The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts will hear a challenge to a 1913 state law that Massachusetts has used to block out-of-state gay couples from being married there. The 1913 law prohibits the commonwealth from granting marriage licenses to couples whose marriage would not be legal in their home states. Following the landmark ruling in [...]

Pakistan's Supreme Court announced it will allow six constitutional petitions to challenge President Pervez Musharraf's decision to remain the country's president and army chief of staff. The petitions, filed by Pakistan Lawyers Forum, the Communist Party and the Watan Party, challenge Musharraf's decision to retain the two offices in violation of both the Pakistani constitution [...]

The United Nations has started "a very urgent inquiry" into allegations that three Pakistani policemen raped a woman in Haiti while deployed on the UN mission to stabilize the nation. The probe follows reports of widespread abuse by UN peacekeeping soldiers in Congo. That probe led to the UN's decision to ban peacekeepers from having [...]

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Thursday, Feb. 24. The US Senate and US House are in recess this week. Both will resume their sessions on Feb. 28. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter will hold a press conference at 10:30 AM ET today to discuss [...]

Task Force on No Child Left Behind: Final Report, National Conference of State Legislatures , February 2005 . Excerpt: In March 2004, the Executive Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures created a Task Force of state legislators and legislative staff and asked them to focus on the latter of the two questions. It [...]

Johnson v. California, Supreme Court of the United States, February 23, 2005 . Excerpt from the majority opinion by Justice O'Connor: The fact that strict scrutiny applies "says nothing about the ultimate validity of any particular law; that determination is the job of the court applying strict scrutiny." Adarand, supra, at 229-230. At this juncture, [...]

In a ruling against AT&T Wednesday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) determined that the company must pay fees associated with its pre-paid calling cards. The fees go to local telephone companies to cover costs to connect the call and to federal programs that subsidize rural telephone and Internet service. AT&T tried to avoid the fees [...]

A Mexican judge in the Nuevo Leon Wednesday found a man guilty of drunk driving in the nation's first oral and public trial. In June, Nuevo Leon was the first Mexican state to pass legislation that allows public and oral trials. Under the system currently in place, however, judges usually review files created by the [...]

The Supreme Court of Mexico upheld Wednesday a 30-year statute of limitations and dismissed charges of genocide against ex-president Luis Echeverria . The Court, in a 4-1 vote, held that international law against genocide does not take precedence over Mexico's national statute of limitations. Echeverria is accused of ordering a paramilitary attack on student protestors [...]

Prominent Iranian blogger Arash Cigarchi was sentenced to a 14-year prison term Wednesday for publishing critiques of the government on his online blog and in the international press. Cigarchi was charged with aiding and abetting hostile governments and opposition groups, endangering national security and insulting Iran's leaders. The trial, part of recent crackdown on free [...]