A federal judge in Chicago dismissed a lawsuit on Wednesday seeking reparations from several companies that benefitted or profited from slavery prior to its abolition. US District Judge Charles R. Norgle ruled that a geneological tie was not enough to show injury, that the suit was brought too late, and finally that the issue is [...]

A California National Guard unit known as the Information Synchronization, Knowledge Management and Intelligence Fusion program is under investigation by military authorities to determine whether it was created to spy on civilians. Activists are concerned that the group's actions are similar to spying done on almost 100,000 civilians during the 60s and 70s. At issue [...]

Class representatives amended a complaint against CardSystems Solutions, MasterCard, Visa, and Merrick Bank Thursday, demanding monetary compensation for negligence. The lawsuit stems from a security breach at CardSystems that resulted in the exposure of some 40 million credit cards to potential fraud . Three representatives filed the suit on behalf of hundreds of cardholders in [...]

Echoing earlier predictions , Iraqi President Jalal Talabani told a gathering of Shiite clerics Thursday that Iraq's new constitution "will be done on schedule". The constitutional commission charged with drafting the charter needs to finish by August 15 in order for the pact to be submitted to a referendum in October. Although disputes over Sunni [...]

Former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky will face new charges of money laundering Thursday along with his partner Platon Lebedev. Lawyers for Khodorovsky say they have no idea what specific charges will be announced, but the Prosecutor General's Office has invited them to appear at Moscow's Matrosskaya Tishina detention center for details. Khodorovsky was convicted of [...]

Defense lawyer Ziad al-Khasawneh, the head of Saddam Hussein's defense team who announced his resignation Wednesday , said Thursday that his motivation for quitting was repeated efforts by US members of the team to temper his criticism of the US occupation of Iraq. Khasawneh alleged that former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark , who now [...]

In a short televised statement, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said it is "reasonably clear" that the multiple London transport system blasts earlier Thursday were "terrorist attacks" designed to coincide with the G8 meeting at Gleneagles. The meeting will continue, although Blair will go to London to assess the situation and meet officials before [...]

Speaking outside 10 Downing Street Thursday morning, UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke has reported "terrible injuries" after several explosions on the London transport system just before 9 AM London time Thursday morning suspected to have been caused by terrorist bombs. The system was shut down after explosions at several stations; at least one double-decker bus [...]

In re Katherine B., et al. v. Cataldo, et al., New York Court of Appeals, July 6, 2005 . Read the full text of the opinion here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Blood-Stained Hands: Past Atrocities in Kabul and Afghanistan's Legacy of Impunity, Human Rights Watch , July 6, 2005 . Excerpt: Many of the main commanders and political faction leaders implicated in the crimes detailed in this report are now officials in the Afghan government—serving in high level positions in the police, military, intelligence services, and [...]