The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has ruled that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority violated the free speech rights of a group promoting the legalization of marijuana when it refused to accept advertisements by the group. In an opinion released Monday, the court ruled that MBTA’s decision not to permit the ads [...]

A bill allowing Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to continue in his dual role as head of the army has been signed into law and will take effect at the end of the year. Musharraf had promised opposition parties that he would step down as army chief, but he has since said that changed circumstances required [...]

Reuters is reporting that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has resigned. AP has more on the resignation, with quotes from Ridge and additional speculation on likely successors to the Homeland Security post.

In Tuesday's corporations and securities law news, the SEC announced American International Group Inc. (AIG), the world's largest insurance company, has agreed to pay $126 million to settle charges it helped companies fraudulently inflate earnings. AIG will pay a fine of $80 million and repay $46 million in ill-gotten gains plus interest and also agreed [...]

A federal district judge has upheld the constitutionality of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act against a challenge by former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy, the first executive charged under the act last year for his alleged oversight of a scheme to restate the companies by almost $2.7 billion. District Judge Karon Bowdre of the US District Court for [...]

The UK High Court Tuesday lifted an injunction preventing a man from helping his scik wife travel to Switzerland for an assisted suicide. Family Division judge Justice Hedley lifted the temporary injunction, but ruled that police held discretion on whether to take action against the couple, identified only as Mr. and Mrs. Z. Mrs. Z [...]

The Quebec Court of Appeal Tuesday began hearing an appeal challenging the constitutionality of Canada's 1997 Tobacco Act. Lawyers for Canada's three largest tobacco companies told the court that the law, which bans tobacco sponsorship, restricts advertising and requires large warnings on cigarette packs, effectively constitutes a total ban on advertising. In a 1995 decision, [...]

A spokesperson for opposition presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko said Tuesday that Yushchenko is breaking off negotiations aimed at settling the political crisis that has arisen after Ukraine's presidential election. Current Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych had offered to give Yushchenko the prime minister's post if he becomes president, but Yushchenko did not accept, saying he wants [...]

The Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday unveiled new rules that give more time to more than 2,000 public companies struggling to compile reports on their safeguards against fraud and bad financial reporting. Smaller companies are having trouble meeting the reporting requirements mandated by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act , including the documentation of the [...]

In a decision handed down Tuesday morning, the US Supreme Court ruled that the damages cap of $1,000 on recoveries under the Truth in Lending Act remained unchanged when Congress changed other TILA terms in 1995. The case is Koons Buick Pontiac GMC v. Nigh (case backgrounder from Duke Law School). Cornell's Legal Information Institute [...]