Prominent Malaysian lawyer VK Lingam conspired with allies in government, the judiciary, and business to arrange favorable judicial appointments, a Malaysian government inquiry panel announced Friday. The panel was convened to investigate allegations of judicial fixing following the January release of a video which purportedly depicts Lingam brokering the former Chief Justice's appointment to the [...]

A federal judge ruled this week that a shareholder derivative lawsuit brought against the directors and officers of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial for misrepresenting its financial condition could proceed. The court held that the plaintiffs, including a number of state pension funds, met the requisite heightened pleading standards under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act [...]

A South African court delayed the scheduled August corruption trial of South African politician Jacob Zuma Thursday after his lawyer filed an application to have the case declared unlawful. Zuma's lawyers blasted the prosecution's handling of the case after a judge said that an oversight by the prosecution meant that no trial judge has yet [...]

Stephen Behnke : "The American Psychological Association commends the American Civil Liberties Union for its commitment to uncovering details surrounding the treatment of detainees at facilities run by the US government. APA shares the ACLU's resolve to ensure that human rights are protected in all settings throughout the world. Having read the government documents recently [...]

The Arizona Court of Appeals struck down a 2006 state program providing government funds for private and religious schools, ruling Thursday that it violated a ban in the state constitution on granting state benefits to private schools. The court rejected arguments that the vouchers benefited low-income families rather than schools, holding that schools benefited indirectly [...]

Former US Army Pfc. Steven D. Green may raise an insanity defense at his scheduled 2009 civilian trial for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the murder of her family in Mahmudiya (also "Mahmoudiya"), according to two motions filed Thursday. Green's lawyers said they may raise the defense both at trial [...]

The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court order denying an injunction against a US Forest Service plan to allow commercial logging in the Plumas National Forest in California. The Forest Service had argued that commercial logging would help pay for forest maintenance that would reduce the risk of fires, but [...]

Cain v. Horne, Arizona Court of Appeals, May 16, 2008 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

A jury in the US District Court for the District of Columbia Thursday convicted an Afghan national originally held as an enemy combatant on charges of drug distribution and narco-terrorism. Khan Mohammed was charged in 2006 with distribution of heroin destined for the US, thereby aiding and abetting terrorism. AP has more. This was one [...]

US Marine Sgt. Jermaine Nelson will face a court martial later this year for murder, according to an order given by Marine Lt. Gen. Samuel T. Hellman . The murder charge, announced Wednesday, stems from an incident during the Multinational National Force-Iraq's November 2004 offensive in Fallujah in which unarmed Iraqi prisoners were allegedly killed. [...]