France ex-PM indicted in defamation case News
France ex-PM indicted in defamation case

[JURIST] Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin [official profile, in French; JURIST news archive] has been ordered to stand trial for "complicity in slanderous denunciation" in connection with the a long-running political scandal know as the Clearstream Affair [BBC backgrounder]. De Villepin is accused [AFP report] of having orchestrated the release of a fabricated list of government officials and business people who profited from illegal arms sales, including current French President Nicolas Sarkozy [offical profile, in French]. The allegations, which de Villepin has previously denied [JURIST report], surfaced during de Villepin's unsuccessful bid for the 2007 presidential nomination by the Union for a Popular Movement [party website, in French], which eventually went to his rival Sarkozy.

In 2006, French authorities searched de Villepin's home and questioned [JURIST reports] him for 17 hours in connection with the scandal. De Villepin's political image was tainted by the allegations as well as by his advance of an unpopular youth labor law [JURIST archive] during his time as prime minister.

THIS DAY @ LAW

International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism

November 9 is the International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism [UNITED factsheet]. On November 9, 1924, American gay activist Henry Gerber and several associates formed the Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization in the United States. The Society received a charter from the State of Illinois in December but was disbanded in July 1925 after a police raid which led to Gerber's arrest and trial (albeit not conviction). Pay a virtual visit to Henry Gerber House, now a registered Chicago landmark.

Supreme Court strikes down Massachusetts anti-draft law

On November 9, 1970, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 in Massachusetts v. Laird not to hear the case of the state's anti-draft law. Massachusetts had passed a law, which allowed its citizens to decline to fight in any undeclared war, even if the person was drafted. The law was passed in opposition to the draft and the war in Vietnam. The First Circuit found the war constitutional and thus struck down the law.