The US Supreme Court on Thursday ruled 8-0 in Morrison v. National Australia Bank that the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (SEA) does not provide a cause of action to foreign plaintiffs suing for misconduct occurring on foreign stock exchanges. The court held that, as a general rule, unless a statute specifically states that [...]

The US Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in Skilling v. United States that the "honest services" doctrine is not unconstitutionally vague under a limited construction of the statute and that the district court adequately "detected and diffused" juror prejudice in the pre-trial publicity of former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling . The court subsequently reversed and [...]

The US Supreme Court on Thursday ruled 8-1 in Doe #1 v. Reed that the First Amendment does not bar a state from releasing identifying information about petitioner signers where there is a sufficiently compelling state interest. The case arose over an order to publish the names of those who signed a Washington state petition [...]

The US Supreme Court on Thursday ruled 5-4 in Magwood v. Patterson that a federal habeas corpus petition is not "second or successive" when a new judgment intervenes between it and a previous petition. Federal law bars the filling of a "second or successive" habeas petition when that claim was made or could have been [...]

The US Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in Granite Rock Co. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters that federal courts have jurisdiction to determine if a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) was formed between parties. The court also ruled that § 301(a) of the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA) supports a federal cause of action only for [...]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday criticized plans to demolish 22 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem , describing them as contrary to international law. The plans, called King's Garden, were approved Monday by the Jerusalem City Council and will remove the buildings in order to make way for an archaeological park in the neighborhood of [...]

A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a suit filed by US entertainment company Viacom against Google, accusing if of allowing copyrighted material on its YouTube service without permission. Judge Louis Stanton of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York issued the summary judgment, stating that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) [...]

A ballot initiative aimed at suspending California's Global Warming Solutions Act (AB32) qualified on Tuesday for California's November ballot, setting the stage for a debate over environmental policy and its impact on the economy. The initiative, known as the California Jobs Initiative, has been partially funded by oil companies Valero Energy and Tesoro Corp and, [...]

A judge in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Wednesday approved a settlement agreement between New York City and 10,000 rescue and cleanup workers who became sick or injured from responding to the 9/11 attacks . Judge Alvin Hellerstein approved the deal after a hearing to determine its acceptability [...]

A Canadian court on Wednesday convicted the final two members of the "Toronto 18" for their roles in a 2006 terror plot. The Toronto 18 were arrested in 2006 after police learned of their plans to bomb sites throughout Ontario using fertilizer explosives in response to Canada's military involvement in Afghanistan. A jury in the [...]