U.S. v. Franklin, et al., United States District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia, August 4, 2005 . Read the full text of the indictment here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The Togo parliament has unanimously passed a law that will increase prison time and fines for individuals convicted of child trafficking. The law comes in response to a reprimand by US State Department officials two months ago telling the Togolese government and 13 other countries that they would face sanctions in 90 days if the [...]

The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) Thursday filed a lawsuit claiming that random searches of bags and packages in the New York City subway system are illegal. The complaint , filed against New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and the city of New York, says the searches violate the unreasonable searches and seizures [...]

A US embassy spokesman in Kabul said Thursday that the US will gradually return Afghan prisoners in US custody to Afghan custody once Afghanistan develops the capacity to detain them. The announcement comes after President Bush's meetings in May with Afghan President Hamid Karzai prompted by Karzai's demand for custody of Afghan detainees after US [...]

A US Supreme Court spokesman said late Thursday that Chief Justice William Rehnquist had been taken to hospital for evaluation and tests after developing a fever. AP has more. Rehnquist has been suffering from thyroid cancer and has appeared increasingly frail in recent months; he was briefly admitted to hospital with fever some three weeks [...]

Two former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) were indicted Thursday for allegedly conspiring to receive and disclose classified US defense information over a five-year period dating back to 1999. The indictment indicates that the two ex-employees of AIPAC, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, had connections to Pentagon analyst Lawrence Franklin, who [...]

US Army interrogator Sgt. Selena Salcedo was demoted Thursday after pleading guilty to charges of dereliction of duty and assault of an Afghan prisoner during questioning. The prisoner, Dilawar , was being held at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan and Salcedo admitted to grabbing his head, kicking him and repeatedly making him sit against a [...]

Updating an earlier report today on proposals for UN Security Council expansion, China's ambassador to the UN said Thursday that he and new US UN ambassador John Bolton had agreed that their countries would both work to block current plans to add new permanent members to the Council. The US has said it favors expanding [...]

Leading Thursday's states brief, two New Jersey Republican lawmakers filed a lawsuit today in state Superior Court, seeking an injunction to stop plans by acting Governor Richard J. Codey for a $2.1 billion bond refinance deal that will raise $150 million to help run the state government. The deal would raise the money by refinancing [...]

Leading Thursday's corporations and securities law news, the Sprint-Nextel merger has taken a large step towards final approval after the Federal Communications Commission and the US Justice Department signed off on the deal. The merger, which will create the third largest wireless service provider in the US, still has legal issues with various partners to [...]