The Connecticut Senate Wednesday voted 26-8 to approve legislation that would allow civil unions for same-sex couples but specifically defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. The Connecticut House has already approved the bill and the measure will now go to Governor M. Jodi Rell for her signature. Rell has said [...]

The Council on American-Islamic Relations , the New York Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the Department of Homeland Security , saying DHS unlawfully detained, interrogated, fingerprinted and photographed a group of Muslim-American citizens who were returning from the 2004 Reviving the Islamic Spirit Conference in [...]

AP is reporting that House ethics committee Republicans say they are prepared to open an investigation into allegations against House Majority Leader Tom DeLay . 4:02 PM ET – Republican Rep. Doc Hastings , chairman of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct said Wednesday that four of the five Republicans on the ethics [...]

In a special session Wednesday, the Ecuadorian Congress voted 62-0 (there are 100 congressional seats) to remove President Lucio Gutierrez from office under a constitutional provision that allows congress to remove a president when there has been "abandonment of the position." Wednesday's vote avoids a lengthy impeachment process and under the constitution, Vice President Alfredo [...]

AP is reporting that President Bush has signed the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 , legislation that will make it harder for those in debt to wipe out their obligations. 3:53 PM ET – A transcript of the President's remarks on signing the bill is now available. President Bush said: Under [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said Wednesday that it will not reconsider its earlier decision barring the DOJ from seeking a $280 billion penalty in its racketeering lawsuit against tobacco companies. In February, the court ruled that the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act permits the government to seek only [...]

The National Education Association and individual school districts in Texas, Michigan and Vermont filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking to force the federal government to pay more of the costs incurred under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) . According to the complaint , NCLB requirements force school districts to divert resources or risk being [...]

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Wednesday charged a defense witness for Slobodan Milosevic with contempt of court for refusing to testify while Milosevic was not in court due to illness. Judge Patrick Robinson charged Kosovo Serb leader Kosta Bulatovic with contempt for "knowingly and willfully interfered with the administration of justice by [...]

Twelve NGOs representing Iraq's minority ethnic groups have promised to work together with the transitional government to ensure that minority rights will be protected under the permanent Iraqi constitution to be drafted by the new National Assembly. The groups concluded a two-day conference in Baghdad Tuesday called "to highlight the fact that Iraqi minorities have [...]

Leading Wednesday's corporations and securities law news, KPMG LLP , the US unit of accounting firm KPMG International , has agreed to pay $22.5 million to settle with the SEC over charges that it allowed Xerox Corp. to manipulate its accounting practices to close a $3 billion gap between actual operating results and the results [...]