US Department of Defense lawyers have refused to comply with a federal judge's order to release pictures and videotapes documenting the abuse of Abu Ghraib prisoners, alleging release "could result in harm to individuals." Judge Alvin Hellerstein had ordered the information be released as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the [...]
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US Senator John Kerry (D-MA) called on the White House Friday to release the complete file of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts during the time he served in two Republican administrations. Democrats are seeking the documents in part to learn of Roberts' role during the 2000 presidential election recount in Florida. Kerry said, "We cannot [...]
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has violated the 1974 Privacy Act by collecting personal information on nearly 250,000 people without their knowledge, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released Friday. Congressional investigators said the TSA was testing a program called Secure Flight which checks airline passengers for potential matches on terrorist watch lists [...]
Report of the Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe to assess the Scope and Impact of Operation Murambatsvina, UN Special Envoy on Human Settlements Issues in Zimbabwe, July 22, 2005 . Excerpt: On 19 May 2005, with little or no warning, the Government of Zimbabwe embarked on an operation to "clean-up" its cities. It was a "crash"operation [...]
US v. Kaczynski, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, July 21, 2005 . Excerpt: We remand to the district court… to give a timely and adequate opportunity for the government to present… a commercially reasonable plan to dispose of the property at issue, the principal purpose of which shall be to maximize [...]
Leading Friday's states brief, Florida's 1st District Court of Appeal has ruled that unused butterfly ballots from the 2000 presidential election can be destroyed as they are not public records. Chief Judge Charles J. Kahn, Jr. wrote that a ballot becomes public record when it is voted, but "the unused ballots, en masse, are no [...]
Leading Friday's corporations and securities news, airline regulators have approved America West's merger with bankrupt US Airways. In a joint press release, the airlines announced that the Air Transportation Stabilization Board (ATSB) approved of the merger unanimously. The companies also said that the ATSB voted to allow the airlines to consolidate their combined $1 billion [...]
A UN legal expert has recommended urgent action be taken to restore the rule of law in Ecuador following last December's Congressional ouster of 27 of 31 Supreme Court judges . The Special Rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights on the independence of judges and lawyers , Leandro Despouy, concluded in a report [...]
Italy and France announced new security measures Friday designed to combat terrorism following the recent London bombings . Although neither nation has been the target of Islamic terrorists, both have tightened security on transit systems and are investigating ways to crack down on militants and gather information. French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy announced "an increase [...]
The Japanese parliament passed a measure Friday giving Japanese Minister of State for Defense Yoshinori Ohno the legal power to shoot down incoming missiles without consulting the prime minister or cabinet. The bill, which passed in the lower house last month, is seen as a response to Japan's growing worry about North Korea's nuclear weapons [...]
