Senoir US Senate Democrats John Kerry (MA) , Patrick Leahy (VT) , and Russ Feingold (WI) have introduced a bill to limit expense-paid trips for federal judges underwritten by major corporations and political organizations. The three senators also included in their draft of the Fair and Independent Judiciary Act a provision to let the public [...]

Arizona state legislator David Burnell Smith became the first US lawmaker removed from office for violating a state’s public campaign financing rules when the Arizona Supreme Court declined Thursday to stay an earlier court order directing him to step down. The Citizens Clean Elections Commission set the stage for a five month court battle when [...]

Lucia Pinochet Hiriart, the eldest daughter of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was taken into custody by Chilean authorities Saturday when she flew in from Buenos Aires to face charges of tax evasion. Met at the airport by the federal judge in charge of her case, she was immediately taken away for arraignment. Officials at [...]

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Saturday that Iran will likely have to face the UN Security Council unless it resumes compliance with nuclear non-proliferation requirements. Straw would not confirm whether or not he expects the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to decide on a Security Council referral at its scheduled February 2 meeting. France, [...]

In the first ruling of its kind, the British High Court on Friday ruled that two British citizens accused of illegal file-sharing must pay damages for violating UK copyright laws. The suit brought by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is one of 139 actions brought by the trade group against individuals engaged in file sharing. [...]

US-based monitoring group Human Rights Watch , said Saturday that interference by Iraqi political groups may compromise the independence of the judges on the Iraqi High Criminal Court – formerly the Iraqi Special Tribunal – conducting the Saddam Hussein trial . HRW claims the tribunal's judicial independence and even the fairness of its basic proceedings [...]

The US Department of Justice Friday announced that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested two employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency working in New Orleans in the post-Hurricane Katrina rebuilding effort under suspicion of taking bribes. According to the US Attorney's complaint, the two workers managed a base camp in the Algiers neighborhood [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Friday lifted a preliminary injunction by a lower federal court that had blocked a Kansas law requiring health care officials to report consensual sex by underage persons to government authorities. In a 2-1 decision, a three judge panel determined that the state's interest in enforcing criminal [...]

The effort by Democratic Senators John Kerry (D-MA) , Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and others to attempt a last-minute filibuster blocking the US Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel Alito has been met with opposition from fellow Senate Democrats who fear the strategy might backfire and adversely affect Democratic candidates in the upcoming 2006 elections. Senate [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist David Kairys of Temple University School of Law says that the Senate should fully examine Judge Samuel Alito's views on race and gender discrimination – strangely shaped in the turmoil of the 1960s – before voting on cloture or confirmation… It can be baffling, even disturbing, to discover that the pivotal period [...]