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WORLD LAW Yemen: terrorist haven? Yemeni law takes the spotlight as authorities investigate possible terrorism associated with the recent explosion of a oil tanker off Yemen's coast. MORE WORLD LAW
FAMOUS TRIALS OJ revisited From the JURIST archives - Professor Douglas Linder takes a look back at the 1995 trial of O.J. Simpson for the murder of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman [October 2000]. MORE FAMOUS TRIALS
MILOSEVIC TRIAL Is Slobodan Milosevic getting a fair trial? "As days pass it appears that spanners are constantly thrown into the works to make life difficult for Slobo. However his tenacity has impressed me and his experience in the legal field has helped him along.
..." - Aleksander Misic, Australia JOIN THE DISCUSSION MORE ON WAR CRIMES
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Saturday, September 07, 2002 NEW ON THE WEB... Israeli Supreme Court head defends expulsions Delivering the third annual Rabin Lecture at the University of Tulsa, the President of the Israeli Supreme Court, Aharon Barak, has defended his Court's unanimous decision[RTF] Tuesday to allow the expulsion of relatives of Palestinian terror suspects from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip. Justice Barak said the relocations meet article 78 of the Geneva Convention, a provision that gives an occupying nation powers to reassign people within occupied territories. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ISRAELI SUPREME COURT
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 9:00 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... ICC update
Human Rights Watch is castigating the government of Colombia for having ratified the International Criminal Court statute without disclosing that it was invoking Article 124, a transitional provision that essentially allows state parties to reject the court's jurisdiction for a seven-year period. In the meantime, the ICC continues to take formal shape at the first Assembly of States Parties in New York. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ICC
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 1:49 PM | #
Friday, September 06, 2002 EDITOR'S DESK... Old news is no news CNN, the Washington Post, and a host of newspapers and news services picking up Associated Press feed are carrying stories today highlighting Judge Leonie Brinkema's decision to "shut down" accused terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui by directing that his pleadings will no longer be released to the public unless he stops putting in political diatribes. The problem is that this isn't news. The Order the stories are based on was made (and - contrary to at least the Post version of the AP story, which says it was "disclosed Thursday" - was simultaneously made public) on August 29, when JURIST noted it. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MOUSSAOUI TRIAL
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 9:11 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Court upholds steep truck pollution penalties
Judge Henry Kennedy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Friday upheld steep EPA penalties imposed on truck engine makers if they fail to meet new pollution cutting requirements beginning next month. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 8:10 PM | #
EDITOR'S DESK... If music be the food of law, play on!
The Supreme Court of Mexico's website - which we just visited trying to locate a copy of today's major ruling upholding a controversial indigenous rights law - may not have any materials in English, but it is undoubtedly the world's best-sounding[MIDI] judicial website. LEARN MORE ABOUT LAW IN MEXICO
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 7:39 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Moussaoui now "listening" to counsel
In a response[PDF] filed Friday to a US Government motion to introduce photos and video of the World Trade Center attacks through a New York Port Authority witness, Standby Counsel for accused terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui comments in a telling footnote that Moussaoui, although still technically acting pro se, "is now at least listening to and considering the advice of counsel." LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MOUSSAOUI TRIAL
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 7:21 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Soldier at Milosevic trial confesses to murder of Kosovo Albanians
A Serbian soldier giving evidence Friday in the war crimes trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic at The Hague ignored judicial warnings about self-incrimination and testified that had he helped murder 15 unarmed ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, including an old man and an infant. Full video of trial proceedings from Thursday and Friday is now online. WATCH THE MILOSEVIC TRIAL LIVE LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MILOSEVIC TRIAL
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 1:50 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Reactions to Senate Judiciary Committee rejection of Owen nomination
