The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) argued on Wednesday that it should be immune from lawsuits brought by Hurricane Katrina evacuees who claim they were injured by toxic fumes released by emergency trailers provided by the agency. FEMA made the argument before the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana , which is [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday held that the REAL ID Act of 2005 (RIDA) gives a "reasonable opportunity" for judicial review to those aliens whose removal orders became final before RIDA entered into effect. Prior to RIDA's enactment, aliens convicted of crimes in the US could request judicial review through [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Wednesday upheld part of a Florida law that requires students in grades kindergarten through 12 to obtain parental permission before they can be excused from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance . The court held that another provision requiring all students to stand, even if excused from [...]
Guantanamo detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan walked out of the courtroom at his military commission trial on Wednesday, refusing to watch a video depicting one of his interrogation sessions. Hamdan's lawyers had sought to have his interrogations excluded from evidence, arguing that they violated his right against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution [...]
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 , a bill designed to address problems from the country's so-called "sub-prime mortgage collapse." The Act provides for government grants allowing municipalities to buy and redevelop foreclosed properties, and would allow the federal government to provide additional financial backing to the [...]
A Mexican woman pleaded guilty Tuesday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York to one count of sex trafficking for her role in recruiting Mexican women, sometimes by force, for prostitution in the US. Consuelo Carreto Valencia was extradited to the US in January 2007, and in March 2007 was [...]
A three-judge panel from the British Court of Appeal on Wednesday denied the appeals of five men convicted on charges of conspiring to cause death and suffering through a plan to detonate bombs in a crowded area near London. Each of the men was sentenced to at least 35 years in prison after a 14-month [...]
US Attorney General Michael Mukasey announced to the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday that during his remaining time in office he will focus primarily on addressing the legal rights of US-held enemy combatants and ensuring that voting rights laws are adhered to in upcoming elections. He also told the Committee that the Department of Justice (DOJ) [...]
Two members of the US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce began an investigation Tuesday into whether the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed the continued sale of certain drugs that agency officials knew had been manufactured and sold using faulty data. The investigation began after the US Attorney for the District of [...]
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and the two other members of the Iraqi Presidency Council refused to sign a provincial election bill on Wednesday, noting that it had been passed by an incomplete parliament. Kurdish legislators boycotted a Tuesday vote on the bill in the Iraqi Parliament , objecting to an attached proposal that would establish [...]
