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 Monday, May 21, 2012
Obama created commission to investigate BP Gulf oil spill
On May 21, 2010, US President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing an independent commission to investigate offshore drilling and the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The order came the same week as a suit filed in US district court by advocacy groups seeking an injunction to halt drilling at the BP Atlantis Facility until company engineers could provide the final "as built" technical drawings of the facility. The commission released its report in January 2011, outlining the causes of the spill and giving recommendations, including fees for off-shore drilling to fund a safety agency within the Department of the Interior for the regulation of off-shore wells.
US President Barack Obama
Learn more about BP and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill from the JURIST news archive.
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Spain judge reinstated charges against US soldiers for journalist death in Iraq
On May 21, 2010, Spanish National Court Judge Santiago Pedraz Gomez reinstated charges against three US soldiers for their involvement in the death of Spanish cameraman Jose Couso, when the men opened fire on a Baghdad hotel in 2003, allegedly without provocation. The charges against Sgt. Shawn Gibson, Capt. Philip Wolford and Lt. Col. Philip DeCamp had been dropped in 2007 due to lack of evidence. Judge Gomez had initiated investigations into the incident in June 2005 and ordered the soldiers' arrest that October. In July 2010, the Spanish Supreme Court ordered a lower court to reopen the investigations after the Spanish National Court dismissed the charges in November 2009.
Coat of arms of Spain
Learn more about Spain and military justice from the JURIST news archive.
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Sunday, May 20, 2012
House passed Senate version of credit card holders' 'bill of rights'
On May 20, 2009, the US House of Representatives voted 361-64 in favor the Credit Card Holders' Bill of Rights, which makes illegal, among other prohibitions, arbitrarily raising interest rates, employing misleading terms and charging exorbitant fees to on-time payments. The version passed by the House had been previously passed by the Senate 90-5. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi called the bill historic, but rebuked the Senate for "wasting time" by allowing Senator Tom Coburn's amendment to the bill allowing visitors to carry firearms into National Parks.
Learn more about financial reform from the JURIST news archive.
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Russia president Medvedev called for legal reforms, stronger judiciary
On May 20, 2011, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called for reforms to the country's legal system that would reinforce the rule of law. Some thought Medvedev's remarks concerning reform and his efforts to eradicate corruption were aimed at distancing him from Vladimir Putin, who ran against and defeated Medvedev in Russia's 2012 presidential election. Russians have protested democratic deficiencies in the Russian political system, including a St. Petersburg city ordinance banning the spreading of "homosexual propaganda" to minors.
Coat of arms of Russia
Learn more about Russia from the JURIST news archive.
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Saturday, May 19, 2012
Gov. Perry signed law requiring sonogram before abortion
On May 19, 2011, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed a bill, following its approval by the state legislature, requiring women seeking an abortion to first obtain an ultrasound. Under the new law's regulations, doctors who fail to perform an ultrasound and display it to women at least 24 hours before the procedure could be stripped of their medical licenses. The law also requires doctors to describe the fetus to the pregnant woman. It contains exceptions for cases of rape, incest, and fetal abnormality. Following a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) challenging the law, a federal district court issued an injunction against its enforcement, which was reversed by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Read an overview of legal issues surrounding reproductive rights at Features.
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Amnesty International reported 840 Egypt revolution deaths
On May 19, 2011, Amnesty International (AI) released a report finding that at least 840 people died and more than 6,000 were injured during the protests that resulted in the ouster of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. In the report, AI urged the new Egyptian government to address alleged human rights violations by the country's security services during the revolution. Egypt's transitional government continues to face allegations of human rights violations as the country holds parliamentary and presidential elections.
Egyptian coat of arms
Learn more about the Egypt and the Arab Spring from the JURIST news archive.
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Friday, May 18, 2012
Supreme Court remanded Ashcroft immunity case
On May 18, 2009, the US Supreme Court ruled in Ashcroft v. Iqbal, concerning a complaint filed against former US Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller and other officials. The Court held 5-4 that terrorism suspect Javaid Iqbal failed to adequately state a claim under Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Court's 2007 decision in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly. Iqbal had alleged mistreatment by the FBI based on religious and ethnic bias during his detention in a Brooklyn maximum security jail, and that Ashcroft and Meuller became complicit in the discrimination when they approved the policy that resulted in his detention.
Learn more about US Supreme Court and the laws governing terrorism from the JURIST news archive.
