California officials lied to the US Supreme Court about racial segregation in the state's prisons, according to state prison guards and inmates quoted in the Wednesday edition of the Riverside Press-Enterprise. According to the newspaper, one correctional officer filed a whistleblower complaint with the state auditor over a false statement given to the Supreme Court [...]

Chief Justice William Rehnquist, not seen at public events since mid-October, looked frail at Thursday's inaugural but administered the presidential oath in a strong voice without need of any assistance. Rehnquist, 80 and ailing after undergoing treatment for throat cancer this fall, arrived on the podium wearing a cap and using a cane, but did [...]

President Bush said achieving freedom throughout the world was "the urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the calling of our time," after he took the oath of office just before 12 Noon ET Thursday. The swearing in was the 55th presidential inauguration in US history. President Bush was sworn in by Chief Justice William [...]

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is set to begin trials for 17 suspects charged for alleged roles in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, according to prosecutor Hassan Jallow. The new trials will proceed alongside 25 cases already being tried. Jallow said investigations had been completed for 16 more suspects, and indictments will likely be [...]

The Defense Department has announced that a third detainee at Guantanamo Bay will be released after a Combatant Status Review Tribunal determined he was not an enemy combatant. The Defense Department said Wednesday the tribunals had recently conducted 87 status review proceedings, only changing the status of one detainee. The Department did not provide details [...]

In Thursday's international brief, Savo Todovic, former deputy commander of the Serb-run Foca concentration camp , was officially charged at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia on Wednesday. The indictment alleges a combination of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and breaches of the Geneva Convention, for a total of 18 charges. Todovic was [...]

Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko will be sworn in as the new Ukrainian president at noon on Sunday. The Ukrainian Parliament voted to approve a Sunday ceremony after the country's Supreme Court rejected an appeal by former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych , saying there was not enough evidence to support his claim that millions of people [...]

A UK government spokesman announced Thursday that the court-martial of three British soldiers accused of abusing Iraqi civilians has been "halted" at the request of the defense. The soldiers, from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers , are accused of using civilians to simulate sex and violence. The case is similar to one involving the abuse [...]

Pre-trial motions in a lawsuit brought by Washington Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi contesting the 129-vote victory of Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire in a hand recount begin Thursday. The case, which gets under way in heavily Republican Chelan County, will most likely reach the state Supreme Court, which has ruled on election-related issues several times [...]

Chief Justice William Rehnquist will swear in President Bush for his second term at Noon Thursday during the 55th Presidential Inaugural Ceremony . Rehnquist, battling thyroid cancer since October, has missed Supreme Court sessions for the past three months while receiving chemotherapy and radiation. Chief Justices, who are traditionally asked to swear in the president, [...]