Defense lawyers for the US Marines accused of killing 24 unarmed civilians in Haditha last November plan to scrutinize the authenticity of the videotape described in the TIME magazine report that first prompted an investigation into the deaths, should charges be filed against the Marines. Attorneys will also question the credibility of Hammurabi Human Rights, [...]

The US military on Friday said that the Army's Criminal Investigation Command will conduct an investigation into the deaths of three detainees in US custody in the Salahaddin province of Iraq, located north of Baghdad. The investigation into deaths, which occurred on or around May 9, results from reported suspicions from soldiers. The investigation comes [...]

Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005, signed into law by President George W. Bush June 15, 2006 . Read the full text of the Act . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

A New Hampshire judge on Thursday dismissed 5 of 8 counts in a lawsuit brought by Democrats against Republicans after the jamming of Democratic phone lines in the 2002 Senate race between Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) and Democratic challenger Jeanne Shaheen. Sununu won the race by less than five percentage points. Republicans applauded the ruling [...]

The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled Thursday that, despite a 2005 US Supreme Court ruling barring the death penalty for juveniles, the mental age of a death row inmate could not be invoked to stop the state from carrying out his execution. Though the Kentucky court acknowledged the top court's decision, it said that that plainly [...]

Hudson v. Mitchell, Supreme Court of the United States, June 15, 2006 . Read the Court's majority opinion per Justice Scalia along with a concurrence from Justice Kennedy and a dissent from Justice Breyer, who was joined by Justices Stevens, Souter and Ginsburg. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

One week after the US House of Representatives voted 379-35 to pass the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act , President Bush signed into law the legislation that will increase by tenfold the maximum fine for indecency, from $32,500 to $325,000 per station for each violation. The Senate passed the bill in May. The effort to increase [...]

Turkmen v. Ashcroft, United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Judge John Gleeson, June 14, 2006 . Read the full text of the ruling . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The US Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted 11-7 to send to the full Senate a proposed constitutional amendment that would give Congress the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the US flag. The amendment has 59 co-sponsors , but would require a 2/3 majority, or 67 votes if all Senators are present, to [...]

A European Union lawmaker calling for the US to close its detention center at Guantanamo Bay suggested Thursday that it should be replaced with an international criminal tribunal to hear the cases of the approximately 450 alleged terror suspects now detained. European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Elmar Brok told German TV news program Tagesschau [...]