Republican leaders and conservative groups have reacted strongly to the Senate Judiciary Committee's rejection of Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen for nomination to the federal bench. President Bush issued a statement calling the action "shameful." Attorney General John Ashcroft said he was disappointed. The head of the Texas Justice Foundation called the vote "insulting to the people of Texas." NARAL (National Abortion and Reproduction Rights Action League), NOW (National Organization of Women), the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, People for the American Way and other liberal organizations that had actively opposed the nomination praised the Committee's work. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 8:42 AM | #
Thursday, September 05, 2002 NEW ON THE WEB... Senate approves arming pilots
By a margin of 87-6, the US Senate Thursday approved an amendment to the Homeland Security Act allowing commercial pilots to carry weapons in the cockpit. The vote came after the Bush White House and the Transportation Safety Administration dropped[PDF] their initial opposition to the proposal. Twenty-one airlines opposed the measure, which was supported by the American Airlines pilots' association and several other pilots' unions. The Arming Pilots Against Terrorism Act passed the House overwhelmingly in June. READ MORE NEWS ABOUT HIJACKING
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 8:42 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... India seeks extradition of Union Carbide chief for Bhopal disaster
Reuters via the Washington Post is quoting an Indian Foreign Ministry official as saying that the Indian Government will press for the extradition from the United States of retired Union Carbide chairman Warren Anderson, wanted in India for trial in association with the Bhopal gas leak disaster of 1984 that immediately killed over 3000 people. This statement comes in the wake of a ruling last week by the Bhopal District Court refusing to reduce criminal charges against Anderson to rash negligence from culpable homicide LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BHOPAL DISASTER
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 11:54 AM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Workers can claim damages against employers of illegal aliens
A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled[PDF] Wednesday that workers could claim damages under the RICO (Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization) statute against employers who knowingly and systematically engage in hiring illegal aliens. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE RICO STATUTE
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 11:22 AM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Government defends failure to find Moussaoui e-mails
In a response[PDF] filed Wednesday in US District Court, the US Government defended the FBI's failure to find and secure as evidence the contents of a Hotmail e-mail account maintained by terrorism suspect Zacarias Moussaoui. The 4-page pleading, submitted at the direction of Judge Leonie Brinkema, explained that "it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find Hotmail account names from a forensically examined computer, unless the user downloaded account information to the computer or to electronic storage media. As far the United States can discern, Moussaoui did not download to computer or electronic storage media any data indicating the xdesertman@hotmail.com account name." LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MOUSSAOUI TRIAL
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 11:04 AM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Lawsuit alleges 9/11 conspiracy between Al Qaeda, Iraq
A $1 trillion lawsuit[DOC] filed Wednesday in US District Court for the Southern District of New York alleges that Iraq had advance knowledge of Osama bin Laden's plans to attack American targets in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001 and conspired with him to carry them out. Kreindler & Kreindler, the law firm that filed the action on behalf of 1,400 victims of the terror attacks and their families, specializes in airline disaster lawsuits. READ MORE NEWS ABOUT TERRORISM
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 9:14 AM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Trial of Palestinian leader begins in Israel
The trial of senior Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti began today in Tel Aviv. Barghouti, the head of the PLO's Fatah faction and founder of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, is being tried on various terrorism-related charges. The Jersualem Post reports on a fiery first day of proceedings in what is already being called "the trial of the intifada." LEARN MORE ABOUT ISRAELI LAW
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 8:25 AM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Duke Law School gets $1 million to challenge copyright expansion CNET is reporting that Duke University Law School has received an anonymous $1 million gift to fund "advocacy and research aimed at curtailing the recent expansion of copyright law." The gift will be formally announced at a conference in Washington on Thursday. UPDATE [3:09 PM]: Duke Law School has issued a press release indicating that the gift will fund "the creation of the first ever academic center to study 'the public domain'." READ MORE IP & PATENTS NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 8:07 AM | #
Wednesday, September 04, 2002 NEW ON JURIST... Induction, deduction - and abduction?
