Jun 21
2010
 9:25 AM

Aid to Terrorist Organizations Outlawed

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, upheld the provisions of 18 U. S. C. §2339B(a)(1) that make it a federal crime to "knowingly provid[e] material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization." The court ruled 6-3 that the government may prohibit all forms of aid to the PKK and the Tamil Tigers, even if the support consists of training and advice about entirely peaceful and legal activities. The dissent was written by Justice Breyer with Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor joining in. RL

Jun 18
2010
 11:40 AM
Jun 16
2010
 10:18 AM
Jun 16
2010
 9:47 AM

San Francisco Retailers Must Display Cell Phone Radiation Emissions

The law — believed to be the first of its kind in the nation — came despite a lack of conclusive scientific evidence showing that the devices are dangerous, and amid opposition from the wireless telephone industry, which views the labeling ordinance as a potential business-killing precedent.

However, says the New York Times, Gavin Newsome, "the city’s tech-happy mayor," calls the vote a victory for consumers. 

Jun 11
2010
 9:32 AM
Jun 8
2010
 11:17 AM

June 8th is World Oceans Day

In 2008, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 8th as "World Oceans Day" (resolution 63/111, paragraph 171).  This Tuesday, conservation groups, schools, business, and governments around the world will host events and activities to celebrate the world's oceans, a day of tribute clouded by concern over the Deep Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. 

Learn more about offshore drilling and ocean pollution in the LRC's display case near the Reference Desk.

MF

Jun 7
2010
 12:00 PM

Textbook Affordability Rules

As reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education, new rules concerning the timely selection of course texts by faculty will go into effect on July 1, 2010. The rules are set out in section 112 of the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act (Public Law 110-315). According to the Chronicle:

The new federal rules have three goals: to provide students more time to shop around for deals on books; to ensure that campus bookstores know by buyback time which books will be used again; and to allow students to consider the costs of books and other required materials when deciding whether to register for a course.

To meet those ends, the new rules require publishers to tell bookstores how much they'll charge them for the textbooks; provide general descriptions of changes that have been made in new editions (so that faculty members can decide whether to assign the new version); and unbundle textbook packages [that include workbooks, CD's, DVD's, and other media, which make the book more expensive] before selling them, unless doing so would make the book unusable.

The law calls on colleges and their stores to provide, at preregistration time, ISBN's and textbook prices on the electronic course schedule "to the maximum extent practicable."

RL

Jun 4
2010
 8:22 AM
Jun 3
2010
 2:36 PM

UN Human Rights Council – Fact Finding Mission to Gaza

The UN Human Rights Council met on June 1st and 2nd, 2010, to discuss the raid on the humanitarian aid convoy off the coast of Gaza by Israeli Defense Forces. The Council passed a resolution to dispatch an independent international fact finding mission to investigate possible violations of international law resulting from the attach.  The resolution was adopted by a vote of 32 in favor, 3 against, and 9 abstentions.