A Chilean appeals court judge said Tuesday he would consider a criminal complaint against former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet alleging that some 27,255 people were tortured during the period of his rule as part of the government's repression of the opposition. Santiago Appeals Court Judge Joaquin Billard has asked the Investigative Police, a civilian [...]

Two court-appointed defense lawyers for former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, on trial at The Hague for war crimes, have been told they cannot withdraw from his case. In a ruling Tuesday, the trials chamber of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia held that although Milosevic has been allowed to resume the conduct of his [...]

The US Army said Tuesday that it will convene a court-martial for US Captain Rogelio Maynulet, accused of murdering an Iraqi driver who had been injured by US soldiers during a militia sweep in May. Lawyers for Maynulet said that the driver was shot out of mercy because of the victim's severe injuries. They also [...]

Syria released 112 political detainees, the country's official news agency reported Tuesday. President Bashar al-Asad pardoned the prisoners, many of whom are thought to be Kurdish minorities arrested during a riot last March. This year 160 political prisoners have been released so far. Human rights activists speculate that there may still be hundreds of political [...]

Completing a 30-day sentence, former US Army Sergeant Charles Jenkins was released from the US military base at Camp Zama Japan Tuesday, and allowed to travel to the Japanese city of Sado, where he plans to settle down again with his Japanese wife and daughters. He defected from the US military 39-years ago while serving [...]

The Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday concerning state regulation of interstate wine sales. The controversy centers on the New York and Michigan state laws that allow direct in-state, but not out-of-state, shipments of wine. The Constitution implicitly prohibits states from passing laws that discriminate against businesses of another state. However, the 21st Amendment, which ended [...]

Shubha Ghosh, University at Buffalo Law School: "The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today in the wine distributor case, Swedenborg. Here are two links to NPR coverage of the case from today and yesterday. At issue in the case is the reconciliation of the 21st Amendment which repealed Prohibition and relegated regulation of alcohol [...]

Anna Ryzhova, Kyiv, Ukraine: "Three events featured on Ukraine's political landscape yesterday, all of which went someway towards resolving the political impasse brought on by the scandalous Presidential election. First, the Parliament of Ukraine agreed to hold its extraordinary meeting on Dec 7th for solving the current political crisis. Second, although Victor Yanukovych, one of [...]

The Ukrainian parliament adjourned again Tuesday without passing a revised electoral reform package previously agreed to in principle by the leaders of the major political factions in the country's ongoing electoral dispute. The parliament had failed to adopt an earlier version of the reform package Saturday, but a second failure loomed large even before the [...]

Rick Hasen, Loyola Law School Los Angeles: "The Washington Post reports here that new Democratic minority leader Harry Reid has said he could support Justice Scalia as a potential replacement for Chief Justice Rehnquist (if and when the Chief retires) because Scalia is "one smart guy." (Reid opposes Justice Thomas for Chief on grounds he [...]