The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed suit Wednesday against units of British Petroleum (BP) and several other companies over the April Deepwater Horizon oil spill , which resulted in an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District [...]

Kosovar Prime Minister Hasham Thaci was named Tuesday in a draft report by Council of Europe member Dick Marty as the “boss” of an illegal criminal enterprise that trafficked human organs and drugs during the 1998-1999 Kosovo war . The report alleges that Thaci was the leader of the Kosovo Libertarian Army (KLA) Drenica Group, [...]

Australia’s new Afghan detainee transfer policy may violate international human rights laws , Amnesty International (AI) warned Tuesday. The new detainee management system, announced Tuesday by Australian Minister of Defence Stephen Smith , provides for the systematic transfer of “high risk” detainees to US forces and “low risk” detainees to Afghan forces. According to AI [...]

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday issued summonses for six Kenyan citizens believed to be responsible for post-election violence in 2007 that resulted in more than 1,000 deaths in that country. The six individuals include current Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and several Ministry heads. All six are believed [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled Tuesday that e-mail is entitled to Fourth Amendment protection. The 98-page opinion overturned the prison sentence of Steven Warshak, the founder of Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals Inc. , who was convicted on 93 counts of conspiracy, money laundering and fraud in 2008. The court held that [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia (ACLUGA) filed a lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of a Muslim woman who was arrested for refusing to remove her headscarf , or hijab, in court. Lisa Valentine was arrested in December 2008 and ordered to serve 10 days in jail for contempt of court after she refused to [...]

Three former service members discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) filed a complaint against the Department of Defense (DOD) Monday, seeking reinstatement and the declaration that their discharges under the statute, and the statute itself, are unconstitutional. The suit was filed by Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) on behalf of Michael Almy, Anthony Loverde [...]

JURIST Contributing Editor Geoffrey S. Corn, Lt. Col. US Army (Ret.) of South Texas College of Law, says that past actions of a former Army Colonel recently elected to Congress highlight the need for military leaders to look beyond the narrow tactical benefits of harsh measures, to their larger impact on a conflict… While watching [...]

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) filed a joint expert opinion Tuesday urging a Spanish court to open an investigation into six former Bush administration officials for their roles in the torture of detainees. The complaint against the officials, including John Yoo and Jay Bybee, [...]

An Alaskan Superior Court judge on Monday refused to block a law requiring parental notification for women under the age of 18 to have an abortion , allowing the law to take effect Tuesday. The law was approved by voters in August but was challenged by Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest . Judge John [...]