The US Senate Judiciary Committee was urged Wednesday to adopt measures to address recent Supreme Court decisions interpreting the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act . Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) expressed concern that protections put in place by the ADEA would be undermined by the Court's June decision in Gross v. FBL Financial Services , [...]

Members of the Homeland Security Appropriations Conference Committee reached an agreement Wednesday that would allow Guantanamo Bay detainees to be transferred to the US for trial. The compromise would allocate $42.78 billion for the Homeland Security appropriations bill and would stipulate that current detainees may be transferred to the US for prosecution after information is [...]

A US military judge on Wednesday dismissed the military lawyer for Canadian Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr in accordance with Khadr's request. During Wednesday's brief hearing, Col. Patrick Parrish accepted the resignation of Navy Lieutenant Commander William Kuebler , who will be replaced by former federal prosecutors and civilian lawyers, Barry Coburn and Kobie Flowers of [...]

The Italian Constitutional Court on Wednesday struck down the 2008 law granting immunity from prosecution to the four highest officials of the country, including Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi , finding it unconstitutional. The high court ruled 9-6 against the law, basing the decision on principles contained in article 3 and article 138 of the Italian [...]

Adrienne Lester, Pitt Law '11, interned at the Honorable House of Representatives for the Republic of Liberia this summer… West Africa evokes images of Juju child soldiers, dismembered limbs, and volatile men in short-sleeved safari suits with aviator sunglasses. When I had the opportunity to intern with the House of Representatives for the Republic of [...]

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in three cases. In Salazar v. Buono , the Court heard arguments on whether an individual has Article III standing to bring a suit under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment challenging the display of a religious symbol on government land and if an Act of [...]

Judge Royce Lamberth of the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday granted the government's motion to dismiss the petition for habeas corpus brought on behalf of Yemeni Guantanamo Bay detainee Idris Ahmad Abdu Qadir Idris . The petition was filed in 2005 by the Federal Public Defenders with Guantanamo detainee Sami [...]

US Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters Tuesday that the Obama administration may miss its January deadline for closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay . Holder said that is concerned with US lawmakers' claims that detainees are too dangerous to be housed on US soil. On Tuesday, the US Senate passed a defense spending [...]

The Canadian Federal Court released a decision Tuesday ruling that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service may monitor the communications of Canadian citizens abroad. The case arose from two Canadian nationals who had their communications abroad monitored after a judge issued an emergency warrant permitting the interception. Judge Richard Mosley, who also issued the emergency warrant, [...]

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday announced a plan for improving immigration detention policies and facilities in response to recent widespread allegations of poor conditions and abuse. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano explained that the emphasis is to move detained illegal immigrants awaiting deportation or processing out [...]