Following the March Supreme Court ruling that juveniles may not be sentenced to death, Texas Governor Rick Perry has commuted the sentences of 28 offenders to life in prison. They will be eligible for parole after 40 years. Twelve other US states have juveniles on death row . The Houston Chronicle has local coverage.

Iraqi deputy prime minister Ahmad Chalabi said on Thursday that the trial of Saddam Hussein will begin within 90 days, before the end of September 2005. The government had previously stated that they wanted the trial to begin before the constitutional referendum scheduled for October 15. On Tuesday, Iraq's justice minister accused the US of [...]

ABC News is reporting that ex-KKK member Edgar Ray Killen , now 80, has been sentenced to the maximum 60 years in prison for manslaughter in connection with the 1964 killings of three civil rights workers. Killen was found to have organized a group to kidnap, assault, and shoot the three young men. He was [...]

The Tokyo High Court overturned a 2001 Tokyo District Court ruling on Thursday that awarded compensation to the family of a Chinese man who was forcibly brought to Japan as a laborer during World War II. The lower court originally ordered compensation not for labor but because the man hid in the mountains of Hokkaido [...]

Following the Supreme Court's early June decision that Congress can criminalize the use of marijuana with a doctor's permission , federal agents executed search warrants and made arrests on Wednesday in raids on medical marijuana providers in northern California. Almost 25 different locations were searched, and in Sacramento a doctor and her husband were arrested [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Thursday in Kelo v. New London that a local government authority can expropriate private property – land, homes and businesses – for private redevelopment that confers economic benefits on the community such as more jobs and tax revenue so long as it is not just a private use of [...]

US lawmakers Wednesday called on the White House to encourage expansion of human rights and religious freedoms in Vietnam as Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai continued his landmark visit to the US, the first by a Vietnamese head of government since the end of the Vietnam War 30 years ago. The meetings were largely [...]

The New York Senate on Wednesday approved a bill which would provide for over-the-counter sales of emergency contraceptives. The current law requires a physician's visit, which State Sen. Nicholas Spano (R-Westchester) , the bill's sponsor, said involves "frequent difficulties". Similar measures had passed New York's Assembly three years in a row, but this was the [...]

A report released Wednesday by the Democratic National Committee found problems during the voting process in Ohio during the November 2004 election, but also found no evidence of fraud. A large number of complaints were made about long lines, intimidation, and misfunctioning machines; these prompted various legal actions but those ultimately went nowhere. DNC chairman [...]

Iran's official news agency reported on Thursday that at least 26 people, including a military figure, have been arrested for suspected election violations commited during last week's first round of presidential voting. The close voting required a partial recount and raised immediate allegations of fraud , an issue which is still a concern in Friday's [...]