The US Supreme Court heard consolidated oral arguments Tuesday in Morgan Stanley Capital Group v. Public Utility Dist. 1 , 06-1457 , and American Elec. Power Service Corp. v. Public Utility Dist. 1, 06-1462 . Both cases involve long-term contracts made between energy suppliers and a local public utility during the Western energy crisis of [...]

A federal judge Tuesday refused to block enforcement of an Arizona law that penalizes employers who hire illegal immigrants while opponents of the law appeal their case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit . Civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense and [...]

US District Judge Larry Burns sentenced former US defense contractor Brent Wilkes to 12 years in federal prison Tuesday for bribing now-former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham in exchange for almost $90 million in Pentagon work. Wilkes was convicted in November 2007 of 13 felonies, including money laundering, fraud, and conspiracy. AP has more. The San [...]

A New Jersey civil union law has not been able to effectively ensure that same-sex couples receive the same rights and privileges as heterosexual couples because of federal law, according to an official report issued Tuesday by the New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission (NJ-CURC) . The New Jersey Civil Union Act requires that employers [...]

Former Russian Atomic Minister Yevgeny Adamov was found guilty in Moscow's Zamoskvoretsky District Court Tuesday of fraud and abuse of office for his involvement in a corruption scheme which misappropriated millions of dollars of US aid designated to upgrade unsafe Russian RBMK nuclear reactors . Adamov and co-defendants Vyacheslav Pismenny and Revmir Frayshut had been [...]

US District Judge Reggie B. Walton Tuesday threatened to hold a reporter in contempt of court if she continues to violate an August 2007 order to testify about government sources who provided five reporters with information about former US Army germ-warfare researcher Dr. Steven J. Hatfill . Former USA Today reporter Toni Locy , who [...]

The government of Uganda has reached an agreement with the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to establish a war crimes court to prosecute crimes against humanity committed during Uganda's civil war , the BBC reported Tuesday. A government spokesman said that a special unit will be established to investigate and prosecute crimes, and that a [...]

A committee appointed by the military government of Myanmar has completed work on a new draft constitution, state media reported Tuesday. The document was drafted by a 54-member constitution-drafting commission appointed by the junta, despite calls from the UN that the drafting process be open to outside groups. The draft is scheduled to go to [...]

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear five cases , including Herring v. United States (07-513) , where the Court will decide whether evidence seized during a search incident to an arrest must be suppressed when the sole premise for the arrest was information later found to be negligently provided by another law [...]

The Federal Magistrate Court of Australia Tuesday relaxed certain control order restrictions against former Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks , permitting him to reside anywhere in the country subject to approval from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) . Hicks will have to report twice a week to the AFP, and will still be barred from [...]