Senate rejects amendment to create independent commission on detainee abuse News
Senate rejects amendment to create independent commission on detainee abuse

[JURIST] The US Senate [official website] on has rejected a proposal to create an independent commission patterned after the Sept. 11 Commission [official website] to investigate US treatment of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. With a 55-43 party-line vote, senators on Tuesday rejected the proposed amendment [PDF text] to S. 1042 [bill summary], the defense appropriations bill, put forth by Sen. Carl Levin [official website; floor remarks]. The commission envisioned by the amendment would have been charged with investigating whether torture was used at Abu Ghraib [JURIST news archive] and other detention facilities used by the US in military operations following the Sept. 11 terror attacks. The Senate last week overwhelmingly approved a bill [JURIST report] that would bar degrading and inhuman treatment of detainees. AFP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Charles Manson sentenced to death

On April 19, 1971, Charles Manson was sentenced to death for ordering the murders of Sharon Tate and others. The sentence was then commuted to life after the Supreme Court of California overturned the death penalty in 1972. Learn more about the trial of Charles Manson from the University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law.

The Beatles signed 10-year partnership

On April 19, 1967, John, Paul, George and Ringo - aka "The Beatles" - signed a partnership deed agreeing that the group would continue for a (further) period of ten years. When The Beatles split up prematurely in 1970, Paul applied to have the partnership terminated and a receiver appointed.

Read a legal analysis of Paul McCartney’s 1970 lawsuit against John, George and Ringo.

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