Professor Peter Tillers offers updated musings on factual inference and highlights an upcoming conference in the latest entries of Tillers on Evidence. READ MORE LAW BLOGS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 4:24 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Milosevic trial: witness claims Milosevic had to know about Kosovo crackdown
In testimony before the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia at the Hague, retired British general Sir Peter de la Billiere, testifying as a military expert, has told the Court that the operation against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo was so widespread there is no way former Yugoslav President Milosevic could have not known about or even directed the military actions. Full video of trial proceedings from Tuesday and Wednesday is now online. WATCH THE MILOSEVIC TRIAL LIVE LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MILOSEVIC TRIAL
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 3:45 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Bush will seek Congressional approval for Iraq action
In remarks made before a meeting with Congressional leaders Wednesday, President Bush indicated that his administration would "seek approval" from Congress before dealing with any threat from Iraq's Saddam Hussein. LISTEN TO TODAY'S WHITE HOUSE PRESS BRIEFING
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 3:21 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Reservists ask Israeli Supreme Court to rule that occupation is illegal
From AP, via Ha'aretz: "Eight IDF reserve soldiers who refuse to serve in the West Bank and Gaza Strip asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to rule that the Israeli occupation of those areas is illegal. It was not clear whether the court would hear the case. Petitioners said it was the first legal challenge to Israel's 35-year presence in the lands the Palestinians claim for a state." LEARN MORE ABOUT LAW IN ISRAEL
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 3:11 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... LSU fires Hatfill - Justice Department implicated?
An AP story reports that LSU University fired Dr. Steven J. Hatfill Tuesday from his position as director of the LSU National Center for Biomedical Research and Training a month after it received an e-mail from the Justice Department indicating that the DOJ would cut funding for any Center programs with which he was associated. An LSU spokesperson said that although the e-mail was received just before Hatfill was put on administrative leave, senior university officials were not told of it, and that they were not made aware of the e-mail until after the decision to fire Hatfill had been taken. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HATFILL INVESTIGATION
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 2:48 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... UN Secretary-General "gravely concerned" about Israeli Court expulsions
In a statement released Wednesday UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he was "gravely concerned" about the Israel Supreme Court's recent decision[RTF] authorizing explusion of relatives of a Palestinian terror suspect from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip. He said that such expulsions were contrary to international humanitarian law on collective punishment and could not be justified as self-defense;he called on Israel to adhere to its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949). READ THE FOURTH GENEVA CONVENTION ON PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS IN TIME OF WAR
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 2:11 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Consumer groups petition FTC to outlaw spam
In the wake of a recent study suggesting that unsolicited bulk e-mails now comprise 36 percent of all email traveling over the Internet, three national consumer groups filed a petition[PDF] with the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday requesting that unsolicited commercial email (commonly referred to as "spam") be considered an unfair and deceptive trade practice as it causes harm to consumers. LISTEN TO THE PRESS CONFERENCE
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 1:58 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Canada to legalize marijuana?
