Today in legal history. http://jurist.org/thisday JURISTremove_this@pitt.edu (Jurist Webmaster) Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:01 -0500 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/house-failed-to-pass-patriot-act-extension.php Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:01 -0500 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, http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/former-egypt-vp-announced-committee-to-reform-constitution.php Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/texas-legislators-questioned-legality-of-executive-order-mandating-hpv-vaccine.php Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:01 -0500 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/new-bolivia-constitution-took-effect.php Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/ninth-circuit-upheld-class-certification-in-wal-mart-gender-discrimination-case.php Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:01 -0500 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/italy-president-blocked-measure-to-stop-euthanasia-of-comatose-woman.php Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:01 -0500 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/us-russia-nuclear-arms-treaty-entered-into-force.php Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:01 -0500 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/german-high-court-rejected-police-computer-hacking-efforts.php Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/haiti-officials-charged-10-americans-with-kidnapping-children.php Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:01 -0500 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/denmark-court-sentenced-muhammad-cartoonist-attacker-to-9-years.php Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/mississippi-federal-judge-dismissed-health-care-challenge.php Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:01 -0500 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, http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/report-concludes-that-oil-for-food-head-seriously-undermined-un-integrity.php Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/obama-signed-documents-ratifying-new-start-treaty.php Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:01 -0500 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 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/hrw-called-for-end-to-police-violence-in-tunisia-protests.php Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/02/hrw-called-for-end-to-police-violence-in-tunisia-protests.php Meagan McElroy