Iraqi emergency law extended through election date News
Iraqi emergency law extended through election date

[JURIST] Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi announced Thursday that he has extended for a further 30 days the country's emergency law approved in July but only implemented in November. The extension carries the National Safety Law – authorizing the imposition of curfews, the closing of borders and airports and the detention of suspected insurgents without normal process – through the scheduled January 30 date for elections to Iraq's National Assembly. Allawi reconfirmed that date earlier this week after senior ministers had publicly floated the idea of a postponement in light of the deteriorating security situation in the country. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism

November 9 is the International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism [UNITED factsheet]. On November 9, 1924, American gay activist Henry Gerber and several associates formed the Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization in the United States. The Society received a charter from the State of Illinois in December but was disbanded in July 1925 after a police raid which led to Gerber's arrest and trial (albeit not conviction). Pay a virtual visit to Henry Gerber House, now a registered Chicago landmark.

Supreme Court strikes down Massachusetts anti-draft law

On November 9, 1970, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 in Massachusetts v. Laird not to hear the case of the state's anti-draft law. Massachusetts had passed a law, which allowed its citizens to decline to fight in any undeclared war, even if the person was drafted. The law was passed in opposition to the draft and the war in Vietnam. The First Circuit found the war constitutional and thus struck down the law.