Twelve homosexuals who were expelled from the US military because of their sexual orientation filed a lawsuit in Boston on Monday, challenging the constitutionality of the Pentagon's 11-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The complaint relies in part upon last year's Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, which overturned state laws criminalizing homosexual sex. [...]

Mark Godsey, University of Cincinnati College of Law: "On Monday December 6, the Supreme Court will hear an appeal from a Texas death row inmate, Thomas Miller-El, claiming Texas prosecutors improperly struck minorities from his jury.  This is the second time in 2 years the Supreme Court will hear an appeal on Miller-El's behalf on [...]

UK Foreign Minister Jack Straw said in an interview Monday that he believed recently-proposed changes to the UN Charter (reported by JURIST's Paper Chase here) would allow for easier intervention in situations of human rights abuses like those that were taking place in Sudan and Iraq. Straw said that Charter changes would allow the Security [...]

The US Defense Department says that coalition forces have found evidence that mosques, hospitals and cemeteries were used by insurgents in Fallujah as battlegrounds from which to attack Iraqi and coalition forces, contrary to international law rules. At a press briefing Friday, Army Brig. Gen. David Rodriguez cited evidence that he said showed clear violations: [...]

In Monday's corporations and securities law news, the SEC has released a final rule relating to the registration of hedge fund advisors with the agency by February 1. Critics charge that the SEC does not have the legal authority to regulate hedge funds. However, the SEC responds that they have a broad authority to insure [...]

In a per curiam decision handed down Monday, the US Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the City of San Diego's decision to terminate a police officer who made and sold sexually explicit videotapes of himself in uniform did not violate the officer's First and Fourteenth Amendment rights to freedom of speech. In its decision, the [...]

The US Supreme Court Monday refused to hear an appeal in a challenge to the government's strategy in holding military commissions for detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Lawyers for Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's former driver, had asked the Court to expedite the appeal, but the Court refused to hear the case before the DC [...]

Turkey's parliament has approved another law designed to pave the way for talks on Turkey's membership in the European Union. The new criminal procedure bill, which will take effect on April 1, 2005, is the second leg of a three-part criminal reform initiative, the first part of which was approved by the Turkish parliament earlier [...]

In his first public reaction to Friday's Supreme Court decision (reported here on JURIST's Paper Chase), outgoing Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma said Monday that he will honor the Court's call for a repeat presidential runoff election. Kuchma also said Monday that he will continue to work for constitutional changes that would weaken the presidency and [...]

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Monday, December 6. The US Supreme Court will hear 10 AM ET oral arguments in Wilkinson v. Dotson (case summary from Duke Law School), where the court will decide whether a prisoner can bring a §1983 claim that his parole [...]