In Monday's environmental law news, California state officials have decided to begin to enforce the state's vehicle idling ban . The measure bans trucks from idling for over 5 minutes and busses for over 10, with some exceptions. Tickets will start at $100, and there is no maximum. The measure will apply to over 400,000 [...]

AP is reporting that after a week-long trial a jury in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has found defrocked Roman Catholic priest Paul Shanley guilty of repeatedly molesting a boy at his church during the 1980s. The boy, now a 27-year old firefighter, had forgotten about the incidents but said his repressed memories came back in the wake [...]

Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2006. White House Office of Management and Budget, February 6, 2005. Review the full set of budget documents, including the projected budget for the US Department of Justice. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has formally suspended Benon Sevan , the head of the UN oil-for-food program , and Joseph Stephanides, a senior official who dealt with contracts. The suspensions come after an interim report by an inquiry commission conducted by former US Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker accused the pair of misconduct . Sevan [...]

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will sign a truce on Tuesday at a summit being held in Egypt, according to reports. The truce will end four years of fighting and signals the revival of the US-backed "road map" for the creation of a Palestinian state. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said [...]

Eleven Kuwaiti detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have said that US troops in Afghanistan and Pakistan abused them before they were sent overseas to the US naval base, according to a lawyer's notes that were declassified and released Monday. The allegations include beatings with chains, electric shock and sodomy. Some of the detainees said [...]

Leading Monday's corporations and securities law news, the Justice Department is investigating as many as 20 individual specialists on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) over allegations of using illegal trading practices to cheat customers. The investigation is an extension of one started by the SEC into trading practices of specialists, the [...]

In its annual budget recommendations to Congress, the White House stated Monday that repealing the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act , also known as the Byrd amendment, would save an estimated $1.608 billion in the 2006 budget year. The measure gives money collected from anti-dumping duties on imports to the US companies that initially [...]

The White House's proposed 2006 budget of $2.5 trillion released Monday allocates $18.7 billion for the Department of Justice. Among the key changes in the DOJ budget: a 19% increase in anti-terrorism funding, a moratorium on new Bureau of Prisons construction, and a reallocation to restore "drug war" staffing to its pre-September 11th level. Additionally, [...]

In Monday's international brief, Spain has began an amnesty program that will allow a large portion of its illegal immigrant population to apply for legal resident status. The new legislation, promulgated by the ruling Socialist party, requires a work contract, registration with the local town hall and the social security office. Applicants have three months [...]