JURIST - Paper Chase

Monday, February 3

Amnesty International report on Texas executions
Bernard Hibbitts at 2/3/2003 10:14:55 PM

As Texas prepares to carry out its 300th execution since 1982, Amnesty International issued a report Monday highlighting how that state is speeding up the rate of executions while other jurisdictions and countries have slowed or stopped altogether. Read Texas - In a world of its own.

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Columbia shuttle damage claims - corrected
Bernard Hibbitts at 2/3/2003 09:59:41 PM

Late on Monday NASA issued a corrected procedure for filing damage claims in connection with the loss of the Columbia Space Shuttle. The revision drops references to "claims that require immediate action" and (following an e-mail alert from JURIST) fixes a bad URL for further information on tort claims from the NASA Office of General Counsel.

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Public Defender - ineffective assistance of counsel
Bernard Hibbitts at 2/3/2003 09:47:08 PM

The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that the head of a county public defender’s office, as the administrative head of an organization formed to represent criminal defendants, may be held accountable for a policy that leads to a denial of an individual’s right to effective representation of counsel. Read Miranda v. Clark County, Nevada[PDF].

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New judges for Rwanda war crimes tribunal
Bernard Hibbitts at 2/3/2003 05:44:48 PM

The UN General Assembly elected 11 new judges Monday to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Read the ICTR press release.

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Columbia shuttle damage claims
Bernard Hibbitts at 2/3/2003 02:06:07 PM

NASA posted a fact sheet Monday with information for persons "who may have suffered damage due to the Space Shuttle Columbia mishap." The NASA General Counsel's Office has additional information on tort claims against NASA (see, however, the limitations on wrongful death recovery by astronauts' families, discussed below).

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2004 Budget - DOJ and Judicial Branch
Bernard Hibbitts at 2/3/2003 01:46:09 PM

President Bush released his proposed 2004 Budget Monday. Read a fact sheet from the White House or review the full set of Budget documents. The Budget includes a performance assessment and program agenda for the US Department of Justice and detailed breakdowns of proposed expenditures for the DOJ[PDF] and the Judicial Branch[PDF].

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World Court ruling against Yugoslavia
Bernard Hibbitts at 2/3/2003 01:30:22 PM

The International Court of Justice at The Hague ruled by a 10-3 margin Monday that Yugoslavia is bound by a 1996 ICJ decision that it has jurisdiction to adjudicate a 1993 genocide claim by Bosnia against Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia had argued that the present state of Yugoslavia did not continue the international legal and political personality of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, was not a Member of the United Nations, was not a State party to the Statute of the Court, and was not a State party to the Genocide Convention under which the case had been brought. Read the ICJ press release on the ruling and review the judgments of the Court.

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2003 tax cut
Bernard Hibbitts at 2/3/2003 01:08:29 PM

Professor Anthony Infanti and his Federal Income Tax students at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law have created a website reporting on the progress of the tax cut proposed by President Bush in January. Visit Monitoring the 2003 Tax Cut.

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Project BioShield and FDA drug rules
Bernard Hibbitts at 2/3/2003 09:32:13 AM

The White House Monday posted a fact sheet on Project BioShield, President Bush's initiative announced in the State of the Union Address "to develop and make available modern, effective drugs and vaccines to protect against attack by biological and chemical weapons or other dangerous pathogens." Part of the Project involves development of an FDA Emergency Use Authorization which would allow "access to a potentially beneficial treatment in an emergency situation, when it is most likely to save lives, even if it has not yet been proven to be suitable for routine general use or has not completed the formal process for full FDA licensure."

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Election of judges to the International Criminal Court
Bernard Hibbitts at 2/3/2003 08:12:29 AM

The process of electing 18 judges to the new International Criminal Court starts Monday at the United Nations in New York. Review a summary of a Friday press conference on the upcoming elections and review the nominees and election procedures. Elections on February 4 and 5 are scheduled for webcast.

Yale Law School Roe v. Wade conference
Bernard Hibbitts at 2/3/2003 08:10:42 AM

Professor Jack Balkin, organizer of a conference held Friday at Yale Law School to mark the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, posts this report on proceedings.

Estrada hearing and Senate vote
Bernard Hibbitts at 2/3/2003 08:02:34 AM

C-SPAN has posted recorded video of Thursday's Senate Judiciary Committee meeting which advanced the nomination of Miguel Estrada to the full Senate by a party-line vote of 10-9. The Senate may consider the nomination as early as Tuesday of this week; People for the American Way and NOW are already calling for a filibuster to stop it.

February 3 - This day at law
Bernard Hibbitts at 2/3/2003 06:30:58 AM

On February 3, 1930, Chief Justice William Howard Taft, former President of the United States, resigned from the United States Supreme Court for health reasons; he died 5 weeks later. Learn more about the life and career(s) of William Howard Taft and review his medical history.