Larry Ribstein, University of Illinois College of Law: "The SEC announced yesterday rulemaking initiatives aimed at so-called "self-regulatory organizations" such as stock exchanges. These include specific proposals to change the rules on ownership, governance, reporting and transparency by these organizations. The governance proposal would, consistent with many other SEC moves, require more independent directors. The [...]

Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys of the Northern District of Illinois found two US-based Islamic charities liable for damages Wednesday in the 1996 shooting death in Israel of an American teenager, David Boim. Keys held Texas-based Holy Land Foundation and the Islamic Association for Palestine liable for knowingly aiding Hamas, not requiring a showing that money [...]

The US Department of Justice Wednesday posted on its website a public letter from outgoing Attorney General John Ashcroft entitled "Farewell to the American People". In the letter, Ashcroft says he accomplished what he set out to accomplish during his tenure, leaving what he described as a "safer and stronger America than the one I [...]

Juror No.5, the foreman, has been dismissed from the jury in the Scott Peterson case. This is the second juror to be dismissed in the past two days. The Modesto Bee recently reported that the foreman, who is both a doctor and an attorney, looked "distraught, his face flushed and hair disheveled" in the courtroom [...]

Jeff Cooper, Indiana University School of Law, Indianapolis: "According to John Ashcroft, "he objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved,". Well, I feel better. Actually, I do feel better knowing that Ashcroft will shortly be leaving DOJ. There may not have been a terrorist attack in the US [...]

Douglas Berman, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University: "I suspect we will see stories in the days ahead about Ashcroft's legacy, and I suspect most of those stories will focus on the "war on terror."  However, from my sentencing-centric perspective, I think the Ashcroft Justice Department's perceived "war on judges" — represented most tangibly [...]

A senior Islamic judge ruled on Wednesday that Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat's life support system must not be switched off. Arafat is currently clinging to life in a Paris hospital. Burial preparations have already begun. Sheikh Taysir Tamimi, chief Palestinian religious judge, arrived in Paris to rule on the treatment of Arafat. Sheikh Tamimi said [...]

The WTO sided with the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, ruling that US legislation that criminalizes online gambling is in violation of global trade law. In a 287-page report released Wednesday, the WTO concluded that the US inconsistently applied gaming law so as to prejudice foreign countries, in violation of the General Agreement on [...]

In Wednesday's corporations and securities law news, Martha Stewart Omnimedia Inc. announced Martha Stewart has asked the company to reimburse her for $3.7 million in legal bills. Stewart, who is currently appealing her conviction for lying to investigators about a stock sale, is serving five-month prison sentence in West Virginia. Paper Chase has continuing coverage [...]

Judge Alfred Delucchi dismissed a juror in the Scott Peterson double-murder trial on Tuesday night over signs of misconduct. Frances Gorman, 58, was dismissed amid reports that she had conducted an independent investigation of the case. The jury, which had been deliberating since November 3, will now have to start over with an alternate juror [...]