This Day at Law

House failed to pass Patriot Act extension

2012-02-08T05:00:01Z

On February 8, 2011, a bill renewing three provisions of the USA Patriot Act failed to secure the two-thirds majority in the US House of Representatives required to renew the Act. The expiring provisions allow roving surveillance, compel production of business records and "other tangible things" under section 215 of the Act, and allow the US to target non-US persons under the "lone wolf" amendment, section 6001. The House attempted to consider the Act's renewal under a "suspension of the rules" procedure, which limits debate and is typically reserved for non-controversial, bipartisan bills. A short-term extension passed the House on February 17, 2011, and President Barack Obama signed a bill on May 26, 2011 which extended the legal effect of the Act through 2015.

Read an overview of the Patriot Act and the other legal consequences of 9/11 in Features.

Former Egypt VP announced committee to reform constitution

2012-02-08T05:00:00Z

On February 8, 2011, former Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that then-President Hosni Mubarak approved establishing a committee to reform the Egyptian Constitution [PDF]. The announcement followed other attempts to conciliate opposition leaders in response to the popular protest movement that began January 25, 2011. The proposed reforms failed to appease the protestors, who succeeded in ousting Mubarak from office on February 11, 2011.

Coat of Arms of Egypt

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Nebraska Supreme Court ruled electric chair execution unconstitutional

Sri Lankan military police arrested defeated opposition candidate

Texas legislators questioned legality of HPV executive order

2012-02-07T05:00:01Z

On February 7, 2007, state legislators asked Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to issue an opinion on an executive order mandating that sixth-grade girls be vaccinated for the human papillomavirus (HPV). The lawmakers also requested that Abbott advise the legislature on actions it could take to override the executive order, which Governor Rick Perry issued in early February 2007. Lawmakers quickly advanced a bill to rescind the order. The Texas House of Representatives' Public Health Committee voted 6-3 in favor of the bill, which was sponsored by more than 90 of the 150 House members. The bill provided, in part, that "[i]mmunization against the human papilloma virus may not be required for a person's admission to any elementary or secondary school," and it explicitly pre-empts "all contrary executive orders of the governor."

Learn more about Texas, vaccines and HPV from the JURIST news archive.

New Bolivia constitution took effect

2012-02-07T05:00:00Z

On February 7, 2009, Bolivia's new constitution, which gave more power to the country's indigenous majority, went into effect. The new charter provided for redistribution of land and natural resource revenues, the creation of congressional seats reserved for indigenous representatives, and the institution of special courts for indigenous communities. It also prohibited the posting of foreign military bases within the country and eliminated an existing one-term limit on Bolivian presidents. The new constitution had been strongly opposed in regions where more voters own land or are of European descent, but was nevertheless approved in a national referendum in January 2009. By March 2009, Bolivian President Evo Morales began redistributing land to indigenous farmers.

Flag of Bolivia

Learn more about Bolivia, indigenous peoples, and the laws governing constitutions from the JURIST news archive.

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Mukasey rejected criminal waterboarding investigation

Iraqi appeals panel reversed ruling on banned candidates

Ninth Circuit upheld class certification in Wal-Mart discrimination case

2012-02-06T05:00:01Z

On February 6, 2007, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for allegedly discriminating against female employees should go to trial. The decision upheld a 2004 certification from the US District Court for the Northern District of California. Wal-Mart had appealed to the Ninth Circuit in 2005, arguing that the six lead plaintiffs were not typical or common of the class. Wal-Mart also objected to the size of the class certified, which they say is the largest in US history and would violate its due process rights. Wal-Mart petitioned the US Supreme Court for certiorari, which was granted in December 2010. On June 20, 2011, the Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit, ruling [PDF] that the women failed to meet the requirements for class certification.

Ninth Circuit

Learn more about gender discrimination from the JURIST news archive, and read commentary on the issue from JURIST Guest Columnist Sandra Sperino in Forum.

