Senate approves Patriot Act extension until March 10 News
Senate approves Patriot Act extension until March 10

[JURIST] The US Senate late Thursday evening passed a one-month extension [HR 4659 summary] of the USA Patriot Act [PDF text] by a 95-1 vote [roll call vote]. The extension until March 10 has already been approved by the US House [JURIST report] and will now go to President Bush for his signature. Sixteen provisions [CRS backgrounder, PDF] of the were set to expire at the end of last year, but after Congress failed to reach a long-term reauthorization compromise, the Act was renewed until February 3 [JURIST report]. Negotiations have stalled [JURIST report] over provisions that involve wiretapping and the extension of powers that some senators believe would infringe upon individual liberties. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) was the lone dissenter against the extension. Bloomberg has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Tojo and other Japanese WWII leaders executed for war crimes

On December 23, 1948, former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and six other Japanese war leaders were executed for war crimes in Tokyo.

Learn more about the Tokyo War Crimes Trials.

Terry Nichols convicted for Oklahoma City bombing

On December 23, 1997, Terry Nichols was found guilty of conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter for assisting Timothy McVeigh in bombing the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. He was later sentenced to life in prison. On April 19, 1995, McVeigh detonated a truck bomb that gutted the building and killed 168 people, making it the deadliest terrorist attack on US. soil until the attacks of September 11, 2001. McVeigh was convicted for his role before Nichols on June 2, 1997. Learn more about the trials of Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh.