Free Republic

Clean Air Lawsuits Get Green Light By KAREN GULLO Associated Press Writer January 15, 2002, 1:16 PM EST WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department has concluded that the government can legally go forward with Clinton administration-era clean air lawsuits against power companies. In a review of the Environmental Protection Agency's enforcement of the Clean Air Act, the department said it will "continue to prosecute vigorously the EPA's civil actions." The EPA's enforcement actions "are consistent with the Clean Air Act and its regulations," the department said in the review, which was submitted Tuesday to the White House's energy policy planning group. ...

Bringing Al-Qaeda to Justice: The Constitutionality of Trying Al-Qaeda Terrorists in the Military Justice System by David B. Rivkin, Jr., Lee A. Casey, and Darin R Bartram November 5, 2001 As the United States and its coalition partners execute diplomatic, financial, and military responses to the September 11 terrorist attacks, the legal options regarding the trial of members of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization are being increasingly discussed. 1 As many as 1,000 individuals have been detained by law enforcement authorities in this country in response to the attacks. 2 Reports that some of them may have been directly involved in ...

Men's Relay Team Offends Some SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Maurice Greene and his teammates on the U.S. men's 400-meter relay squad showed they were the fastest in the world. Then they had to backpedal after a display of jubilation that some other Americans found offensive. The foursome -- Greene, Jon Drummond, Bernard Williams and Brian Lewis -- preened and flexed their muscles during their victory lap and then also on the victory stand while receiving their medals. On the victory lap, the Americans -- two of them barechested and wrapped in the stars and stripes -- postured and posed for ...

The Hague, 9 February 2000 CC/P.I.S./469-E ALEKSOVSKI CASE: THE APPEALS CHAMBER ORDERS ALEKSOVSKI’S RETURN TO CUSTODY Today, Wednesday 9 February 2000, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) consisting of Judges May (Presiding), Mumba, Hunt, Wang and Robinson, heard the oral arguments on the appeals filed by the Parties against the Judgement rendered by Trial Chamber I on 7 May 1999 (see Press Release 400). At the conclusion of today’s hearing, the Appeals Chamber: * dismissed Aleksovski’s appeal against conviction, * allowed the Prosecution’s appeal against sentence, stating that a "revised sentence" will be ...

Browner Outs When the power went out in parts of the Midwest during last July's deadly heat wave, consumers risked more than discomfort. There were nearly 200 heat-related fatalities over a stretch when daily temperatures routinely rose into the upper 90s and above. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, for one, was angry about the outages. "Consumers," he said, "should not have to wonder whether the lights will go out when the temperature hits 90 degrees." This month a department task force investigating the blackouts warned that consumers remain at risk of outages. That's because the utility industry — faced with a ...

EU will set up Y2K communication center 11.20 a.m. ET (1632 GMT) November 30, 1999 BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — The European Union Commission will set up a communications center between Dec. 31 and Jan. 5 to monitor the computer millennium date change, EU officials said Tuesday. "The center will be open 24 hours a day. It will allow the EU member states to exchange information on their national situations and the Commission to monitor the situation,'' EU Commission spokesman Per Haugaard said. The Y2K computer problem refers to a glitch that, if not fixed, will make some computers mistake the ...

NOW, former lawmaker seek to stop sale of 'Choose Life' license plate 10.55 a.m. ET (1606 GMT) November 23, 1999 WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The National Organization for Women is seeking to block Florida's planned sales of "Choose Life'' license plates, arguing the plates unconstitutionally promote an anti-abortion slogan. Republican Gov. Jeb Bush and his Cabinet were scheduled to decide today on a minor color adjustment in the plate's design. If approval is given, the state's Department of Motor Vehicles and Highways could begin pressing about 15,000 tags, which have already received approval from state lawmakers. The plates, ...

EPA Sneak Attack Indianapolis Star (Editorial) Every Hoosier should be concerned about the outcome of the lawsuits filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency against electrical utilities in the South and Midwest, including three that operate plants in this state. If the EPA succeeds in forcing a shutdown of the 17 coal-fired power generating plants it claims are illegally polluting, chances are very good the Midwest will experience major brownouts and rolling power outages on the next hot summer day. Five of those plants are in Indiana. There just are not enough power plants in the Midwest to make up ...