Italy president blocked measure to stop euthanasia of comatose woman

2012-02-06T05:00:01Z

On February 6, 2009, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano refused to sign a governmental decree intended to stop the removal of Eluana Englaro's feeding tube. Englaro had been in a coma since an automobile accident in 1992 and her father, Beppino Englaro, had been fighting to have her feeding tube removed since 1999. Napolitano said the decree was unconstitutional because it would effectively overrule the previous year's decision by the country's Court of Cassation to allow removal of the tube, and violate separation of power. Although Italy's Constitutional Court upheld a lower court's ruling to keep her feeding tube in place in 2005, the Constitutional Court ultimately rejected a parliamentary challenge to an appelate court decision which held doctors could remove Enlargo's feeding tube because she was found to be in an 'irreversible' vegetative state. She died on February 9, 2009.

Flag of Italy

Learn more about the laws governing euthanasia, the "right to die" and Italy from the JURIST news archive, and read commentary on the issue from JURIST Guest Columnists Derek Humphry and Ken Connor in Hotline.

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US lawmakers introduced legislation to combat identity theft

UN signed contested Hariri tribunal agreement

US-Russia nuclear arms treaty entered into force

2012-02-05T05:00:01Z

On February 5, 2011, the US and Russia formally inaugurated the New START [PDF], which is an agreement intended to reduce the nuclear arms stockpile in both countries. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov exchanged documents in Munich that finalized two years of negotiations and marked the entering into force of the treaty. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev signed a bill ratifying the treaty in January 2011 and US President Barack Obama signed ratification documents for the treaty shortly before the treaty entered into force in February 2011.

Barack Obama and Dmitri Medvedev at the New START signing in April 2010

Learn more about the laws governing nuclear arms from the JURIST news archive.

German high court rejected police computer hacking efforts

2012-02-05T05:00:00Z

On February 5, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice ruled that police in Germany were not permitted to secretly access computer and Internet data stored on criminal suspects' computers without proper authorization. The Court held that police hacking is illegal because no legal framework currently exists to legitimize the activity. The practice was reportedly used by German police to investigate alleged sex offenders and their viewing of Internet child pornography. The issues of hacking and privacy have been of particular concern in Europe in light of the UK phone hacking scandal in July 2011 and subsequent investigations by UK Lord Justice Brian Leveson.

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Son of Liberia ex-president ordered to pay $22 million to victims

Russian prosecutors filed charges against Khodorkovsky

Haiti officials charged 10 Americans with kidnapping children

2012-02-04T05:00:01Z

On February 4, 2010, Haitian authorities charged ten US citizens with kidnapping 33 Hatian children. In January 2010, they were arrested while attempting to transport the children across the Haitian border into the Dominican Republic. The Americans were associated with the Idaho-based group, New Life Children's Refuge (NLCR). Many of the children were not orphans, but given up by their parents to the missionaries in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake, although group leader Laura Silsby denied charges that the missionaries intended to put the children up for adoption. Each of the ten Americans were charged with one count of kidnapping and one count of criminal association. The kidnapping charges were dropped by March 2010 and all of the missionaries, save Silsby, were allowed to return to the US. Silsby was ultimately tried on charges of irregular travel arrangements involving the children. She was convicted in May 2010 and sentenced to time served.

Haitian coat of arms

Learn more about Haiti from the JURIST news archive and read commentary on the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake from JURIST Special Guest Columnist Amanda M. Klasing in Forum.

Denmark court sentenced cartoonist attacker to 9 years

2012-02-04T05:00:00Z

On February 4, 2011, a Danish court sentenced Muhideen Mohammed Geelle to nine years in prison for his 2010 attack on Kurt Westergaard, illustrator of the controversial 2005 cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a suicide bomber. Geelle was armed with an axe and knife when he broke into Westergaard's home in January 2010 in an ostensible assassination attempt. Police shot Geelle and took him into custody after he attacked the officers. In February 2006, Denmark was the target of protests in many Muslim countries after the Danish newspaper Jylklands-Posten published Westergaard's cartoon. Subsequent reprinting of the cartoon and others like it has also sparked additional outrage from Muslim communities.

