The US Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled 5-4 in AT&T v. Concepcion that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) , which provides for judicial facilitation of private dispute resolution through arbitration when the transaction involves interstate commerce, preempts states from enforcing alternate solutions when arbitration clauses are considered unconscionable. The US Court of Appeals for the [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in Nevada Commission on Ethics v. Carrigan on whether the First Amendment allows states to prevent government officials from voting on matters in which they have or appear to have a personal conflict. The Nevada Supreme Court, citing Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission , held that [...]
A Somali man pleaded not guilty on Wednesday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to piracy, kidnapping and weapons charges related to a yacht hijacking in February that left four Americans dead. Mohammad Saaili Shibin is believed to have been the chief negotiator for the pirates accused of the highjacking. [...]
A study released Tuesday by PLoS Medicine asserts that US military medical personnel responsible for treating Guantanamo Bay detainees consciously disregarded evidence of physical and psychological torture. The report’s authors, including a retired US Army general, reviewed the medical records and case files of nine detainees, each of whom claim to have been subjected to [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in Sorrell v. IMS Health to determine whether a state law prohibiting prescription drug manufacturers from using data collected from physicians is a violation of the First Amendment right to freedom of speech. The law in question targets pharmaceutical companies and has the effect of limiting the [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Tuesday ordered a new sentencing hearing for Mumia Abu-Jamal , a former member of the Black Panthers who was convicted and sentenced to death for killing a police officer in Philadelphia in 1981. The three-judge panel concluded that the jury that sentenced Abu-Jamal to death [...]
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled 7-1 in United States v. Tohono O’odham Indian Nation that the tribe cannot bring a suit based on the same facts in both federal district court and the Court of Federal Claims (CFC) . 28 USC § 1500 provides that the CFC lacks jurisdiction over “any claim for [...]
A UN panel of experts said in a report released Monday that the Sri Lankan government and rebel forces may have committed war crimes during the final stages of the conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) . UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon appointed the three-person panel last year to investigate possible human rights [...]
Sponsors of Proposition 8 , California’s same-sex marriage ban, on Monday filed a motion to vacate in US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit , arguing that the judge who struck down the marriage ban should have recused himself from the case because of a conflict of interest. The motion said that District Judge [...]
US Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday delineated the priorities and missions for the US Department of Justice (DOJ) for the remainder of his present term. Holder said that the DOJ’s priorities will include protecting Americans from terrorism at home and abroad, fighting violent crime, combating financial fraud and protecting the most vulnerable members of [...]
