US soldier sentenced to 3 months, demoted in Afghan assault News
US soldier sentenced to 3 months, demoted in Afghan assault

[JURIST] A military policeman has pled guilty to assault and two counts of making a false statement in the 2002 beating death of an Afghan prisoner [Army press release]. In a plea bargain Spc. Brian E. Cammack also agreed to testify in other cases related to the deaths of two other prisoners. Cammack admitted to beating prisoner Mullah Habibullah on the legs after he claimed the prisoner spit on him. Habibullah later died of a pulmonary embolism, likely caused by a blood clot in his legs after the beating. Cammack, sentenced Friday at Fort Bliss in Texas, will be demoted to private, fined over $3,000 and given a bad-conduct discharge. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Pope Urban II sparks First Crusade

Pope Urban II threw his support behind what would become the First Crusade on November 27, 1095 during the Council of Clairmont. The Pope urged the council's participants to render aid to the Byzantine Empire, which was being attacked by the Seljuks. Pope Urban called for a wide coalition of rich and poor to combat the threat, which eventually resulted in the conquest of much of the Muslim-controlled Levant by the Crusaders and the establishment of the Crusader States. Read Pope Urban's address.  

Catholic Code of Canon Law revised

On November 27, 1983, the revised Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church went into effect. Learn more about the history of Canon Law from Professor Kenneth Pennington of the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law.

Alfred Nobel creates Nobel Prize in his will

On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his will, creating the Nobel Prize. Learn more about the history of the Nobel Prize and the Nobel Commission.