Violent crime – consisting of violent murders, robberies and aggravated assaults – increased in 2005 for the first time since 2001, according to the Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Monday. Murders increased by 23 percent in Houston, 14 percent in Philadelphia and 10 percent in Las Vegas, while [...]

The US Supreme Court handed down decisions in two cases Monday, including Hill v. McDonough , where the Court held that a death row inmate can challenge the constitutionality of a state's method of lethal injection under 42 USC 1983 even when all other appeals have been exhausted. The Court in January granted a stay [...]

The Hamas party , which controls the Palestinian Legislative Council , launched a challenge to a referendum proposed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas , calling an emergency debate Monday on whether a referendum is legal under Palestinian law. Abbas set a date of July 26 for a vote on a "national reconciliation" document , which [...]

Military officials said Sunday that the three Guantanamo Bay detainees who committed suicide Saturday by hanging themselves with bedsheets and clothing – identified as Saudis Mani Shaman Turki al-Habardi Al-Utaybi and Yasser Talal Al-Zahrani, and Yemeni Ali Abdullah Ahmed – took steps to conceal themselves from patrolling guards as they hung themselves in their cells. [...]

An American defense lawyer in the Saddam Hussein trial accused the Iraqi High Tribunal on Monday of not giving the defense team enough time to present their case on behalf of Hussein and his seven co-defendants. Curtis Doebbler criticized Chief Judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman for not responding to defense motions and intimidating defense witnesses, adding that [...]

Alabama Death Penalty Assessment Report, American Bar Association, June 11, 2006 . Read the full text of the report . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The suicides of three detainees , two Saudis and a Yemeni, at Guantanamo Bay on Saturday prompted Saudi Interior Ministry officials to renew calls on Sunday for all Saudi prisoners to be released from the military camp and returned to Saudi Arabia where they can face charges. The US, which freed 15 Saudis from Guantanamo [...]

US Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) said on Sunday that he plans to demand hearings and issue subpoenas for telephone company executives to discuss the program of disclosing public calling records to the National Security Agency (NSA) if the White House fails to cooperate with Congress in devising rules for domestic surveillance . [...]

The American Bar Association death penalty assessment team recommended a moratorium on the death penalty in Alabama in a report released Sunday that cited major flaws in the state's administration of capital punishment . The assessment team, composed of Alabama lawyers who are both prosecutors and defense attorneys, studied the state's death penalty system for [...]

US Marine Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich , commander of the platoon implicated in the deaths of two dozen Iraqi civilians in Haditha , told his attorney that his unit followed the rules of engagement and did not purposefully attack civilians, the Washington Post reported Sunday. Wuterich contends that his platoon entered houses in pursuit of [...]