Former Saddam lawyer blames US defense team members for resignation News
Former Saddam lawyer blames US defense team members for resignation

[JURIST] Defense lawyer Ziad al-Khasawneh, the head of Saddam Hussein's defense team who announced his resignation Wednesday [JURIST report], said Thursday that his motivation for quitting was repeated efforts by US members of the team to temper his criticism of the US occupation of Iraq. Khasawneh alleged that former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark [JURIST report, Wikipedia profile], who now heads the Committee for Defending Saddam Hussein, and other American attorneys continually wished Khasawneh to refrain from criticizing the occupation. The shakeup in the defense team, the first since Khasawneh replaced Mohammed al-Rashdan in November [JURIST report], comes only weeks after reassurances from the Iraqi government that the trial will begin before the end of September [JURIST report]. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

No lynchings reported in US for first time

On December 30, 1952, the Tuskegee Institute reported that 1952 was the first year of no lynchings of African Americans in the United States in the 71 years it had kept records. Learn more about lynching and listen to Billie Holiday's jazz recording of the 1938 protest song Strange Fruit.

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