A federal judge Thursday issued an injunction suspending a Washington state law that would require pharmacists to dispense Plan B emergency contraceptives , the so-called "morning-after pill." US District Judge Ronald Leighton's injunction effectively creates a "refuse and refer" system, allowing pharmacists to refuse to sell the pill if they refer the customer to another [...]

Stormans, Incorporated, doing business as Ralph's Thriftwa, et al., v. Mary Selecky, Acting Secretary of the Washington State Department of Health, et al., US District Court Western District of Washington, November 8, 2007 . Read the full text of the order . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. said Friday that it has agreed to pay $4.85 billion to settle all pending lawsuits regarding Merck's marketing and distribution of the painkiller Vioxx . The settlement requires 85 percent of the 47,000 plaintiffs in 27,000 pending lawsuits to approve the deal before it will bind parties. Plaintiffs who opt [...]

A federal grand jury has returned an indictment for former US Department of Homeland Security Secretary nominee Bernard Kerik , reportedly on corruption charges. Kerik's indictment will remain sealed until his arraignment Friday, but sources close to the investigation say the indictment includes mail and wire fraud, tax fraud, making false statements on a bank [...]

US President George W. Bush has welcomed the Thursday Senate confirmation of former federal judge Michael B. Mukasey as the 81st attorney general of the United States. In a brief statement, issued by the White House Friday morning, Bush said: Judge Mukasey is a man of strong character and integrity, with exceptional legal judgment. He [...]

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was placed under house arrest Friday as she prepared to attend a protest in Rawalpindi against President Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule on Saturday. Police barricaded Bhutto's home to prevent Bhutto from leaving and supporters from reaching Bhutto in her home. While top Interior Ministry official Kamal Shah [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Moeen Cheema, professor of Law & Policy at the Lahore University of Management Sciences in Lahore, Pakistan, says that the play of General Pervez Musharraf's newly-appointed Supreme Court overturning the rulings of the constitutional Supreme Court led by ousted Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry is almost too farcical to be characterized as a [...]

The US Senate voted 53-40 late Thursday evening to confirm former federal judge Michael B. Mukasey as the 81st attorney general of the United States. The nomination was backed by the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this week by an 11-8 vote. Much of the opposition to Mukasey's nomination has centered on his refusal to unequivocally [...]

Pakistani lawyers detained by the government under the declaration of emergency rule issued earlier this month by President Pervez Musharraf are being tortured, according to Asma Jahangir head of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. In a statement issued Thursday, Jahangir, who is herself [...]

A resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on the use of the death penalty has been introduced before the United Nations General Assembly. Over 70 states have backed the proposal, which will be voted on by the Assembly next week. The draft resolution states that capital punishment "undermines human dignity," that "there is no conclusive [...]