JURIST Guest Columnist Stephen Gey of Florida State University College of Law says that the most important aspect of US District Judge John E. Jones III's Kitzmiller ruling on the teaching of "intelligent design" is not its constitutional analysis, but its meticulous demonstration that ID is sham science … Last week the science community in [...]

US v. Richard A. Causey, Plea Agreement, United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, December 28, 2005 . Read the full text of the plea agreement . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Jose Padilla v. C.T. Hanft, Supreme Court of the United States, December 27, 2005 . Read the full text of the brief . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Former Qwest Communications vice president of investments, mergers and acquisitions Marc Weisberg pleaded guilty Wednesday to a single wire fraud count after his indictment in February on eight counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering. Weisberg agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors trying to convict other Qwest executives, including former CEO Joseph [...]

Some 80 opposition politicians, reporters and aid workers facing treason and genocide charges in Ethiopia relating to November's street clashes over May elections that killed 46 people have complained that they have been denied access to lawyers by prison administration. They made the claim Wednesday as they appeared in court for a bail hearing. Riots [...]

Chilean police have taken fingerprints and a mug shot of former dictator Augusto Pinochet as part of his indictment over Operation Colombo , in which at least 119 dissidents were allegedly murdered during the early years of Pinochet’s dictatorship. Nine separate indictments relating to Operation Colombo were joined earlier this month. Pinochet, 90, insists that [...]

Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabr , the minister in charge of Iraq's prison facilities, is expected to resign in the near future, according to multiple security and political sources. The reports follow accusations that he ran secret prisons found in November and December where detainees were malnourished and apparently tortured. Jabr has downplayed the severity [...]

Algeria Wednesday asked the government of France to apologize for crimes committed during France’s colonization of Algeria, including France’s part in the massacres of 45,000 Algerians who demanded independence at the end of World War II. Since Algerian independence in 1962, France and Algeria have gradually normalized relations and are currently working toward a reconciliation [...]

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has agreed to hear arguments regarding the request of US Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) to speed up his money-laundering trial by either beginning the case immediately or dismissing the charges. Last week, an intermediate appellate court denied DeLay's request to shorten the filing period of the government's appeal of [...]

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said in a TV interview Wednesday that state slander laws used to prosecute Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk and implicated as recently as Tuesday in a possible prosecutorial probe of comments by a senior EU lawmaker could be changed if necessary to protect Turkey's reputation, though no decision would be made [...]