The US Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday approved an amendment to the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2005 (FAIR) which would guarantee that the sickest asbestos victims will be compensated the fastest. The FAIR Act, which has been delayed in the Senate for some time , creates a $140B compensation fund for asbestos victims [...]

No criminal charges are to be filed against the pilots of a Cessna 150 aircraft that flew into White House airspace Wednesday, prompting evacuations of the White House, the Capitol, and nearby federal buildings. For eight minutes, the alert level at the White House was raised to red, the highest terror alert, and agents directed [...]

The Status of Muslim Civil Rights in the United States 2005: Unequal Protection, Council on American Islamic Relations, May 11, 2005 . Excerpt (from the Executive Summary): Nearly four years removed from the 9/11 terror attacks, the greatest tragedy to befall our nation in modern history, our country has learned certain lessons that will hopefully [...]

A Global Alliance Against Forced Labor, International Labor Organization, May 11, 2005 . Excerpt: Forced labour must be punishable as a crime. This is, in fact, almost universally the case today. The vast majority of ILO member States have ratified one or other of its two forced labour Conventions, and usually both. There tend to [...]

Plata et al. v. Schwarzenegger et al., United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Judge Thelton E. Henderson, May 10, 2005 . Read the order . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

A US Army sergeant from Georgia faces a court martial Thursday at Fort Stewart on charges of refusing to obey his redeployment order and serve in Iraq after his first eight-month tour. The Army rejected a request by Sgt. Kevin Benderman for conscientious objector status and charged him with deserting his unit and missing movement. [...]

Spc.Sabrina Harman , 27, will become the latest soldier in the Abu Ghraib scandal to stand trial in military court when she appears Thursday before a Fort Hood judge on charges of mistreating detainees in the military prison. A pretrial hearing was held Wednesday to determine the admissibility of photographic evidence. Harman is accused of [...]

Musa Hilal, suspected leader of the Janjaweed militia active in the Darfur, said Wednesday that he would stand trial in Sudan rather than face trial outside the country. Hilal, who has consistently denied involvement in alleged Darfur atrocities, nonetheless insisted if there was any indication he was being tried fairly, he would fight with all [...]

Kuwaiti prosecutors announced Wednesday that they will shortly be handing over to the Iraqi Special Tribunal a list of crimes committed by Saddam Hussein, whose forces invaded and occupied the country in 1990-1, precipitating the Gulf War. Kuwaiti news agency KUNA says the already-prepared list has been sent to Kuwait's prime minister for final review [...]

Hate crimes and civil rights violations against Muslims in the United States have reached their highest point since right after September 11, according to a report released Wednesday by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) . As reasons for the recent surge the report cites increasing political rhetoric used against Muslim figures and lingering hatred [...]