Aruba's Superior Court has ruled that a lesbian couple legally married in the Netherlands has the right to register their marriage in the autonomous Caribbean republic that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (includings the Netherland, the Netherlands Antilles, and Aruba) even though same-sex marriage is not authorized under Aruba's civil code. Lawyers [...]

Lawrence Greenfeld, former director of the US Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) , has been demoted, several months after he complained that the Bush administration was interfering with the release of a report detailing racial profiling in traffic stops. In April, as BJS prepared to release Contacts between Police and the Public: Findings [...]

US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Tuesday that the US Department of Homeland Security is preparing to increase its efforts to deal with the problem of illegal immigration. Last week, Arizona declared a state of emergency along its borders with Mexico in response to what Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano called the "growing devastation caused [...]

The British government Wednesday unveiled a list of "unacceptable behaviors" that would qualify foreigners inciting hatred to be deported or barred from entry into the UK. Home Secretary Charles Clarke said the measure, designed to crack down on radical Islamic preachers, is a way to counter "those who seek to foster hatred or promote terrorism." [...]

Six unidentified members of California's Fullerton-based Alpha Company Army National Guard have been accused of mistreating detainees in Iraq and will face courts-martial , officials announced Tuesday after investigating reports of abuse by 12 soldiers. The soldiers face various charges including mistreatment of a person under their control, assault, making a false statement, and obstruction [...]

Hong Kong High Court Judge Michael Hartmann ruled Wednesday that laws prohibiting gay sex are unconstitutional and discriminatory and violate Hong Kong's Basic Law and the Bill of Rights . Under existing law in the former British colony, now a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, men under 21 who engage in [...]

The director of Russia's federal penal service has denied reports made on Tuesday that Mikhail Khodorkovsky , the former CEO of oil company Yukos , has gone on a hunger strike to protest the move of his business partner Platon Lebedev to an isolation cell. Khodorkovsky, who is serving a nine year sentence for fraud [...]

Sunni Arabs, Shiites and Kurds began a new round of talks in Iraq Wednesday, seeking to agree on several disputed areas of the draft Iraqi constitution . Many, including US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad , nonetheless believe it's unlikely an agreement will be made before the new Thursday deadline. On Tuesday, Sunnis repeated their complaint that [...]

Leading Tuesday's corporations and securities law news, Northwest Airlines continued service today, the second full business day of strikes by their mechanics' union. In what some are seeing as a serious blow to organized labor , the airline completed 98% of its scheduled flights, though many have been delayed. Northwest's other unions have not showed [...]

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is examining whether investors paid researchers to reveal information about ongoing drug studies in order to profit from the results before they were available to the public. Earlier this month, The Seattle Times said it found 26 cases in which medical researchers "leaked confidential and critical details" to brokerage [...]