The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in Snyder v. Louisiana , 06-10119, where it considered whether a prosecutor improperly excluded all black potential jurors from serving on a jury in a murder case because of their race. During the sentencing phase of Allen Snyder's trial, the prosecutor drew comparisons between the proceeding and [...]
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Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett said Tuesday that Pennsylvania and several other states will file lawsuits against tobacco company RJ Reynolds for violating an agreement not to use cartoon characters to advertise tobacco products. A press release from Corbett's office said the suits are in response to a multi-page ad for Camel cigarettes in the [...]
UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism Martin Scheinin will attend military commission hearings at Guantanamo Bay beginning Wednesday, according to a statement by Scheinin on Tuesday. Scheinin said that the United States invited him to attend hearings as a follow up to an earlier visit to Guantanamo in May. Scheinin expects to observe [...]
Twenty-six ethnic Indians have been charged with attempted murder in connection with anti-discrimination demonstrations in Malaysia last month, a lawyer for the defendants said Tuesday. All 26 suspects pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder during a clash with police at a temple compound outside of Kuala Lumpur. The defendants' lawyer told AP that [...]
The US Supreme Court handed down unanimous decisions in two cases Tuesday, including Logan v. US where the Court held a defendant's misdemeanor convictions that did not result in him losing civil rights nonetheless allow a longer sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) . Under the ACCA, so-called "career criminals" may be subjected [...]
The New Jersey Senate Budget Committee Monday voted 8-4 to pass a bill designed to replace capital punishment with life in prison, paving the way for New Jersey to abolish the death penalty all together. The New Jersey Assembly is scheduled to vote on the bill next week , and proponents of the legislation hope [...]
US House Committee on Oversight and Reform Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) has asked US Attorney General Michael Mukasey to help the committee obtain transcripts of interviews with US President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and five White House aides from the criminal investigation into the Valerie Plame leak scandal , according to Monday [...]
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Monday encouraged all nations involved in the International Criminal Court (ICC) to help arrest Sudanese and Ugandan crimes against humanity suspects . The ICC has executed arrest warrants for seven men who have not yet been taken into custody – two Sudanese men accused of crimes against humanity for actions [...]
The Catholic Diocese of Davenport has agreed to settle 156 clergy sex abuse claims for $37 million , paving the way for the diocese to emerge from bankruptcy. The Davenport, Iowa diocese filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year, and a settlement agreement became a requirement of filing for reorganization in the US Bankruptcy Court for [...]
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State et al. v. Prison Fellowship Ministries Inc. et al., United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, December 3, 2007 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
