The district court failed to address appellants' challenges under the Minnesota Constitution. A proper analysis is necessary especially because the Minnesota rational-basis test for determining whether equal-protection rights have been violated is more stringent than the federal test. Additionally, the supreme court in Baker specifically stated that there was no guidance from decisions from the United States Supreme Court regarding whether the right to marry if a fundamental right of all persons and whether restricting marriage based solely on sex is "irrational and invidiously discriminatory."

It remains unclear if the court of appeals' decision to remand the case to the district court will help or hurt the plaintiffs. Phil Duran, the legal director of the gay rights group OutFront Minnesota [official website] declared [press release] that the decision could be a setback for same-sex marriage rights because the case could eventually be decided by the deeply conservative Minnesota Supreme Court. Douglas Benson, one of the plaintiffs in the case, took a more optimistic view, saying that the court of appeals' decision gives the plaintiffs momentum going forward in court [Minneapolis Star Tribune report]. Same-sex marriage is a particularly contentious issue in Minnesota this year, as voters will decide in November whether to accept or reject a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage [HF 1613 text; JURIST report].

The total number of individuals sentenced to death in Iraq since 2004 is believed to stand at more than 1,200. The total number actually executed since then is not known, although at least 63 individuals are thought to have been executed in the past two months alone (since 16 November). There are around 48 crimes for which the death penalty can be imposed in Iraq, including a number of non-fatal crimes such as—under certain circumstances—damage to public property.

In 2007, the UN General Assembly [official website] approved a resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium [JURIST report] on the death penalty. The resolution was reaffirmed twice by resolutions A/RES/63/168 and A/RES/65/206 [materials] in 2008 and 2010, respectively. It was criticized by countries [JURIST report] that supported the use of death penalty [JURIST news archive], alleging that the resolution would infringe nations' sovereignty. Iraq, one of the countries that did not implement the moratorium, has been subject to criticism for violating various human rights including unlawfully detaining and repeatedly torturing thousands of detainees without warrants [JURIST reports].

Today is a sad day for the rule of law and for those who believe that the courts should protect American citizens from torture by their own government. By dismissing this lawsuit, the appeals court handed the government a blank check to commit any abuse in the name of national security, even the brutal torture of a US citizen on US soil. This impunity is not only anathema to a democracy governed by laws, but contrary to history's lesson that in times of fear our values are a strength, not a hindrance.

This is the latest case involving the liability of government officials for their actions in the US War on Terror. In August, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that a torture lawsuit against former secretary Rumsfeld by two American citizens may proceed under the cause of action recognized in Bivens. Also in August, the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] allowed a lawsuit to be brought against Rumsfeld [JURIST report] by a former US military contractor who alleged that he had been tortured while imprisoned in Iraq. By contrast, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit [official website] in 2011 upheld the dismissal [JURIST report] of a suit against Rumsfeld brought by Afghan and Iraqi citizens who claimed that they were illegally detained and tortured. Also in 2011, the US Supreme Court [official website] ruled that former US attorney general John Ashcroft [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] was immune from a suit [JURIST report] involving allegedly unconstitutional witness detention, and that he should be entitled to absolute immunity where there is no clear violation of established law.

While the Canadian government chose to pursue deportation of Mugesera, they have the authority under the country's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act [text, PDF] to prosecute individuals living in Canada who are suspected of involvement with genocide. In November 2009, Canadian prosecutors announced they were charging [JURIST report] Rwandan national Jacques Mungwarere under the law for his potential involvement in the Rwandan genocide. Mungwarere was the second man charged under the act. The first man charged under the act was Desire Munyaneza. In October 2009, Munyaneza was sentenced to life imprisonment [JURIST report] for war crimes committed during the Rwandan genocide. Munyaneza was convicted [JURIST report] in May 2009 of seven counts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes under the act. He was arrested [JURIST report] in 2005 by Canadian police after a five-year investigation. The trial, which was briefly postponed [JURIST report] after Munyaneza was beaten by a fellow prison inmate, lasted two years and included evidence from multiple nations. International legal observers expect Munyaneza's trial to set precedent for future war crimes litigation.

Wuterich was denied a motion to dismiss [JURIST report] his charges in 2010. His trial was postponed in 2008 [JURIST report] after a judge decided to throw out a subpoena for unaired footage of a CBS interview with Wuterich that prosecutors believed could have proven his guilt. Charges against Lt. Colonel Jeffrey Chessani [JURIST news archive] were dropped [JURIST report] in June 2008, the same month 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson [JURIST news archive] was acquitted [JURIST report] of all charges against him relating to the incident. In August 2007, charges against Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt and Capt. Randy W. Stone were dismissed [JURIST report]. In 2007, an official report on the Haditha incident by US Army Major General Eldon Bargewell showed that there was "serious misconduct" [JURIST report] at all levels of the chain of command.

Last March, Garzon filed a petition [JURIST report] with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website], challenging the 2010 abuse of power charges, for which he was suspended [JURIST report]. His petition follows the September 2010 decision of the Criminal Chamber of the Spanish Supreme Court, which unanimously confirmed [JURIST report] a lower court order that Garzon abused his power and must face trial. Garzon is widely known for using universal jurisdiction [AI backgrounder; JURIST news archive] extensively in the past to bring several high-profile rights cases, including those against Osama bin Laden and former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. He is also facing two other trials, including one trial that began last week involving charges that he ordered the placement of wiretaps in jailhouses [JURIST report] to record conversations between inmates and their lawyers. The third trial, which has not started, involves bribery charges over money Garzon received for seminars conducted in the US.

The Armenian genocide is also a contentious issue in US law and politics. In November the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] decided to revisit a case [JURIST report] to determine whether a California law declaring Armenian genocide in Turkey conflicts with US foreign policy. In August 2010 a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit [official website] unanimously dismissed a lawsuit [JURIST report] challenging the exclusion of materials questioning the Armenian genocide from a school curriculum. In March 2010 the Obama administration announced its opposition to a resolution [JURIST report] labeling the World War I-era killings as genocide. The announcement came after the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs passed the resolution [JURIST report] by a vote of 23-22. Erdogan condemned the resolution, and the Turkish government recalled its ambassador to the US.

Stankovic was serving a 20-year prison sentence when he escaped [JURIST report]. He was the first prisoner to be transferred [JURIST report] from the ICTY to the State Court of BiH [official website], and was also the first transferee to be convicted there. He was convicted of war crimes committed in Foca, Bosnia, from 1992 to 1995.