US District Judge Nancy Edmunds Monday dismissed a lawsuit brought by US House Democrats challenging the validity of a $39 billion deficit-reduction bill. The plaintiffs argued that the measure was invalid since the Senate and House approved two different versions. The version approved by the Senate indicated that Medicare would be able to rent certain [...]
US Marine Lance Cpl. Tyler Jackson on Monday pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice in connection with the April 26 death of Iraqi civilian Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Hamdania . In accordance with his plea agreement , Jackson testified Monday that Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III devised the plot to kidnap and [...]
UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Leandro Despouy Monday delivered his own scathing verdict on the Iraqi trial process which led over the weekend to a death sentence for ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, urging the rapid establishment of an international tribunal to either reopen the proceeding or consider an appeal [...]
Jonathan Hafetz : "Attorneys today asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the United States from transferring Mohammed Munaf, a American citizen, to the custody of the Iraqi government. Mr. Munaf has been in US custody in Iraq for more than 16 months. An Iraqi Court sentenced Mr. Munaf to death on October 12. A [...]
Jaafar Moussawai , chief prosecutor in the trial of Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity in Dujail, said Monday that an appeals panel would likely rule on his verdict and sentence in mid-January 2007, setting the stage for his possible execution in mid-February. His comments echoed some made Sunday by Iraqi High Tribunal chief investigative [...]
Garrett v. City of Escondido, American Civil Liberties Union, November 3, 2006 . Read the full text of the complaint . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
Lawyers for a southern California Indian tribe argued before the US DC Circuit Court of Appeals Monday that the tribe is exempt from the National Labor Relations Act on grounds of tribal sovereignty. The San Manuel tribe is appealing a 2004 ruling which asserted National Labor Relations Board jurisdiction over tribal businesses . If the [...]
US District Judge James Munley Monday extended a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of two Hazleton, Pennsylvania immigration laws for 120 days so that both sides can prepare for trial on their validity. The temporary restraining order was initially set to expire on November 14. Munley said that he would prefer that the trial commence [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in Wallace v. Chicago Police Officers , 05-1240, a case where a man illegally arrested is seeking to sue the police officers responsible for his arrest. Andre Wallace was arrested without probable cause in 1994, convicted, and released from prison in 2002 after an Illinois court reversed [...]
Mohammad Munaf, a US citizen convicted and sentenced to death by an Iraqi judge, asked the US Supreme Court Monday to delay his transfer to Iraqi custody while US courts consider his case. Munaf was arrested in Romania in 2005 on kidnapping charges for allegedly kidnapping and detaining three Romanian journalists for 55 days in [...]