George Washington : "On November 7, 2006, Proposal 2, which is copied from California's Proposition 209, passed in Michigan by a vote of 57 to 43 percent. There are now two pending legal challenges to the Proposal, with more expected to follow soon. The United States District Court found that the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative [...]

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Ben Johnson : ""Salus Populi Suprema Lex Esto" – "Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law." This statement, the official state motto of Missouri, stands as guidance to all those working in service to the public of Missouri. Unfortunately, there are times when some in the state legislature seem to turn their [...]

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Russia may effectively extend a death penalty moratorium for three years if the State Duma passes a bill shifting the deadline for introducing jury trials in Chechnya from January 1, 2007, to January 1, 2010. The Russian Constitutional Court ruled in 1999 that the death penalty cannot be enforced against those who have not been [...]

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Lebanon's cabinet approved a UN draft proposal for an international judicial tribunal to try suspects in the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri , but six pro-Syrian cabinet members have resigned since Sunday, possibly rendering the cabinet decision invalid. Lebanon's constitution requires that the cabinet include representatives from all Lebanese political [...]

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Torture has become widespread in the strife-ridden southern Russian republic of Chechnya , with more than 100 known cases in both official and secret detention centers, according to a new report released Monday by Human Rights Watch . The HRW report, addressed to the UN Committee against Torture as the committee finishes its review of [...]

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US Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) , outgoing chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee , has indicated that President Bush may have to nominate moderate judges to any future vacancies on the US Supreme Court following midterm elections that ceded control of Congress to the Democrats. Monday's Philadelphia Inquirer also quoted Specter as speculating that the [...]

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The Australian government will request the return of Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks if the US fails to charge him under the revised military commissions framework, Australia's attorney general told a meeting of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) Monday. In August, Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock said that he would seek Hicks' [...]

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Serbian war crimes suspect Vojislav Seselj has started a hunger strike ahead of his trial, scheduled for November 27 at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), demanding that the ICTY dismiss his court-appointed lawyers and allow him to prepare is defense with lawyers of his choosing. Seselj also demanded that all court [...]

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