An Act relating to the representation of certain defendants in capital cases and to the punishment for a capital felony or other felony punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding 99 years, Texas Senate; SB 60 passed May 28, 2005 . Read the full text of the bill. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The Texas Senate Saturday approved Senate Bill 60 , which would give jurors in capital murder cases the option of sentencing a defendant to life in prison without parole instead of death. Currently, Texas leads US states in the number of annual executions (24 in 2004); Texas juries can only sentence people convicted of capital [...]

A month-long conference at the United Nations to review the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty ended Friday with no consensus. Ambassador Sergio Duarte of Brazil, President of the 2005 NPT Review Conference told a press briefing that although the conference had accomplished very little, there had been some progress "in the ways issues were discussed and the [...]

Iran's Guardian Council approved a law Saturday that calls on the government to develop nuclear technology to enrich uranium, which could be used to create atomic weapons. The Iranian Parliament passed the bill earlier this month , which then went to the council for approval. The European Union has threatened to take Iran to the [...]

French territories cast their votes on the EU constitution Saturday with the "No" campaign leading in the polls. One survey on Friday indicated a narrowing of the majority's lead in opposing the charter, offering hope to President Jacques Chirac who has been leading the "Yes" campaign . Another survey, however, showed an increase in "No" [...]

Closing Statement by US Ambassador Jackie W. Sanders, Special Representative of the President for the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to the 2005 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, May 27, 2005. Excerpt: While this Review Conference did not reach consensus, we did break new ground. This Review Conference is the [...]

The Bush administration has asked the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a decision made last year by a US District Court preventing the government from conducting secret searches of communications records. The District Court ruling came in a case considering whether an ISP was required to release records to the FBI. The [...]

The Johannesburg High Court has banned the release of a newspaper article revealing a corruption scandal involving the nation's ruling African National Congress (ANC) , requiring South Africa's leading independant newspaper, the Mail and Guardian , to prevent the distribution of its entire 45,000 issue run. Last week, the newpaper ran the first article in [...]

Former US nuclear weapons workers can soon start filing claims for compensation for exposure to radiation and other industrial toxins while working on cold-war era nuclear weapons. The program details were released for living workers on Friday, but the government has already implemented a program for the survivors of deceased workers and has paid more [...]

The Bush administration Friday refused a request to extradite Cuban exile Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela, citing inadequate supporting evidence. Carriles is suspected of bombing a plane carrying 73 people to Caracas and has been charged by US authorities for entering the country illegally. The request had been a source of conflict between the US [...]