The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has restricted the authority of the state Commission on Judicial Conduct by limiting the penalties that the commission can impose to discipline judges without the court's approval. Under state law , the Commission is made up of nine members: three judges appointed by the Supreme Judicial Court, three members of [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other rights organizations have called for a "full and immediate investigation into abuses at Louisiana correctional facilities" during and after Hurricane Katrina last year. In a scathing report released Wednesday, the ACLU described foul conditions for prisoners held at Orleans Parish prisons. The ACLU found that prisoners were [...]

British banking officials froze the assets Friday of 19 suspects believed to be involved in a terrorist plot to blow up multiple planes traveling from UK airports to various destinations in the United States, while also making those suspects' identities publicly available. UK police officials initially announced the arrests of 21 suspects Thursday, though it [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Mark Brown, holder of the Newton D. Baker/Baker and Hostetler Chair at Capital University School of Law, says that the Fifth Circuit ruling blocking Texas Republicans – at the instance of Texas Democrats – from declaring Tom DeLay ineligible to run again for his Texas congressional seat sets a bad precedent for [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour on Thursday said that the Kyrgyzstan decision to extradite four Uzbekistan refugees and one asylum seeker back to Uzbekistan earlier this week was a breach of Kyrgyzstan's obligations under the Convention Against Torture and warned that the five face a grave risk of torture . Arbour said [...]

Deepening Crisis in Darfur Two Months After the Peace Agreement: An Assessment, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, August 10, 2006 . Read the full text of the report . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

US District Judge T.S. Ellis has upheld the constitutionality of the 1917 Espionage Act , refusing to dismiss charges against two former lobbyists with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee . Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman were indicted last year under the Espionage Act for allegedly conspiring to receive and disclose classified US defense information [...]

US v. Campa, United States Court of Appeal for the Eleventh Circuit, August 9, 2006 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has ordered that seventeen cases challenging the legality of the NSA's domestic surveillance program be transferred to the chief judge of the US Northern District of California . In an order issued Wednesday, the panel wrote: On the basis of the papers filed and hearing session held, the Panel [...]

US v. Steven J. Rosen et al., United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, August 9, 2006 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.