Texas Governor Rick Perry Friday signed into law legislation which creates a new life-without-parole sentencing option in state capital murder cases. Previously, Texas juries have only had the option of sentencing offenders to death or life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years. The widely supported bill , which goes into effect [...]

A UN panel has expressed "great concern" at the increase in unsentenced detainees in Canadian prisons following recent federal sentencing reform . There are currently in Canada more incarcerated persons awaiting trial or sentencing than there are persons actually serving a sentence. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention visited 13 detention centers across the [...]

The lower chamber of the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature approved a ban of the morning-after pill on state college campuses Thursday, sending the bill to the state Senate. The proposed legislation would ban University of Wisconsin System health centers from advertising, prescribing, or dispensing emergency contraception to its more than 161,000 students on 26 campuses. The [...]

Leading Friday's corporations and securities law news, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has been sued by the US Department of the Treasury's Comptroller of the Currency and by the Clearing House , a group representing national banks. The suit is an effort to stop Spitzer’s office from subpoenaing information from banks over accusations of [...]

Under new guidelines , US military health professionals are permitted to observe and advise on "lawful" interrogations of detainees, but may not participate in questioning and must report any inhumane treatment. The guidelines, contained in a June 3rd Pentagon memo, differentiate between those providing health care to the detainee from those who are involved in [...]

By a vote of 221-184 the US House of Representatives has passed the United Nations Reform Act of 2005 calling for broad reforms at the UN and allowing the US to withold up to 50 percent of funding if reform goals are not met. Republican Congressman Henry Hyde , chair of the House International Relations [...]

Former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski and former CFO Mark Schwartz were convicted Friday of grand larceny in connection with huge bonuses and other compensation amounting to over $150M they improperly received while in charge of the company. They were both convicted of 12 counts of grand larceny, one count each of conspiracy and violation of [...]

Ethiopian officials announced Friday that 336 detainees seized in the wake of post-election protests have been freed. A government spokesman said that any additional prisoners found not to have been involved in the protests would be released. Some human rights groups estimate that the number of people arrested was in the thousands. At least 36 [...]

Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has asked the Angolan Supreme Court to rule on whether portions of the country's new election laws passed in May are constitutional . Dos Santos has not yet specified which section of the law, which his own government promulgated, may be problematic. The request has raised concerns that the [...]

US District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel has approved the settlement of a civil rights lawsuit between Ford Motor Company and its black employees, granting these employees access to an apprenticeship program. In February, the court granted preliminary approval of the class action settlement and finalized the deal on Wednesday following a June 1 fairness hearing. [...]