US House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-WI) said Tuesday that while he thinks that many of the temporary provisions of the Patriot Act should be made permanent, federal investigators should not be given the power to issue their own subpoenas for records, a power recently endorsed by a Senate committee . "Administrative subpoenas" [...]

Despite earlier reports to the contrary, Sudan refused on Wednesday to drop charges against two members of Medecins Sans Frontieres . The two had been arrested and investigated for allegedly "spying, publishing false information, and destabilizing Sudanese society" in connection with an MSF report about hundreds of rapes in Darfur . The UN expected that [...]

In an effort to highlight human rights abuses in certain countries, President Bush has begun meeting with dissidents in an approach similar to the one taken by former President Ronald Reagan in his meetings with Soviet dissidents during the Cold War. Earlier this week Bush met with North Korean defector Kang Chol Hwan, who recently [...]

Spain announced on Wednesday the arrest of 16 suspected Islamic militants, including 11 fighters loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and men training to carry out suicide attacks in Iraq. A statement from the Spanish Interior Ministry characterized the men as "extremely radical and dangerous," and said that five of the 16 had aided the terror [...]

US Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter opens hearings Wednesday on the legal rights of detainees held by the US at Guantanamo Bay. Part of the agenda for the hearings is to examine the due process rights of the prisoners and the authority held by Congress to make certain they receive the necessary legal representation. [...]

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld briefing on the military detention center at Guanatanamo Bay and other subjects, June 14, 2005 . Excerpt: Allegations of abuse at Guantanamo, as at any other U.S. military facility, have been thoroughly investigated. Any wrongdoing is — wrongdoers are being held accountable. The U.S. military has instituted numerous reforms [...]

Lewis, et al. v. Harris, et al., Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division, June 14, 2005 . Excerpt: The issue presented by this appeal is whether the New Jersey Constitution compels the State to allow same-sex couples to marry. We conclude that the statutory limitation of the institution of marriage to members of the [...]

Review of the Terrorist Screening Center, US Department of Justice, June 13, 2005 . Read the full text of the report here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

JPMorgan Chase agreed Tuesday to settle with investors by paying $2.2 billion to cover claims that shareholders were misled about Enron Corportation revenue because JPMorgan hid the company's debt. The announcement follows Citigroup's decision to settle an Enron-related class-action lawsuit against them for $2 billion earlier this week. JPMorgan officials refused to say the settlement [...]

Sgt. Kevin Benderman , a US Army soldier from Georgia who faces charges because he refused orders to redeploy to Iraq in January, will also be court-martialed for accepting $2,922 in bonuses and tax breaks typically reserved for soldiers serving in combat. An Army investigator urged that the larceny charges be dropped after he discovered [...]