Jan 1 2007
September 2006 (continued)
September 30th:- Congress passes the Military Commissions Act, which incorporates the absolute minimum level of human rights protection possible under Hamdan v. Rumsfeld.
- On the plus side, Congress fails to pass legislation banning interstate abortions for minors and legalizing the Bush administration's controversial "spygate" wiretapping program.
October 2006
October 2nd: The Supreme Court begins its 2006-2007 term.October 15th: The Los Angeles Times reveals that the Bush administration once fired an official due, in effect, to his vocal opposition to sex slavery in the Northern Mariana Islands. (Jack Abramoff was lobbying for the islands at the time, and the Bush administration decided to do him a favor.)
October 23rd: The Child Online Protection Act, an Internet censorship bill, heads back to court.
October 24th: The Bush administration signs new Title IX guidelines allowing public school gender segregation under a "separate but equal" standard.
October 25th:
- The New Jersey Supreme Court rules that same-sex couples are entitled to the same legal benefits as married opposite-sex couples.
- In a radio interview, Vice-President Dick Cheney ambiguously endorses the use of water torture as an interrogation technique.
October 27th: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich suggests limiting free speech protections in order to reduce terrorist recruitment.
November 2006
November 7th: Democrats win both houses of Congress, essentially ending the Bush administration's right-wing legislative agenda.November 14th:
- Mostafa Tabatabainejad, an American-born student of Iranian ancestry, is handcuffed and repeatedly tasered by police officers for refusing to hand over his student ID card.
- The city of Pahrump, Nevada passes a strict anti-Latino ordinance, which includes (among other things) a section criminalizing the display of non-U.S. flags.
December 2006
December 13th: Florida death row prisoner Angel Diaz is tortured to death in a botched 34-minute lethal injection. The case will spark a new national debate over the death penalty.December 16th: Both Florida and California declare moratoria on use of the death penalty, pending revisions of execution guidelines.
December 20th: The Maryland State Court of Appeals also imposes a moratorium on executions.
December 22nd: The CIA heavily censors a New York Times op-ed, ostensibly for political (rather than national security) reasons.
December 29th: Saddam Hussein is executed on war crimes charges.
