Newdow v. Congress, United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, Judge Frank Damrell, June 12, 2006 . Read the full text of the ruling . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

A former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration testified in a deposition that the agency postponed a decision to allow over-the-counter sales of Plan B emergency contraceptives while it considered how to restrict nonprescription access only to females 17 and older. Dr. Lester Crawford , a veterinarian who led the FDA for three [...]

Lawyers for three men Arab Muslim men argued before the Supreme Court of Canada Tuesday that a program allowing the government to indefinitely detain and deport foreigners with suspected ties to terrorism is unconstitutional. The three men – Adil Charkaoui, Hassan Almrei and Mohamed Harkat – contend that their detentions breach the Canadian Charter of [...]

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the UN Security Council Tuesday that he has asked the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to establish an independent commission that will investigate the recent surge in violence in East Timor . "The sad events of recent weeks reflect shortcomings not only on the part of the Timorese leadership, [...]

The Egyptian Parliament has sent an anticipated judicial reform bill prepared by the Ministry of Justice back to Egypt's Cabinet to iron out controversial points, including the Justice Ministry's right to assess the performance of judges, the role of the Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) in supervising judges, and government control over SJC appointments. Reformist judges [...]

A federal judge has granted a defense request to dismiss a criminal charge that W.R. Grace & Co. and its executives knowingly endangered miners and residents of Libby, Montana by concealing health risks from asbestos contained in vermiculite . Chief US District Judge Donald Malloy of the District of Montana ruled in an order dated [...]

The American Medical Association has passed a measure clarifying its ethical guidelines , which prohibit doctors from participating in torture or coercive interrogations. The AMA on Monday reiterated its contention that a doctor's duty is to heal a patient, and cannot take any part in prisoner interrogations. The AMA added that doctor-patient confidentiality still applies [...]

As expected , the new government of Nepal dropped terrorism charges against 190 Maoist rebels on Tuesday and freed them from jails in nine cities, a Home Ministry spokesman said. About 160 rebels are still incarcerated but will be released once courts issue individual orders. The communist rebels faced charges such as murder and kidnapping [...]

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will visit the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in the coming days, in an effort to assess the overall mood of the camp in the wake of three detainee suicides last weekend. Though the unscheduled visit will not be an inquiry into the three suicides, the [...]

The Libyan retrial of five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor accused of infecting over 400 patients, primarily children, with the HIV virus, resumed Tuesday before presiding judge Mahmoud Haouissa adjourned until June 20, stating that the prosecution and defense both need additional time to prepare evidence and witness lists. Haouissa postponed the retrial once [...]