Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has agreed to investigate allegations that government forces and the rebel group Karuna has been using children in its fights against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) , or the "Tamil Tigers," a UN representative said Monday. Allan Rock , special advisor to the UN Special Representative for Children [...]

US Marine Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr. will plead guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice in connection to the alleged murder and kidnapping of an unarmed Iraqi civilian in Hamdania , Shumate's lawyer said Monday. In exchange for the guilty plea, expected to be entered next Monday, more serious murder and [...]

City council members in Farmers Branch, Texas voted Monday to approve several anti-immigration measures including making English the town's official language , imposing fines for landlords who rent to illegal aliens , and permitting local police to screen suspects in custody. The unanimous 6-0 vote was taken prior to public comment, while individuals in favor [...]

Prosecutors for the US government Monday denied allegations by Jose Padilla that he was tortured while in US custody at a Navy detention facility in South Carolina. Padilla claims that he was subjected to multiple means of torture and abuse including sleep deprivation, threats of execution, exposure to noxious fumes, and extreme heat and cold, [...]

The US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Monday upheld an Ohio regulation requiring a women to meet with a doctor 24 hours prior to an abortion procedure but reversed a District Court ruling that had sustained a provision limiting minors to one chance of a judicial waiver from the state's parental notification requirement. The appeals [...]

The US Supreme Court Monday denied an application by US citizen Mohammad Munaf for a temporary injunction postponing his transfer to Iraqi custody where he faces the death penalty for his involvement in a 2005 kidnapping in Iraq. Munaf, who was convicted and sentenced to death by an Iraqi judge in early October, has argued [...]

Ayers v. Belmontes, Supreme Court of the United States, November 13, 2006 . Read the court's opinion per Justice Kennedy, along with a concurrence from Justice Scalia and a dissent from Justice Stevens. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Eric A. Seitz, : "1st Lt. Ehren Watada had been an eagle scout and an exemplary Army officer when he first learned that he was likely to be deployed to Iraq and began to read and learn about the war into which he would be leading his troops. What he read troubled him enormously. He [...]

George Washington : "On November 7, 2006, Proposal 2, which is copied from California's Proposition 209, passed in Michigan by a vote of 57 to 43 percent. There are now two pending legal challenges to the Proposal, with more expected to follow soon. The United States District Court found that the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative [...]

Ben Johnson : ""Salus Populi Suprema Lex Esto" – "Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law." This statement, the official state motto of Missouri, stands as guidance to all those working in service to the public of Missouri. Unfortunately, there are times when some in the state legislature seem to turn their [...]