Learn from the mistakes of others

PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST
Canadian study recommends legalizing polygamy
Friday, January 13, 2006
Nishat Hasan

[JURIST] A study commissioned by the Canadian Justice Department and obtained by Canadian Press has urged the Canadian federal government to legalize polygamy to help protect women and children in those relationships. Section 293 of the Canadian Criminal Code currently bans polygamy, although a few Canadian provinces give limited recognition to foreign polygamous marriages for spousal support. The study, authored by three law professors at Ontario's Queen's University Faculty of Law, was prompted in part by concerns by British Columbia authorities about whether they should charge members of the Bountiful religious community in Creston, BC, which practices polygamy openly. The Canadian parliament legalized same-sex marriage across Canada in 2005.

Canadian Press has more.

PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST
Canadian study recommends legalizing polygamy
Friday, January 13, 2006
Nishat Hasan

[JURIST] A study commissioned by the Canadian Justice Department and obtained by Canadian Press has urged the Canadian federal government to legalize polygamy to help protect women and children in those relationships. Section 293 of the Canadian Criminal Code currently bans polygamy, although a few Canadian provinces give limited recognition to foreign polygamous marriages for spousal support. The study, authored by three law professors at Ontario's Queen's University Faculty of Law, was prompted in part by concerns by British Columbia authorities about whether they should charge members of the Bountiful religious community in Creston, BC, which practices polygamy openly. The Canadian parliament legalized same-sex marriage across Canada in 2005.

Canadian Press has more.

PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST
UK security service to get new powers to bug MP phones
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Joshua Pantesco

[JURIST]The government of British Prime Minister Tony Blair will in a few weeks lift a long standing ban on wiretapping the phones of members of parliament as part of a push to expand the surveillance powers of Britain's MI5 security service in the wake of the July 2005 London bombings, according to the Independent on Sunday newspaper. Former Prime Minister Harold Wilson promised MPs in the late 1960s that their communication lines would never be tapped by security officials, "whatsoever the circumstances," an assurance now referred to as the Wilson Doctrine. Blair has previously indicated that subjecting MPs to wiretaps would be consistent with governmental powers authorized by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act of 2000, and would be exercised only in extreme situations. A number of Labour Party backbenchers as well as members of the opposition Liberal Democratshave expressed concern over the proposed change, arguing that lifting the ban could facilitate the use of sensitive information for political, rather than security, purposes. The Independent reported that discussion of the plan prompted a major Cabinet controversy before Christmas, with British Defence Secretary John Reid, traditionally a strong Blair ally, speaking out forcefully against it.

The Independent has more.

PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST
UK security service to get new powers to bug MP phones
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Joshua Pantesco

[JURIST]The government of British Prime Minister Tony Blair will in a few weeks lift a long standing ban on wiretapping the phones of members of parliament as part of a push to expand the surveillance powers of Britain's MI5 security service in the wake of the July 2005 London bombings, according to the Independent on Sunday newspaper. Former Prime Minister Harold Wilson promised MPs in the late 1960s that their communication lines would never be tapped by security officials, "whatsoever the circumstances," an assurance now referred to as the Wilson Doctrine. Blair has previously indicated that subjecting MPs to wiretaps would be consistent with governmental powers authorized by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act of 2000, and would be exercised only in extreme situations. A number of Labour Party backbenchers as well as members of the opposition Liberal Democratshave expressed concern over the proposed change, arguing that lifting the ban could facilitate the use of sensitive information for political, rather than security, purposes. The Independent reported that discussion of the plan prompted a major Cabinet controversy before Christmas, with British Defence Secretary John Reid, traditionally a strong Blair ally, speaking out forcefully against it.

The Independent has more.

PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Bush 'faith-based initiative' faces legal challenge
Katerina Ossenova

[JURIST] President Bush's "faith-based initiative" to get taxpayer funding to religious organizations to provide social services suffered a setback Friday when a three-judge panel of the US Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a 2004 lawsuit brought by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) on the grounds that the program may violate the constitutional separation of church and state. President Bush created the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and similar centers in ten federal agencies by executive order in 2001 in an effort to help faith-based and community organizations receive federal funds to support various social programs. The lawsuit was originally dismissed when a judge ruled that taxpayers could not question appropriations made by the executive branch, but the appeals court held there was an exception to that when the appropriation used taxpayer money to promote religion. The FFRF previously won a lawsuit against the program when a judge suspended a federal grant to a Christian college because it "amounted to an unconstitutional endorsement of religion".

AP has more

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PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Bush 'faith-based initiative' faces legal challenge
Katerina Ossenova

[JURIST] President Bush's "faith-based initiative" to get taxpayer funding to religious organizations to provide social services suffered a setback Friday when a three-judge panel of the US Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a 2004 lawsuit brought by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) on the grounds that the program may violate the constitutional separation of church and state. President Bush created the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and similar centers in ten federal agencies by executive order in 2001 in an effort to help faith-based and community organizations receive federal funds to support various social programs. The lawsuit was originally dismissed when a judge ruled that taxpayers could not question appropriations made by the executive branch, but the appeals court held there was an exception to that when the appropriation used taxpayer money to promote religion. The FFRF previously won a lawsuit against the program when a judge suspended a federal grant to a Christian college because it "amounted to an unconstitutional endorsement of religion".

AP has more

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[JURIST] AP is reporting that a federal judge has ruled that "intelligent design" cannot be taught in biology classes in a Pennsylvania public school district. US District Judge John E. Jones III ruled Tuesday that the Dover Area School District violated the Constitution when it decided that biology curriculum must include anti-evolutionary intelligent design theory [Natural History backgrounder].
...
Read the full opinion [PDF text; opinion is also available from the ACLU here]. The US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has a case website, including pleadings and orders in the case, and the ACLU of PA, which represented the plaintiffs, also provides case documents

[JURIST] Top Senate Democrats have said that they never approved or were fully briefed on the National Security Agency's post-September 11th domestic surveillance program [JURIST report].
...
Both Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday called for an immediate joint investigation [press release] with the Senate Judiciary Committee into whether the NSA and government officials acted "without appropriate legal authority." Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Federal Bureau of Investigation [official website] reported Monday that the US murder rate rose 2.1 percent [press release] during the first six months of 2005, though rates for other significant offenses, such as rape and arson, are on the decline.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that a federal judge has ruled that "intelligent design" cannot be taught in biology classes in a Pennsylvania public school district. US District Judge John E. Jones III ruled Tuesday that the Dover Area School District violated the Constitution when it decided that biology curriculum must include anti-evolutionary intelligent design theory [Natural History backgrounder].
...
Read the full opinion [PDF text; opinion is also available from the ACLU here]. The US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has a case website, including pleadings and orders in the case, and the ACLU of PA, which represented the plaintiffs, also provides case documents

[JURIST] Top Senate Democrats have said that they never approved or were fully briefed on the National Security Agency's post-September 11th domestic surveillance program [JURIST report].
...
Both Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday called for an immediate joint investigation [press release] with the Senate Judiciary Committee into whether the NSA and government officials acted "without appropriate legal authority." Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Federal Bureau of Investigation [official website] reported Monday that the US murder rate rose 2.1 percent [press release] during the first six months of 2005, though rates for other significant offenses, such as rape and arson, are on the decline.