Charges against Salim Hamdan under the Military Commissions Act, US Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions, approved and referred by the Convening Authority for Military Commission, May 10, 2007. Read the full text of the charge notice, the charge sheet, and the full charges as annotated . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Two lawyers pleaded guilty Thursday to participating in a massive insider trading scheme that US federal prosecutors have called the most extensive such fraud uncovered since the 1980s. Former Morgan Stanley lawyer Randi Collotta and her husband Christopher admitted to conspiracy and securities fraud in Manhattan federal court. The couple is among 13 defendants charged [...]

The European Court of Human Rights Thursday ruled that Russian authorities were responsible for the 2001 death of a Chechen man who died after he was taken into Russian custody during a raid. The court ordered Russia to pay €62,285 compensation to the family of Shamil Said-Khasanovich Akhmadov, whose battered body was discovered in a [...]

Charges against Yemeni Guantanamo Bay detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan have been formally referred to a military commission , according to a statement from the US Department of Defense Thursday. Hamdan is charged with conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism, and will be arraigned within 30 days. Hamdan was a driver for Osama bin Laden [...]

Members of the US House Judiciary Committee questioned Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Thursday about the US Attorney firing scandal , demanding to know whether White House officials ordered the firings of prosecutors for political reasons. Gonzales said his former chief of staff Kyle Sampson was mainly responsible for compiling the list of prosecutors to be [...]

The Turkish parliament Thursday passed a constitutional amendment changing the process to select the country's president. From this point the president will be elected by popular vote rather than chosen by legislators. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) fought for the amendments after opposition lawmakers, fearing that the sole presidential candidate Abdullah Gul would [...]

Sandra and Roberta Cote-Whitacre, et al. v. Department of Public Health, et al., Commonwealth of Massachusetts Suffolk County Superior Court, May 10, 2007 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Drug maker Purdue Pharma LP pleaded guilty Thursday and agreed to pay $634.5 million in fines for misleading the public about the addiction risk of a painkiller it produced. According to prosecutors, Purdue knew in 1995 that doctors were worried that the drug OxyContin was addictive, but hid that information from its sales representatives. In [...]

Churches across the US have agreed to become part of the New Sanctuary Movement , a program to protect illegal immigrants from arrest and deportation and place pressure on the government to make becoming a citizen an easier process. Thus far, churches in five large US cities have plans to protect illegal immigrants, with the [...]

Member nations to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) marked the 10th anniversary of the accord at an unveiling of a memorial dedicated to chemical warfare victims at the headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the Netherlands on Wednesday. Member states pledged to refocus attempts to persuade North Korea and [...]