Australia tries suspected terrorist under new laws News
Australia tries suspected terrorist under new laws

[JURIST] Australian prosecutors on Monday accused a Pakistani-born Australian immigrant of planning to bomb one of two targets in Sydney in one of the first cases to be tried under the country's new post 9/11 anti-terrorism laws [text]. Faheem Khalid Lodhi, who immigrated to Australia [JURIST news archive] in 1996, has pleaded not guilty to four charges and is being tried by a jury at the New South Wales Supreme Court [official website]. Prosecutors stated that an October 2003 search of Lodhi's home produced a terrorist manual that indicated the defendant's plans to bomb either an electrical supply system or defense installations in Sydney. Lodhi's defense will begin its case on Wednesday, and the trial is expected to last up to eight weeks. AAP has local coverage. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Georgia became first US state to ban lynching

On December 20, 1893, Georgia became the first state in the Union to pass a law against lynching, making the act punishable by four years in prison. The statute was not particularly effective—read the text of the 1899 pamphlet Lynch Law in Georgia by anti-lynching activist Ida Wells-Barnett.