Witt v. Department of the Air Force, US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, May 21, 2008 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Mike Dubrasich : "After eight years of a planning exercise called the Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment (SNFPA) – one that involved thousands of people, hundreds of meetings, and tens of thousands of documents, studies, reviews, rehashes, monitoring, and re-monitoring – a Federal judge last week enjoined fire-preventative thinnings created under SNFPA guidance with the [...]

The ban on cluster bombs currently being considered at the Dublin Diplomatic Conference on Cluster Munitions could impede humanitarian efforts by discouraging cooperation with non-signatories, a US State Department official said in a press briefing Wednesday. US Acting Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs Stephen D. Mull said that the draft treaty would bar signatories from [...]

The US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted 10-9 Wednesday to overturn a decision by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that rejected California's request for a waiver allowing the state to impose stricter greenhouse gas emissions standards on cars and light duty trucks. Bill sponsor Barbara Boxer (D-CA) told journalists that she would not [...]

The European Parliament Wednesday adopted new rules to criminalize acts that cause serious environmental damage. Among the offenses which could now receive criminal sanctions are the illegal disposal of radioactive substances, waste management practices that harm the environment, and the slaughter or trafficking of protected plants and animals. Under the measure, each EU member state [...]

An attempt by the US House of Representatives to override a presidential veto of the new Farm Bill delayed late Wednesday when it was found that a section of the bill had been inadvertently left out of the version originally sent to President George W. Bush for signature. Bill supporters said they plan to submit [...]

Drug companies are harming consumers by using "pay-for-delay" legal agreements to keep cheaper generic prescription drugs off the market, according to a report released Wednesday by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) . The report compares legal documents submitted to the FTC by drug manufacturers in fiscal year 2007 with those submitted since fiscal year [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday that the US military cannot dismiss a soldier on the basis of sexual orientation alone, departing from the reasoning used to defeat similar cases in the past . The court's holding may signal a significant new challenge to the military's long-standing "Don't Ask, Don't [...]

JURIST Special Guest Columnist Taimur Malik, Executive Director of Pakistan's Research Society of International Law (RSIL) think-tank and a High Court Advocate, says the country's lawyers and politicians must put aside differences and short-term concerns and come together if Pakistan is to achieve an independent judiciary… An independent judiciary is essential for the development of [...]

The 47-member UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) held elections for 15 open seats Wednesday, with four seats going to countries that have been harshly criticized by human rights groups. In a report to the UNHRC, Freedom House and UN Watch previously condemned the human rights records of new electees Pakistan, Bahrain, Gabon and Zambia. Also [...]