Kerry rejects legal fight over votes in concession speech News
Kerry rejects legal fight over votes in concession speech

[JURIST] Conceding the presidential race to George Bush Wednesday afternoon in a speech at Boston's Faneuil Hall, John Kerry said that the outcome of an election should be decided by the voters, and not by a "protracted legal fight." With a handful of states yet to be decided, Kerry and his advisors had realized earlier in the day that there were not enough outstanding ballots left to be counted to cover his 136,000 vote shortfall in Ohio. Kerry confirmed that he had called President Bush to congratulate him, and both agreed that something needs to be done about a divided country. AP has more.

UPDATE: A transcript of Kerry's speech is now online at johnkerry.com, replacing the campaign content of the website.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Indian National Congress founded

The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded on December 28, 1885 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. In subsequent decades, the so-called Congress Party would advocate for Indian independence from the UK, which was eventually achieved in 1947. The first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, was elected as a member of the INC. Learn more about the history and founding of the Indian National Congress.

Congress recognized Pledge of Allegiance

On December 28, 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and encouraged its recitation in schools. The Pledge was supposedly written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day. The words “under God” were added by Congress in 1954. The revised version of the Pledge was the subject of litigation before the United States Supreme Court originally brought by Michael Newdow, a parent who unsuccessfully objected to his daughter's school district policy requiring daily recitation of the Pledge. The court ruled that Newdow had no standing.

Nepal ends monarchy, establishes republic

On December 28, 2007, the Kingdom of Nepal's interim parliament ended the country's monarchy and established the Republic of Nepal. Free elections were held on April 10 of the following year to elect a Constituent Assembly.

Learn more about the rise of democracy in Nepal.