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Afghan Guantanamo detainee died in apparent suicide
On May 18, 2011, US Southern Command announced that a Guantanamo Bay detainee known as Inayatullah was found dead in his cell in an apparent suicide. In 2007, the families of two other Guantanamo detainees who committed suicide filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the United States and 24 government officials, including former US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Their suit was dismissed by the US District Court for the District of Columbia and affirmed by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit following appeal. The military has responded to concerns by attempting to improve the conditions of the prison facilities at Guantanamo Bay.
Read an overview of Guantanamo Bay at Features.
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Thursday, May 17, 2012
Federal appeals court upheld Minnesota campaign finance law
On May 17, 2011, the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld a Minnesota campaign financing law that prohibited direct contributions to candidates and affiliated entities. The law was challenged by two non-profit, advocacy organizations and a for-profit business, who argued that it was in violation of the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee. That decision made it unconstitutional to ban corporations from making independent expenditures, defined as political speech not coordinated with a particular candidate. Campaign finance regulation has been in a state of flux since that decision was reached, with legal challenges against related laws currently underway in Wisconsin and Arizona.
Learn more about campaign finance from the JURIST news archive.
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Rwanda genocide tribunal convicted ex-military chief Bizimungu
On May 17, 2011, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) convicted former Rwandan army chief Augustin Bizimungu and three others involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Bizimungu was sentenced to 30 years in prison after being found guilty of six counts of genocide and crimes against humanity for murder, extermination and rape in addition to violations of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. During the genocide, Bizimungu ordered soldiers and policemen to exterminate tens of thousands of Tutsi civilians who had taken refuge in churches, hospitals, and schools.
Flag of Rwanda
Learn more about the Rwandan genocide from the JURIST news archive.
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Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Supreme Court allowed warrantless search when exigency is created by police
On May 16, 2011, the US Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in Kentucky v. King that exigent circumstances apply when the police do not act in a way that violates the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution. The case involved police smelling marijuana outside an apartment door and kicking down the door after hearing what seemed to be the destroying of evidence. This ruling resolved a circuit court split that included five different tests being used to determine whether the police-created exigency exception applied. The lower court in this specific case used a two-pronged test that determined a warrantless arrest is not allowed when either the police deliberately created the exigency in bad faith or it was reasonably foreseeable that the police action would create an exigency.
Learn more about warrantless searches and the Fourth Amendment from the JURIST news archive.
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ICC prosecutor sought Gaddafi arrest warrant for crimes against humanity
On May 16, 2011, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo sought arrest warrants for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and two others on charges of crimes against humanity for allegedly plotting attacks on Libyan civilians. Ocampo said that the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) was almost prepared for trial and had collected testimony from some who had fled Libya. Previously in April 2011, the OTP said it was planning to seek five arrest warrants and had indicated that his office had uncovered evidence that Gaddafi had planned to attack civilians to forestall revolution in Libya. The ICC launched initial probes into these allegations of crimes against humanity in March 2011.
International Criminal Court logo
Read an overview of The Libya Conflict at Features.
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Tuesday, May 15, 2012
CIA director defended congressional interrogation information
On May 15, 2009, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Leon Panetta defended information the CIA provided to the US Congress on the use of interrogation techniques during the Bush administration. Panett'a comments came in response to allegations by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who claimed to have been mislead by the CIA on its use of enhanced interrogation techniques. In February 2010, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a ruling concluding that "torture memo" author John Yoo was only guilty of "poor judgment" in writing the interrogation technique memos whose release prompted renewed discussion of the legality and legitimacy of enhanced interrogation techniques.
Learn more about enhanced interrogation techniques and the laws governing torture from the JURIST news archive.
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Switzerland voters rejected ban on assisted suicide for foreigners
On May 15, 2011, voters in the Swiss city of Zurich rejected a proposed ban on assisted suicide for foreigners as part of a plan to stem the rise of "death tourism," in which foreigners take advantage of Swiss assisted suicide laws. Assisted suicide has been legal in Switzerland since 1941 and permits a non-physician with no vested interest in a person's death to provide passive assistance such as prescribing necessary drugs. In 2010, Switzerland's Federal Council and Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) had introduced legislation establishing stricter rules on assisted suicide based on a consensus of local governments and agencies. UK Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer also published a policy in 2010 outlining public interest considerations against prosecution of those who assist in a suicide including, among other factors, efforts made to dissuade the victim.
Swiss coat of arms
Learn more about the laws governing assisted suicide from the JURIST news archive and read commentary about the effect of UK's guidelines on assisted suicide policy from JURIST Guest Columnist Barbara Coombs Lee in Hotline.
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