The French lower house of parliament, the National Assembly , approved an internationally-controversial bill Thursday that imposes monetary penalties and jail time on anyone who denies that there was an Armenian genocide early in the twentieth century. The bill, which passed 106-19, sets a one year prison term and 45,000 euro ($56,570) fine for those [...]

Turkey's most prominent writer, Orhan Pamuk , won the Nobel Prize in Literature Thursday for his work examining the role of Islam in society. Pamuk, a visiting professor at Columbia University, said he was honored to win the prize. His critics claimed Pamuk was awarded the prize "because of his Armenian genocide claims," rather than [...]

Five US states permit the use of dogs in prisons to control inmates, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released Wednesday. Prison systems in Iowa, Connecticut, South Dakota, Utah and Delaware have policies that allow the use of dogs to control inmates in prisons and remove uncooperative prisoners from their cells. The procedures [...]

A prominent South Asian rights group has urged India and Pakistan to abolish the death penalty since it is a "violation of the right to life." South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR) , headed by former Indian Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral , criticized the possibility of irreversible death penalty punishments and observed that South [...]

Germany intends to set up a "road map" for the ratification of the EU constitution when it assumes the rotating EU presidency on January 1, 2007, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday. Merkel acknowledged that the document would not be approved during Germany's six-month presidency, but called for the treaty to be in place before [...]

Portions of an article on torture in Chechnya written by murdered reporter Anna Politkovskaya before her death were published Thursday by the Novaya Gazeta . The report detailed allegations of torture, including one man who said he was hung from a ceiling and beaten by security officials during questioning about a murder. The article also [...]

US District Judge Karen Caldwell has ruled that a Kentucky ban preventing judicial candidates from personally soliciting campaign funds is a violation of the First Amendment. The state argued that the ban was in place to promote judicial impartiality, but Caldwell ruled that ethics rules and criminal laws in Kentucky prevent judges from promising to [...]

State Farm Insurance on Wednesday filed a motion seeking a change in venue for lawsuits filed in southern Mississippi by individuals who claim insurance carriers failed to pay insured losses to those affected by the destruction of Hurricane Katrina . The damages requested in the lawsuits total about $20 billion and State Farm is petitioning [...]

US v. Gadahn, US District Court for the Central District of California, October 11, 2006 . Read the full text of the indictment . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Jameel v. Wall Street Journal Europe, House of Lords, October 11, 2006 . Read the full text of the ruling. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.