U.S. Accuses 7 Utilities Of Illegal Smog Emissions 1.05 p.m. ET (1815 GMT) November 3, 1999 WASHINGTON — The U.S. government sued seven large utilities with aging coal-fired plants Wednesday for spewing pollution into the air throughout Midwest and East Coast states. The lawsuits accused American Electric Power Co., Cinergy Corp., FirstEnergy Corp., Illinova Corp., Southern Co., TECO Energy Inc. and Southern Indiana Gas & Electric Co. of modifying more than two dozen power plants without installing state-of-the-art equipment required by law to control smog, acid rain and soot. The utilities face potential civil fines of up to $27,500 per ...

United States Court of Appeals FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT Argued October 4, 1999 Decided October 26, 1999 No. 98-5535 Accuracy in Media, Inc., Appellant v. National Park Service, Appellee Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia No. 97cv02109) Larry E. Klayman argued the cause for appellant. Brett M. Wood and Allan J. Favish were on the briefs. Robert M. Loeb, Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, argued the cause for appellee. With him on the brief were David W. Ogden, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Leonard Schaitman, Attorney, and Wilma A. Lewis, U.S. Attorney. Before: ...

Texan tied to Bush helped reignite Waco controversy 1.42 p.m. ET (1746 GMT) September 17, 1999 By Michelle Mittelstadt WASHINGTON (AP) — James B. Francis Jr. was busy raising money for George W. Bush's presidential campaign and overseeing the Texas Department of Public Safety when he gave the order this summer that reignited the Waco controversy. After inquiries from an independent filmmaker and a lawyer who had long challenged the government's version of events, Francis instructed the Texas Rangers in June to reopen the vaults that contained 12 tons of evidence gathered from the scorched remains of the Branch Davidian ...

Will U.S. join war crimes tribunal? That's the question 5.28 a.m. ET (929 GMT) August 14, 1999 By Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The issue that dominated three weeks of negotiations on the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal wasn't even on the agenda: What will it take for the United States to join the court? With the answer hanging in limbo, more than 100 countries made "good progress'' on key legal issues during the second round of preparatory negotiations for the International Criminal Court, said Philippe Kirsch, chairman of the preparatory commission. The meeting ended ...

The Times of London August 10 1999 OPINION By John Laughland 'Since law enforcement is probably the single most important sovereign power, it is threatened if it is transferred to unaccountable bureaucrats' At least Louise Arbour never minces her words. The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia believes that she and her court have usherd in a new era in international relations. "We have passed," she intoned last week, "from a regime of co-operation between states to a regime of constraining states." Miscreants can now be punished, was her triumphant cry. This followed the decision, ...

JFK's dog said to be in Massachusetts 9.39 p.m. ET (140 GMT) July 23, 1999 NEW YORK (AP) — When John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife died, many people wondered what had happened to the couple's dog, Friday, who was frequently seen around the city with them. The black and white dog is safe — it was apparently taken to Massachusetts by a close friend of Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, shortly after their plane disappeared last weekend, said a law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Daily News first reported on Thursday that the dog was ...

No 'Credible Evidence' Of KLA Drugrunning - U.S. 4.34 p.m. ET (2035 GMT) June 23, 1999 WASHINGTON — The United States has no credible evidence the Kosovo Liberation Army engaged in drug trafficking to support its armed struggle against Serbia, State Department spokesman James Rubin said Wednesday. "The U.S. government has never identified credible evidence of these drugrunning charges,'' he told reporters. "We've seen reports in newspapers and elsewhere,'' Rubin said. But although American intelligence agencies have looked into the issue, "we have not never developed credible evidence of our own,'' he said. Charges that the KLA — outgunned and ...

The (London) Times, June 17, 1999 John Laughland 'The anomalies of the International Criminal Tribunal are legion. This is not victors' justice in the former Yugoslavia - in fact, it is no justice at all' Emotion may be a spur to justice, but it is rarely its guarantor. The allegations of war crimes eagerly funnelled out of Kosovo by the thousands of journalists in the province have provoked a demand for retribution. That cry for justice is natural. But the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the body charged with pursuing those accused of war crimes in Kosovo, is ...