An Act To amend the Controlled Substances Act and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act regarding penalties for cocaine offenses, US House Judiciary Committee, approved July 29, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on crack/cocaine sentencing disparities.

USA v. Siddiqui, US District Court for the Southern District of New York, July 29, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here.

Iran officials said Wednesday that they plan to begin trials Sunday for 20 of those detained during protests of the controversial reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad . The protesters have been charged with crimes ranging from vandalism and organizing riots to sending pictures of the protests to "enemy media." Iranian officials announced earlier this week [...]

Anti-death-penalty group Hands Off Cain said Wednesday that the number of countries with capital punishment, as well as the total number of executions was down in 2008 from the previous year. According to the group, at least 5,727 executions were carried out in the 46 countries that retain the death penalty. It cited the execution [...]

Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern announced Wednesday that Ireland will accept two detainees being released from the US prison facility at Guantanamo Bay . The detainees will not be admitted as refugees, but rather with permanent residency rights , allowing them to work and move freely. Ahern said: During my time as Minister for Foreign [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Tuesday that a lawsuit against Iran over the 1984 assassination of former chief of the Iranian armed forces Gholam Oveissi in France by Hezbollah may proceed. The suit was brought by Oveissi's grandson, who alleged that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the [...]

Lawyers for Guantanamo Bay detainee Mohammed Jawad on Tuesday called on the US District Court for the District of Columbia to sign off on the release of their client, claiming Afghanistan is ready to repatriate him. The lawyers say that prosecutors in the case have admitted that they do not have military justification to hold [...]

Bank of America (BOA) announced Tuesday that it has reached a settlement with Parmalat SpA in litigation stemming from the 2003 collapse of the Italian dairy giant. Under the terms of the settlement, BOA will pay Pamalat USD $100 million, which includes both cash and non-cash components. The settlement resolves a $10 million lawsuit filed [...]

The US House Committee on Financial Services on Tuesday approved the Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act , which would restrict the way in which executives for publicly-traded companies can be compensated. Committee members say the bill would discourage executive compensation packages that emphasize short-term gains over long-term stability, which they say helped to [...]

The substantive portion of the civil trial of Boston University graduate student Joel Tenenbaum , accused of illegally downloading seven songs , began in Boston on Tuesday. On Monday, jury selection was completed, and, in a significant setback for the defense team, led by Harvard professor Charles Nesson , Judge Nancy Gertner of the US [...]