Arista Records, Inc. v. Launch Media, Inc., US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, August 21, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here.

Clare Algar : "It is really extraordinary that the British government is relying on the Data Protection Act to avoid disclosing the identities of those in whose renditions it was complicit. Imagine, if you will, a kidnapper who admits to a kidnap but refuses to identify the victim of the kidnap. The position is ludicrous. [...]

The Chinese government has banned people from traveling to the capital of Beijing to file legal complaints. The ban , issued Tuesday, prevents the common practice in which petitioners travel to the capital to seek redress for a variety of legal problems. Under the new regulations, Chinese authorities will send representatives to provinces that produce [...]

US officials on Thursday sharply criticized Scotland's decision to release convicted Pan Am Flight 103 bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi . Megrahi was recently diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer was released Thursday to his native Libya on compassionate grounds by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill . US Attorney General Eric Holder said that he [...]

A judge in the US District Court for the District of South Dakota issued a ruling Thursday clarifying what doctors in South Dakota are required to tell women seeking an abortion before performing the procedure, partially upholding a state law. Judge Karen Schreier upheld a provision of a South Dakota abortion law that requires doctors [...]

Residents of Standish, Michigan, held a town meeting Thursday to protest the possible transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to the state prison in the town. The town meeting was organized by local citizens and centered around a panel featuring speakers , including the sister of a pilot who was killed on 9/11 . While a [...]

A New York state appeals court ruled Thursday that Governor David Paterson acted beyond the scope of his constitutional authority when he appointed Richard Ravitch lieutenant governor. The Second Judicial Department Appellate Division affirmed a lower court ruling that blocked Ravitch's appointment. The court found: In our view, therefore, Public Officers Law § 43 cannot [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday that a California state law that allows descendants of victims of the Armenian Genocide to sue in state courts for unpaid insurance benefits is unconstitutional. The court found that California Civil Procedure Code § 354.4 "interferes with the national government's conduct of foreign relations" [...]

A judge in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit challenging amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that expand government power to eavesdrop on overseas conversations. The suit was filed in July 2008 by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of various [...]

A Swiss banking executive and a Swiss lawyer were indicted Thursday on charges of conspiring to defraud the US, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced . According to the indictment, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida , Hansruedi Schumacher, executive manager at Neue Zuercher [...]