The US House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a measure to seize land on Mount Soledad in San Diego to resolve a dispute over whether a 29-foot cross honoring Korean War veterans on the property is a government endorsement of religion. The House agreed to transfer the land to the Defense Department before an expected [...]

Pledge Protection Act of 2005 , passed by the US House of Representatives July 19, 2006 . Read the full text of the bill . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Retail Industry Leaders v. Fielding et al., United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Judge Frederick Motz, July 19, 2006 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour Wednesday threatened perpetrators of wanton violence against civilians in the current Middle East conflict with liability for war crimes. In a pointed statement directed equally at Israel and Hezbollah and warning both combatants and their leaders, Arbour said: Indiscriminate shelling of cities constitutes a foreseeable and unacceptable [...]

Message from the President to the House of Representatives on H.R. 810, the "Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005", George W. Bush, July 19, 2006 . Read the full text of the statement. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The US House of Representatives voted Wednesday to block federal judges from ruling on the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance , which contains the controversial phrase "under God." The Pledge Protection Act provides that "no court created by Act of Congress shall have any jurisdiction, and the Supreme Court shall have no appellate jurisdiction, [...]

A federal district court judge in Maryland on Wednesday struck down Maryland's Fair Share Health Care Fund Act , aimed at forcing Wal-Mart to adequately support the health care needs of its employees. The law would have required companies with more than 10,000 employees to spend at least eight percent on employee health care, or [...]

A federal judge on Wednesday denied a request by US Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) to stay a previous order authorizing the FBI to review documents seized from Jefferson's congressional offices . Jefferson argued that the documents should remain untouched pending the appeal of last week's ruling that the search was constitutional . In his opinion [...]

President Bush on Wednesday vetoed a bill to increase federal funding for embryonic stem cell research in what is the first presidential veto during his time in office. The US Senate passed the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act Tuesday in a 63-37 vote, just four votes short of the two-thirds supermajority needed to survive a [...]

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is silencing dissent by prosecuting journalists under questionable circumstances, a US media watchdog group said Tuesday. The Inter American Press Association is sending an international mission to Venezuela next week to investigate press freedom, where they will discuss recent notable cases with journalists, local government officials and rights groups. Venezuela Information [...]