The British Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a Jewish school discriminated against a boy by denying him admission because he was not "ethnically Jewish." The London secondary school, JFS , denied admission to the boy, known as M, because his mother is Jewish by conversion, not by birth. The case turned on whether the school's [...]

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on Wednesday issued its first genocide charges against two former Khmer Rouge leaders. Former deputy leader and chief ideologist Nuon Chea and foreign minister Ieng Sary were charged with genocide in connection with crimes allegedly committed against Vietnamese people and ethnic Cham Muslims. The charges, issued [...]

A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed charges of fraud and conspiracy against two former executives of microchip maker Broadcom Corp. citing prosecutorial misconduct. Judge Cormac Carney of the US District Court for the Central District of California dismissed charges against Broadcom's former CEO and co-founder Henry Nicholas and former CFO William Ruehle, saying that US [...]

The lawyer for a Swiss Muslim said Wednesday that his client has filed a complaint at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) challenging Switzerland's recent vote to ban the construction of minarets . Hafid Ouardiri, a former spokesman at the Geneva Mosque, alleges that the ban violates his rights to freedom of religion and [...]

The European Commission (EC) on Wednesday agreed to drop antitrust charges against Microsoft after the company agreed to offer consumers a choice of web browsers . The EC had accused Microsoft of violating fair competition rules by bundling the Internet Explorer browser with its Windows operating system. Under the agreement, European Windows users will have [...]

An assembly of Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday submitted an immigration reform bill in the US House of Representatives that would give undocumented immigrants an easier path to seek legal status in the country. The proposed legislation, which is titled the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR ASAP) , was [...]

Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam and former hedge fund consultant Danielle Chiesi were indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Manhattan on insider trading charges. The 17-count indictment includes charges of conspiracy and securities fraud for their alleged role in the largest hedge fund insider trading case in US history. Rajaratnam has [...]

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that police must obtain a warrant before searching data stored in a cell phone, in the first ruling of its kind by a state high court. The court ruled 4-3 that a warrantless search of the contents of a suspect's cell phone violates the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable [...]

State of Ohio v. Smith, Supreme Court of Ohio, December 15, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on 4th Amendment rights.

The Obama administration said Tuesday that it plans to purchase the Thomson Correctional Center (TCC) in northwestern Illinois to house inmates from Guantanamo Bay . In a letter to Illinois Governor Pat Quinn , the secretary of state, secretary of defense, attorney general, secretary of homeland security, and director of national intelligence said that the [...]