October 2011 Archives

Libya's transitional government wants to try Moammar Gadafi's son Saif al-Islam in a Libyan court even though he has an arrest warrant issued by the International Crimes Court, according to a spokesperson Sunday.

According to CNN, Libya's NTC would prefer to try Saif al-Islam Gadhafi in a Libyan court so that he could receive a fair trial.

The Security Council referred the situation in Libya to the ICC and international law requires states to cooperate with them by arresting and trying all suspects at The Hague reported The Guardian.

The court believes that Saif al-Islam and his brother- in-law, Abdulla al-Sanussi, are responsible for crimes against humanity including murder and persecution, CNN reports.

According to the Guardian, the investigation in Libya remains open by the ICC, and further ICC arrest warrants are still possible.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo told CNN that if Saif al-Islam is tried by the ICC that he be allowed to have a defense and there would be no deals for his surrender.

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Members announced a lawsuit that says the Defense of Marriage Act violates their constitutional rights and asks for the government to provide the same benefits as straight couples.

""It's about justice for gay and lesbian service members and their families in our armed forces rendering the same military service, making the same sacrifices, and taking the same risks to keep our nation secure at home and abroad," Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the SLDN, said in a press release reported by the Associated Press.

The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Courts in Boston Thursday represents eight active and retired service members and their family members, according to The Huffington Post.

Under the federal Defense of Marriage Act, the government is required to ignore the marriage of same-sex couples, which are legal in six states and Washington D.C.

Pentagon spokesperson Capt. John Kirby told the Associated Press in a statement, ""In connection with 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' repeal, the Defense Department is engaged in a careful and deliberate review of the possibility of extending eligibility for benefits, when legally permitted, to other individuals including same-sex partners."

A former nurse was accused of skimming a patient's narcotics, which left him in pain during a procedure for kidney stones last year at Abbott Northwestern Hospital.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court, the Star Tribune reported, and seeks at least $50, 000 in damages alleges that the defendant, Sarah May Casareto, was "negligent and careless" in her care for patient Larry V. King.

King, 57, told My Fox Twin-Cities that Casareto told him before the procedure that he would have to deal with some pain because he would not be receiving that much medication.

According to the Star Tribune, Casareto pleaded guilty to a fifth-degree controlled substance crime for possessing Fentanyl and was sentenced to three-year probation in connection with the incident involving King.

Hennepin County Prosecutors and King's attorney, Tony Nemo, said that King, a Carver County sheriff's deputy, was given about a third of the medication that had been signed out by Casareto, Fox reported.

Nemo told the Star Tribune, ""One of the things I know Mr. King is hoping is that this case may cause Twin Cities hospitals to reveal procedures and protocols to, if not prevent, at least minimize this problem in the future."

A roommate of the Minnesota Viking Chris Cook was revealed to be in the Eden Prairie townhouse during Cook's alleged assault on his girlfriend.

Cook did not enter a plea at the 16-minute hearing at Hennepin County District Court, The Star Tribune reported.

Coach Leslie Frasier told the Pioneer Press Wednesday that the Vikings suspended the cornerback indefinitely without pay to protect the best interest of the team and the franchise.

Cook, 24, was arrested Saturday on a charge of assault when he got mad and choked his girlfriend after learning she talked to an ex-boyfriend.

According to the Star Tribune, at the hearing, the judge revised some of the restrictions on the 40,000 bail Cook posted, and he is now allowed to have contact with his roommate, Will Grisham, identified as a witness in the case.

David Valentini, the lawyer representing Cook, told the Star Tribune that he could not say what kind of defense he will present because "we haven't seen any discovery or evidence yet".

The next hearing in the case is November 22.

Four months after the Supreme Court tossed out a national sex discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores, another class-action suit has been filed that will be the first of twelve against the store.

The class-action suit has been narrowed to the California stores of the chain and according to The New York Times the lawyers have promised a slough of lawsuits making discrimination claims in other regions of the country as well.

In June, in a 5-4 decision rejected the class-action lawsuit of more than a million women who sued Wal-Mart, finding there was a lack of proof of a single common policy for discrimination, and they could not be considered a single party reported International Business Times .

The lawsuit filed Thursday in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California argues that the discriminatory acts of Wal-Mart against women for pay and promotions affected over 90,000 women.

Wal-Mart spokesperson Greg Rossiter told The New York Times, "As we have said all along, these claims are unsuitable for class treatment because the situations of each individual are so different, and because the claims of these five plaintiffs are not representative of the thousands of women who work at Wal-Mart."