City of Rancho Palos Verdes v. Abrams, Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Scalia, March 22, 2005 . Excerpt: Enforcement of §332(c)(7)through §1983 would distort the scheme of expedited judicial review and limited remedies created by §332(c)(7)(B)(v).We therefore hold that the TCA —by providing a judicial remedy different from §1983 in §332(c)(7)itself —precluded resort [...]

Muehler v. Mena, Supreme Court of the United States, March 22, 2005 . Excerpt from the Court's opinion by Chief Justice Rehnquist: The governmental interests in not only detaining, but using handcuffs, are at their maximum when, as here, a warrant authorizes a search for weapons and a wanted gang member resides on the premises. [...]

Peter Henning, Wayne State University Law School: "An article in the Wall Street Journal…states that two senior American International Group Inc. executives — Howard Smith, the company's CFO, and Christian Milton, a vice president — have been fired because they indicated that they would assert their Fifth Amendment rights in response to the investigation of [...]

Gregory Felos, attorney for Michael Schiavo, told reporters late Tuesday afternoon that he had electronically filed two more reply briefs with the US Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, but he did not know when the court would rule on the case. A three-judge panel is generally expected to hand down a decision late [...]

The Justice Department and tobacco industry representatives have begun settlement negotiations in the government's racketeering case against the industry, an anonymous source involved with the case said Tuesday. The two sides have met at least once with a court-appointed mediator, but both are under court orders not to discuss the negotiations. The talks were prompted [...]

In issuing new mercury emissions regulations last week, the Environmental Protection Agency failed to include conflicting data from a study sponsored by the agency, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. EPA officials emphasized that the mercury regulations could not be more stringent because the costs to businesses already substantially outweighed health benefits. However, a Harvard University [...]

AP is reporting that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said that Syria will completely withdraw its military forces from Lebanon. Last week, Annan had demanded a withdraw in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1559 . AP has more.

A UK court on Tuesday granted Home Secretary Charles Clarke more time to decide on a US request to extradite three British bankers indicted on fraud charges stemming from the Enron scandal. A court ruled last fall that the three, Gary Mulgrew, David Bermingham and Gile Darby, could be extradited , but the final decision [...]

The parents of Terri Schiavo have filed a full appeal with the US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals , urging the court to act because Schiavo is "fading quickly." The parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, filed an emergency appeal Tuesday morning after a US district judge refused to order Terri Schiavo's feeding tube to be [...]

Embattled Russian oil company Yukos reported Tuesday that it will drop its appeals for bankruptcy protection in US courts, and instead pursue other options in an attempt to keep the company from breaking up. A US district judge had refused last week to maintain a stay that protected the company's assets while it appealed its [...]