A Special Committee of the Canadian Senate issued a report Wednesday recommending that cannabis (marijuana) be legalized in Canada but made subject to what it called "restricted use." The Senate Committee also recommended that Canadian government should wipe clean the records of anyone convicted of marijuana possession. WATCH THE PRESS CONFERENCE FROM OTTAWA
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 11:51 AM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Napster website fades to black
In the wake of yesterday's ruling by US District Judge Peter J. Walsh refusing to allow the sale of Napster to Bertelsmann AG, the Napster website has faded to a funereal black. LEARN MORE ABOUT NAPSTER
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 10:33 AM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Settlement reached in Florida voting rights suit
The State of Florida and five civil rights groups agreed Tuesday to settle a landmark lawsuit[PDF] arising out of irregularities in Florida voting during the 2000 Presidential election. A joint statement of Plaintiff and Defendants released by the settlement Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law said that "While the Plaintiffs and the Defendants may not agree about the scope, impact and effect of the problems that surfaced during the 2000 presidential election, they share a common desire to promote the continuation and enhancement of election reform in Florida, which transcends their differences." The settlement agreement now goes before federal judge Alan Gold for final approval. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE 2000 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 10:22 AM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... ABA President assails cost of judicial electoral campaigns
Speaking Tuesday in Winston-Salem North Carolina, the President of the American Bar Association, Arthur P. Carlton Jr., criticized the rising costs of political campaigns for judicial office, and called upon states to conduct judicial elections on a non-partisan basis. The speech comes in the wake of an ABA poll released last month that showed public trust and confidence in the judiciary was being eroded by skyrocketing costs in judicial election campaigns LEARN MORE ABOUT THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 8:32 AM | #
Tuesday, September 03, 2002 NEW ON THE WEB... Hoops at high court
AP is carrying an interesting story about the "other" court in the US Supreme Court building in Washington - the one for basketball. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE US SUPREME COURT
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 8:24 PM | #
EDITOR'S DESK... Napster needed
A US bankruptcy judge in Delaware this afternoon blocked the sale of Napster to Bertelsmann AG, effectively forcing liquidation on Napster. Everybody is talking about the decision online, but no one actually seems to have it. The US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware does not have the ruling online as of 7 PM ET; the now-ghostly Napster website is still featuring a press release from May trumpeting the initial deal with Bertelsmann, and the Bertelsmann site has nothing about the ruling. Maybe it's ironic that the Internet has been "blindsided" on this one. Or are we just missing something? LEARN MORE ABOUT NAPSTER
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 7:44 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Slavery reparations suits filed
Descendants of black slaves led by activist attorney Deadria Farmer-Paellmann filed lawsuits in New York and California on Tuesday, seeking payback of profits that they claim 12 corporations in those jurisdictions reaped from slavery prior to its abolition in the United States in 1865. Additional suits are expected to follow in Illinois, Texas and Louisiana. The suits are similar to others filed in New York against other corporations earlier this year. LEARN MORE ABOUT REPARATIONS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 7:18 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Report details loss of privacy rights worldwide post-Sept.11
A new report released today by Privacy International and the Electronic Privacy Information Center documents growing restrictions on privacy and increased use of surveillance and data-sharing in 50 nations since September 11, 2001. It is the first report to offer a comprehensive assessment of these trends. READ MORE PRIVACY NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 2:39 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Reaction to Israeli ruling allowing expulsions Amnesty International and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights have issued scathing denunciations of today's ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court [RTF; summary also available] authorizing the expulsion of relatives of Palestinian terror suspects from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip. Professor Ruth Lapidoth, professor of international law at the Hebrew University, Jersualem, offers an academic analysis of the principal issues involved in this case, in particular the applicability of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention on "deportations." LEARN MORE ABOUT ISRAELI LAW
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 12:59 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Senate begins debate on Homeland Security legislation
The US Senate has begun what may be a lengthy debate on legislation setting up a new Department of Homeland Security. Senator Joseph Lieberman, Chair of the Governmental Affairs Committee, is the legislation's chief Senate sponsor. LEARN MORE ABOUT HOMELAND SECURITY
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 12:25 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Law professors debate Pledge ruling CNS News reports a recent debate between two law professors from American University and Catholic University on the recent Ninth Circuit ruling [PDF] that the "under God" reference in the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional. Despite disagreeing on particular points of analysis, both professors agreed that the decision had no chance of being upheld. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 11:19 AM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Pakistan gang rape appeal
