BREAKING NEWS ~ Graner sentenced to 10 years for Abu Ghraib abuses News
BREAKING NEWS ~ Graner sentenced to 10 years for Abu Ghraib abuses

[JURIST] A military jury at Fort Hood, Texas, has sentenced Army Spc. Charles Graner Jr. [Wikipedia profile] to 10 years in prison for abuses [AP photos] committed at the Abu Ghraib prison [GlobalSecurity.org backgrounder] in Baghdad. Earlier Saturday Graner took the stand in the sentencing phase of his trial, giving an "unsworn statement" immune from cross-examination for some three hours, during which time he called a lot of his own actions "criminal" and blamed Army superiors for giving orders prompting the maltreatment. AP has more on Graner's testimony here.

6:15 PM ET – AP now has a full story on the sentencing here.

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