Jaime Jansen

Serbia police charge 80 in embassy attacks during Kosovo protest

February 29, 2008 10:40:00 am

Serbian police filed criminal charges Friday against 80 people allegedly involved in attacks on the US and other embassies in Belgrade during protests last week over US support of independence for Kosovo . The protesters...

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Canada resumes Afghan detainee transfers after abuse probe

Jaime Jansen

February 29, 2008 09:52:00 am

The Canadian military has resumed the transfer of Afghan detainees to Afghan authorities, Canadian military officials said Friday. The Canadian government ceased transferring Afghan detainees to Afghan custody in November after Canadian monitors in Afghanistan...

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Bolivia Congress approves referendum on new constitution

Jaime Jansen

February 29, 2008 09:19:00 am

The National Congress of Bolivia narrowly approved a national referendum on a new constitution Thursday after members of the Bolivian Constitutional Assembly approved the draft constitution ...

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Federal appeals court rejects Black bid to remain free on bail pending appeal

Jaime Jansen

February 29, 2008 08:41:00 am

The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Thursday upheld a district court ruling denying a bid by Canadian-born financier and former media mogul Conrad Black to remain free on...

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Iraq Presidency Council approves ‘Chemical Ali’ execution for Anfal crimes

Jaime Jansen

February 29, 2008 08:04:00 am

Iraq's Presidency Council on Friday approved the execution of Ali Hassan al-Majid , better known in the western media as "Chemical Ali," after months of deliberations over the fate of al-Majid and two other men...

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Thailand ex-PM returns to face corruption charges

Jaime Jansen

February 28, 2008 09:22:00 am

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra returned to Thailand Thursday from self-imposed exile to face corruption charges laid against him after he was ousted in a military coup in September 2006. Thai...

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Chad president agrees to international probe into abuse of power allegations

Jaime Jansen

February 28, 2008 08:41:00 am

Chadian President Idriss Deby agreed to an international investigation into allegations of abuse of power during a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy Wednesday. The decision follows accusations...

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Egypt police continue Muslim Brotherhood arrests ahead of local elections

Jaime Jansen

February 28, 2008 08:04:00 am

Egyptian police arrested 25 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood Wednesday, following the arrest of 17 members on Tuesday. Muslim Brotherhood members believe the arrests targeted potential candidates for the upcoming April 8 provincial council...

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UK Enron bankers sentenced to 3 years in prison for wire fraud

Jaime Jansen

February 22, 2008 01:00:00 pm

David Bermingham, one of three British bankers known as the NatWest Three was sentenced to over three years in prison Friday after pleading guilty in November to one count of wire fraud. Bermingham, along...

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Sierra Leone war crimes court upholds prison sentences for AFRC junta leaders

Jaime Jansen

February 22, 2008 11:24:00 am

The appeals chamber of the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone on Friday upheld the sentences of three former leaders of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council who were convicted...

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THIS DAY @ LAW

Nixon nominated Harrold Carswell to the US Supreme Court

On January 19, 1970, President Richard Nixon nominated Judge G. Harrold Carswell of the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to the US Supreme Court. The nomination became intensely controversial after a reporter discovered the text of a 1948 political campaign speech by Carswell in which he said "segregation of the races is proper." The Senate eventually rejected the nomination 51-45.
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Afterword
In November 2004, a JURIST reader wrote with regard to this entry:
You are factually correct. The speech is accurately quoted. But the most significant part of it wasn't that quote -- which, after all, reflected the law of the land through Brown v. Board of Education.
The most significant part was Carswell's avowal of his "firm, vigorous belief in the principles of white supremacy." I recall this because I was the reporter who discovered the speech, in the basement of the Wilkinson County courthouse in Georgia, where it was preserved as lead story in The Irwinton Bulletin, a weekly Carswell edited, which was kept because it was the legal paper of record."
Edward RoederRoeder later added: "just to ensure the accuracy of my quote from the speech -- including capitalization and punctuation -- let me check it. At the moment, I'm at the Library of Congress, a couple of blocks from my home where I have a photograph I took of the speech as printed in 1948 in the weekly newspaper.
Another great quote spawned by that confirmation battle was by Sen. Judiciary Committee Ranking Republican Roman Hruska, in response to the charge that Carswell was "mediocre." Hruska famously told the cameras staked outside the hearing room:
"Even if he was mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers . . . They are entitled to a little representation, aren't they, and a little chance? We can't have all Brandeises and Cardozos and Frankfurters and stuff like that there."...
One other aspect of that nomination might be worth noting. After Carswell's defeat, the seat went to Harry Blackmun. A year and a half later, he wrote Roe v. Wade," probably the most controversial and far-reaching SCOTUS decision since Brown."And finally:I found and reviewed my photo of Carswell's 1948 speech. First, it may be helpful to provide a bit of context for the part you quoted. The graf read, "I Am A Southerner By Ancestry, Birth, Training, Inclination, Belief And Practice. I Believe That Segregation Of The Races is Proper And The ONLY Practical And Correct Way Of Life In Our States."
The first letter of each word is capitalized, the the word ONLY is in all caps.
The "white supremacy" quote, two grafs later, is as strident: "I Yield To NO MAN, As A Fellow Candidate, Or As A Fellow Citizen, In The Firm Vigirous Belief In The Principles Of White Supremacy, And I Shall Always Be So Governed." Again, the first letter of each word is capitalized, and NO MAN is in all caps. "Vigorous" is misspelled in the newspaper.JURIST thanks Mr. Roeder for sharing his recollections - and his role in a fascinating snippet of Supreme Court history.

Tribunal established for Japan war criminals

On January 19, 1946, General Douglas MacArthur promulgated the Charter for the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, creating a court in Tokyo to try Japanese war criminals after World War II. Pursuant to Article 7 of the Charter, the Court's Rules of Procedure were set three months later. The judges and prosecutors represented the allied nations of the United States, U.S.S.R., China, Holland, Canada, France, New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, and India.
Article 6 of the Charter divided the accused War Criminals into three classes. Class A war criminals were those guilty of crimes against peace. Class B war criminals were those found guilty of actual war crimes. The highest level war criminals fell into Class C for crimes against humanity. Court prosecutors indicted over 5,700 people in Japan for Class B and C War Crimes. When the tribunal's final judgment was issued two years later on November 1, 1948, 984 of the defendants were convicted and sentenced to death. 475 of them were convicted and sentenced to life in prison, while 2,944 received lesser prison terms. Finally, 1,297 Japanese defendants were either acquitted, not tried, or not sentenced.

Many of Japanese defendants were indicted for their actions during the occupation of China. Read the indictment of Class A war criminals involved in the Rape of Nanking.

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