From the BBC: "Lawyers in Pakistan have launched appeals on behalf of some of the men convicted for the gang rape of a woman on the orders of a tribal council." The appeals are likely to be heard by a division bench of the Lahore High Court in the southern Punjab city of Multan. LEARN MORE ABOUT PAKISTAN LAW
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 11:03 AM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Israeli Supreme Court: relatives of Palestinian terror suspects may be expelled
A nine-judge panel of the Israeli Supreme Court has unanimously ruled [RTF; summary also available] that relatives of Palestinians suspected of terrorist acts can be legally expelled from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip. The Court said that the circumstances of the case should not be regarded as a deportation or a forcible transfer (within the meaning of art. 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention) but as assigned residence which is permitted under art. 78 of that Convention. LEARN MORE ABOUT ISRAELI LAW
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 8:40 AM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... UN official condemns deterioration of rule of law in Zimbabwe
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers has expressed outrage at the continual undermining of the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law in Zimbabwe, citing recent attacks by "war veterans" against lawyers and judges in the courtroom. The Special Rapporteur has called upon the Zimbabwean Government to publicly condemn these acts of violence, to prosecute all those responsible, and to reassert its commitment to the independence of the judiciary. LEARN MORE ABOUT LAW IN ZIMBABWE
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 3:20 PM | #
NEW ON JURIST... Torts class in 2010
In the first fall number of JURIST's Lessons from the Web series on law teaching with technology, Professor Rogelio Lasso of Washburn University School of Law offers a vision of what a law school Torts class might look like in the year 2010. READ MORE LESSONS FROM THE WEB
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 12:39 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Chinese one-child policy takes legal effect
The Chinese Xinhua news agency reports that China's one-child population policy has come into legal force as of Sunday. The policy dates back to 1979, but until now has not had statutory standing. LEARN MORE ABOUT POPULATION LAWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 11:07 AM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Court opens Malibu beachfront to public
Overturning a lower court ruling, the California Court of Appeal has ruled [DOC] that an 80-foot stretch of Malibu beachfront should be open to the public, despite objections of local residents. Plaintiff residents had argued that parking along the nearby Pacific Coast Highway was dangerous and that the water in the area had riptides. They had also argued that defendants California Coastal Commission had no right to negotiate for the opening of the beach in exchange for giving former beachfront owners permission to expand their houses on beachfront property a mile away. LEARN MORE ABOUT CALIFORNIA COASTAL LAW
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 10:39 AM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Rwanda genocide trial resumes
The trial of former Rwandan colonel Theoneste Bagosora has resumed before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, sitting in Arusha, Tanzania. Bagosora is accused of ordering Hutu militia to slaughter rival Tutsis, instigating a bloodbath that left an estimated 800,000 people dead. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE RWANDA GENOCIDE
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 9:40 AM | #
Sunday, September 01, 2002 NEW ON THE WEB... Former AG Reno now in dead heat for Democratic nod in Florida
A poll of Democrats commissioned by two Florida newspapers indicates that former US Attorney General Janet Reno has lost her once-substantial lead over Tampa lawyer Bill McBride in the Democratic gubernatorial primary coming up on September 10. The successful Democratic nominee will take on Florida Republican Governor Jeb Bush in November. LEARN MORE ABOUT JANET RENO
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 8:10 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Prague Law School makes flood appeal
One of JURIST's European readers calls our attention to an urgent appeal for financial assistance from the Law School at Charles University in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, hit hard by recent flooding: "The Library of the Law School, the largest law library in the Czech Republic, has lost about one hundred thousand law books, journals, historical law materials, etc. particularly from the period between 1918 and 1948. The basement and subbasement at the Law Faculty, where the seat of the Library and its storages are located, were damaged and flooded with almost 2 metres of penetrating river water. The damage caused to the building and the Library is expected to amount to several millions of Czech crowns. We are calling law schools and universities as well as other institutions or individuals all over the world for financial help and support - the situation is very serious." LEARN MORE ABOUT CHARLES UNIVERSITY
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 5:15 PM | #
NEW ON THE WEB... Afghan court backs entertainment ban
From Reuters via Afgha.com: "The Supreme Court of Afghanistan has backed a decision by state-run media to ban women from singing on the radio and prevent Indian films from being aired in the capital." The ruling is consistent with other holdings and judicial statements suggesting that Afghan law in the post-Taliban era may be somewhat more compassionate, but nonetheless remains highly conservative and sensitive to Islamic teachings. LEARN MORE ABOUT LAW IN AFGHANISTAN
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 4:30 PM | #
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