The US Senate on Tuesday heard final statements on the confirmation of US Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan . Most Senate Republicans oppose her confirmation, but have chosen not to pursue a filibuster given statements from five Republicans confirming that they will vote for Kagan’s confirmation. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the ranking Republican on the [...]
A US military lawyer for Canadian Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr filed an emergency petition with the Supreme Court on Monday, seeking to stay proceedings in Khadr’s military commission. The petition asks the court to issue a writ of mandamus to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit , ordering it [...]
Missouri voters on Tuesday approved Proposition C , which seeks to make the individual mandate provision of the recent health care reform law unenforceable in the state. The law, which was passed with 71.1 percent in favor , stated that “o law or rule shall compel, directly or indirectly, any person, employer, or health care [...]
US District Court for the Central District of California judge Mariana Pfaelzer on Monday gave preliminary approval to a settlement in which Countrywide Financial Corporation agreed to pay $600 million to settle several class action lawsuits brought by former stockholders accusing the company of securities fraud. The settlement is the largest such agreement resulting from [...]
A revised complaint to a class action lawsuit against Toyota Motor Corporation filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Central District of California claimed that the company was aware of automobile safety problems in 2003, but failed to take action to protect consumers. Attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit submitted a Toyota [...]
The Primary Court for the Afghan Criminal Justice Task Force (CJTV) on Tuesday fined former Afghan police chief General Mohlem $14,000 and sentenced him to 10 years in prison for connections he was found to have with drug traffickers. The sentence is the country’s first for a high-ranking government official tied to the drug trade. [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on Tuesday filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a federal regulation making it a crime to provide legal services to, or on behalf of, individuals labeled Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT) without a government-issued license. A SDGT designation is issued by [...]
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday signed legislation that reduces the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses. The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 amends existing law to reduce the current sentencing ratio from 100:1 to 18:1. Under the existing law passed in 1986, an individual possessing five grams of crack cocaine would receive [...]
Speaking to a crowd of students and businesspeople at New York University’s Stern School of Business on Tuesday, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner promised a rapid rollout of new rules mandated by the Restoring Financial Stability Act . Signed into law by President Barack Obama last month, the landmark legislation creates a new regulatory council [...]
The Iraqi High Criminal Court said on Tuesday that it has sentenced to death a senior official of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein . Mezban Khadar Hadi , who was a leader in Saddam’s Baath Party , will be executed for draining the country’s marshlands in an effort quash Shiite resistance in the region. Before [...]
