British prisoners may be given right to vote News
British prisoners may be given right to vote

[JURIST] The United Kingdom's Department for Constitutional Affairs [official website] has said it will review rules preventing prisoners from voting in British elections, after a European court upheld an earlier decision [ECHR overview] that determined that the rules violate prisoners' human rights. The case leading to the department's review was filed by John Hirst, who had been sentenced to life in prison for killing his landlord. Hirst claimed he should be able to vote while in prison and the European Court of Human Rights [official website] agreed, ruling [judgment; press release] that the Representation of the People Act of 1983 [text] breached Hirst's human rights. But Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer [official profile], Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, said that all 70,000 inmates in Britain's prison system would not be given the right to vote after the departmental review. In an interview with BBC Radio, Lord Falconer said that those prisoners convicted of lesser offenses might be able to vote, but it was clear that he did not favor voting rights for those convicted of more serious crimes. Lord Falconer said, "This is not a wholesale change, this is simply the court saying [to the government] 'Consider carefully the basis of your law'." The UK Press Association has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Fyodor Dostoevsky sentenced to death

Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky was sentenced to death on November 16, 1849 over his involvement in the progressive Petrashevsky Circle of intellectuals. Dostoevsky and his codefendants were scheduled to be executed on December 22 of that year, but their execution was stayed by Tsar Nicholas I after the execution ritual had been carried out. Dostoevsky was sent to Siberia instead to serve a four-year sentence. Learn more about the mock execution of Dostoevsky.

Canada executed Metis leader for treason

On November 16, 1885, the Canadian government executed Metis leader Louis Riel for high treason in the wake of the "Northwest Rebellion" that had pitted the Metis (descendants of French traders and native tribes) in what is now Saskatchewan against Canadian troops. Although Riel has lately been rehabilitated as an Indigenous francophone patriot of the Canadian West, his trial and execution remain sore points between English and French Canada.

US President Nixon signs Trans-Alaska Pipeline Act

On November 16, 1973, US President Richard Nixon signed the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Act into law. In addition to creating an oil pipeline across the state, the Act also quashed all environmental-legal challenges regarding its construction.