Flag of Denmark

Learn more about Denmark and the Prophet Muhammad cartoon controversy from the JURIST news archive.

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Obama restricted executive compensation for companies seeking federal aid

African rights commission ruled Kenya illegally evicted indigenous

Mississippi federal judge dismissed health care challenge

2012-02-03T05:00:01Z

On February 3, 2011, Judge Keith Starrett of the US District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's (PPACA). Mississippi Lt. Governor Phil Bryant and 10 other residents filed a complaint against the law, challenging the "individual mandate" portion of the law which would force US citizens to purchase health insurance or face tax penalties. Their claim was dismissed for lack of standing under Article III of the US Constitution because it was not sufficiently imminent. The defendants were also successful in arguing that the alleged injury was too remote. In September 2011, Judge Starrett allowed another lawsuit filed by Bryant to proceed. Because of similar challenges, the Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of PPACA in 2012.

Read comprehensive coverage of PPACA and the controversy over health care reform in Features.

Report concluded that Oil-for-Food head 'seriously undermined' UN integrity

2012-02-03T05:00:00Z

On February 3, 2011 the Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC) released a report investigating the UN Oil-for-Food program. The program began to exchange Iraqi oil for food and medicine in 1996, despite international sanctions prohibiting such trading. The report concluded that the program's head, Benon Sevan, solicited improper oil deals and "seriously undermined" the integrity of the UN. Then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan formally suspended Sevan on February 7, 2005. In August 2005 a more detailed report prompted Sevan to also resign his honorary UN position. The August 2005 report accused Sevan of accepting almost $150,000 in bribes through the program. Ahead of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the program was suspended. But subsequent investigations proved that the program was rife with corruption and implicated numerous international officials and corporations of receiving kickbacks.

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New York AG sued Bank of America for misleading shareholders

Bill allowing reinstatement of ex-Baath party members became law

Rick Perry signed first US order mandating HPV vaccinations

2012-02-02T05:00:01Z

On February 2, 2011, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed an executive order requiring all sixth grade girls in the state to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus virus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease that causes cervical cancer. The order was the first of its kind in the US, although Virginia had previously mandated voluntary HPV vaccincation through the state legislature in March 2007. Governor Perry cited "an incredible opportunity to effectively target and prevent cervical cancer" in support of taking the issue out of the Texas legislature's control, where it faced strong opposition. Texas legislators questioned the legality of Perry's order and quickly repealed it with overwhelming support. Similar pieces of HPV vaccination legislation have faced opposition in New Mexico, but enjoyed support in Alaska, the District of Columbia and New Hampshire.

Learn more about Texas and the laws governing vaccines from the JURIST news archive.

HRW called for end to police violence in Tunisia protests

2012-02-02T05:00:00Z

On February 2, 2011, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called for an end to police attacks and an investigation into the deaths of protesters in Tunisia. The UN previously reported at least 219 people had died in the protests that resulted in the resignation and flight of former president Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali. The calls for investigation from HRW dovetailed with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's urging that all sides of the conflict cooperate to reestablish rule of law. The transitional government has since charged and tried Ben Ali in absentia for protester abuse. The country also joined the International Criminal Court (ICC) in June 2011.

Flag of Tunisia

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US, Russian leaders agreed on nuclear arms reduction treaty

Swiss court extended physician assisted suicide

Montana filed water rights lawsuit against Wyoming in Supreme Court

2012-02-01T05:00:01Z

On February 1, 2007, the state of Montana filed a lawsuit against the state of Wyoming in the US Supreme Court, claiming that Wyoming had violated the Yellowstone River Compact, which allocates water rights between the two states and North Dakota. In the lawsuit, Montana alleged that Wyoming had taken more than its share of water through improved irrigation methods and water storage facilities. The Court, which has original jurisdiction over lawsuits "in which a state shall be a party" under Article III of the US Constitution, appointed a special master to conduct fact-finding in October 2008 and ruled in favor of Wyoming in May 2011.

Learn more about Montana, Wyoming and water rights from the JURIST news archive.