AG nominee Gonzales calls torture illegal, supports assault weapons ban News
AG nominee Gonzales calls torture illegal, supports assault weapons ban

[JURIST] US Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales [official White House biography; JURIST archive] told senators Tuesday that any torture by US forces would be illegal [Reuters report] and that he supported reinstating a federal assault weapons ban [AP report] that was allowed to lapse in September. Gonzales also said certain sunset provisions in the USA Patriot Act [text, PDF] should be eliminated and that the act, which he said had improved the government's ability to detect and prevent terror attacks, should be left as-is. Gonzales' statements were filed in response to Democratic legislators' requests for written answers to questions they posed during his confirmation hearing [Senate Judiciary Committee hearing website] earlier this month.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Dreyfus convicted of treason

On December 22, 1894, Jewish French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial trial that prompted worldwide allegations of anti-Semitism. Dreyfus was later cleared. Learn more about the case of Alfred Dreyfus and read an English translation of the famous public letter J'Accuse...! by novelist and Dreyfus partisan Emile Zola.

US passed Embargo Act, banning foreign trade

On December 22, 1807, the Embargo Act was passed at the urging of US President Thomas Jefferson. The act barred trade with any foreign nations in an effort to avoid American entry into the Napoleonic Wars of Europe. However, the act proved unenforceable and was replaced with the Non-Intercourse Act, which barred trade with France and Great Britain. Learn more about the Embargo Act of 1807 from Monticello.org