Today in legal history. http://jurist.org/thisday JURIST@pitt.REMOVE_THISedu 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/house-failed-to-pass-patriot-act-extension.php 2012-02-08T00:00:01-05:00 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/house-failed-to-pass-patriot-act-extension.php Meagan McElroy 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 Learn more about Egypt and the laws governing constitutions from the JURIST news archive. Also on This Day at Law: Nebraska Supreme Court ruled electric chair execution unconstitutional Sri Lankan military police arrested defeated opposition candidate http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/former-egypt-vp-announced-committee-to-reform-constitution.php 2012-02-08T00:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/former-egypt-vp-announced-committee-to-reform-constitution.php Meagan McElroy 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/texas-legislators-questioned-legality-of-executive-order-mandating-hpv-vaccine.php 2012-02-07T00:00:01-05:00 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/texas-legislators-questioned-legality-of-executive-order-mandating-hpv-vaccine.php Cynthia Miley 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/new-bolivia-constitution-took-effect.php 2012-02-07T00:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/new-bolivia-constitution-took-effect.php Cynthia Miley 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. http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/ninth-circuit-upheld-class-certification-in-wal-mart-gender-discrimination-case.php 2012-02-06T00:00:01-05:00 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/ninth-circuit-upheld-class-certification-in-wal-mart-gender-discrimination-case.php Cynthia Miley 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/italy-president-blocked-measure-to-stop-euthanasia-of-comatose-woman.php 2012-02-06T00:00:01-05:00 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/italy-president-blocked-measure-to-stop-euthanasia-of-comatose-woman.php Cynthia Miley 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/us-russia-nuclear-arms-treaty-entered-into-force.php 2012-02-05T00:00:01-05:00 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/us-russia-nuclear-arms-treaty-entered-into-force.php Clay Flaherty 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. Flag of Germany Learn more about http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/german-high-court-rejected-police-computer-hacking-efforts.php 2012-02-05T00:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/german-high-court-rejected-police-computer-hacking-efforts.php Clay Flaherty 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/haiti-officials-charged-10-americans-with-kidnapping-children.php 2012-02-04T00:00:01-05:00 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/haiti-officials-charged-10-americans-with-kidnapping-children.php Cody Harding 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. http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/denmark-court-sentenced-muhammad-cartoonist-attacker-to-9-years.php 2012-02-04T00:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/denmark-court-sentenced-muhammad-cartoonist-attacker-to-9-years.php Cody Harding 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/mississippi-federal-judge-dismissed-health-care-challenge.php 2012-02-03T00:00:01-05:00 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/mississippi-federal-judge-dismissed-health-care-challenge.php Cody Harding 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/report-concludes-that-oil-for-food-head-seriously-undermined-un-integrity.php 2012-02-03T00:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/report-concludes-that-oil-for-food-head-seriously-undermined-un-integrity.php Cody Harding 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/obama-signed-documents-ratifying-new-start-treaty.php 2012-02-02T00:00:01-05:00 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/obama-signed-documents-ratifying-new-start-treaty.php Meagan McElroy 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 Learn more http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/hrw-called-for-end-to-police-violence-in-tunisia-protests.php 2012-02-02T00:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/hrw-called-for-end-to-police-violence-in-tunisia-protests.php Meagan McElroy