Appeals court hears oral arguments in revised travel ban appeal News
Appeals court hears oral arguments in revised travel ban appeal

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] heard oral arguments [audio, MP3] on Monday regarding President Donald Trump’s immigration executive order. The Trump Administration is appealing a Maryland court ruling in March which placed a temporary ban on Trump’s Executive Order 13780 [text], also known as the “revised travel ban.” The plaintiffs in the case argue [Reuters report] that the executive order violates immigration law and the First Amendment freedom of religion. The government, however, maintains that the immigration executive order was enacted due to national security.

As with Trump’s last travel ban, the new immigration order has been highly controversial. In March, Massachusetts, California [JURIST reports], Maryland, New York, Oregon and Washington joined in a lawsuit [JURIST reports] opposing the ban. These lawsuits are premised on what JURIST guest columnist Jonathan Hafetz described as underlying racial discrimination [JURIST report] in the ban. Weeks after the Maryland court ruling, 13 states came out in support of the revised travel ban [JURIST report] by filing a brief with the court stating that the president lawfully acted in the interest of national security.

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.