Jack Balkin, Yale Law School: "Today, in Johnson v. California, the Supreme Court held that California's practice of segregating newly arrived prisoners by race for up to 60 days was subject to strict scrutiny. Justice O'Connor wrote the majority opinion. Justices Scalia and Thomas dissented, arguing that strict scrutiny shouldn't apply in prison settings; instead [...]

Two medical clinics have asked the Kansas Supreme Court to intercede in secret investigation by Attorney General Phill Kline seeking medical records of females seeking late-term abortions. Kline wants the records in an attempt to find evidence of sex crimes against children. Kansas law gives prosecutors the authority to conduct secret inquisitions during a criminal [...]

New York District Court Judge Robert W. Sweet ruled Thursday that the New York Times can protect the confidentiality of its sources under the First Amendment , refusing to dismiss the paper's lawsuit against the government. The ruling comes after the New York Times filed a lawsuit last year attempting to stop the Department of [...]

The EU ended consideration Thursday of proposals that would have banned Nazi symbols in the 25-country bloc after it became apparent that member states could not agree on which symbols should be included in the ban. Luxembourg, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, withdrew the proposal from consideration. Many voiced concerns that any ban [...]

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has turned over 15 war crimes cases under its authority to Rwandan officials for the first time in the tribunal's 10 year existence. The ICTR made the transfer Wednesday as part of its strategy to complete prosecutions by the time its mandate ends in 2008. ICTR Hassan Jallow said [...]

AP is reporting that during a meeting Thursday, President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed that Iran should not be allowed to pursue nuclear weapons. 12:45 PM ET – From Russia, MosNews.com has local coverage. The White House has a joint statement from the two leaders on nuclear security cooperation. 1 PM ET – [...]

Parliamentary elections in Afghanistan will likely be delayed until this summer or fall, a UN spokesman said Thursday. The elections were originally slated to be held before the end of the Aghan month Saur on May 21, but a deadline to declare the elections at least 90 days ahead of time has already lapsed, as [...]

The European Court of Human Rights ruled Thursday that Russia was guilty of serious abuses against Chechen civilians during its military campaign against rebel forces in the region. Six Chechens brought claims of torture and abuse against Russia stemming from military operations in 1999 and 2000. The court ordered Russia to pay $179,900 in damages [...]

The UN Security Council said late Wednesday that it will consider a proposal by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to end recruitment and use of child soldiers in violation of international law, acknowledging a need for a monitoring and reporting mechanism to track such abuses. The current proposal seeks not only to curb the use of child [...]

The Sindh provincial High Court in Pakistan has started formal hearings for an appeal by four Islamic militants convicted of kidnapping and murdering Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl . British-born Islamic militant Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh was sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court in July 2002. Three co-conspirators were sentenced to life in [...]