the United States, June 27, 2005 . Excerpt from the opinion, by Justice Souter: We hold that the counties' manifest objective may be dispositive of the constitutional enquiry, and that the development of the presentation should be considered when determining its purpose. Read the full text [...]

World Prison Population List, King's College International Centre for Prison Studies, June 27, 2005. Excerpt: Over 9 million people are held in penal institutions throughout the world, mostly as pre-trial detainees (remand prisoners) or having been convicted and sentenced. Almost half of these are in the United States (2.09m), China (1.55m plus pretrial detainees and [...]

After spending the weekend at Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay, US Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) told reporters Monday that while closing the military detention center is not necessary, establishing a precise legal status for prisoners and clarifying the rules governing them is. In a statement posted on his website, Nelson noted [...]

New United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres Monday urged countries to grant asylum to refugees rather than seal borders because of fears of terrorism. His call came at the end of a three-day visit to Kyrgyzstan by assistant high commissioner Kamel Morjane, and one week after that nation announced plans to deport a [...]

US Department of Defense officials Monday released a new policy on responsibilities of military healthcare providers to detainees. The memorandum , circulated internally last week , reaffirms standards similar to those used in US federal prisons, indicating that military healthcare personnel have a duty to protect the physical and mental health of detainees, and establishes [...]