The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the FBI seeking information on why the agency task forces set up to combat terrorism also looked into animal rights, environmental, and anti-war groups. The ACLU is seeking FBI files on individuals and groups that have been interviewed, investigated or subjected [...]

The SEC said Thursday that it had filed charges against three former Kmart executives and various other executives of Kmart vendors alleging that these individuals helped Kmart in issuing materially false financial statements by improperly accounting for millions of dollars worth of vendor allowances. Kmart obtained these allowances for use in various promotional and marketing [...]

Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo announced Thursday that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has upheld the conviction of Lori Berenson, an American woman who was imprisoned in Peru for terrorist collaboration with Marxist guerrillas. The court, which is affiliated with the Organization of American States, debated Berenson's appeal and 20-year sentence last week and was [...]

Peter Henning, Wayne State University Law School: "The former New England Regional Director of the Republican National Committee, James Tobin, was charged in a four-count indictment on Wednesday, Dec. 1, with conspiracy to make harassing telephone calls to the New Hampshire Democratic headquarters on election day in 2002.  According to the indictment, Tobin worked with [...]

Microsoft announced Thursday that it has filed seven lawsuits against senders of bulk e-mail for violating the federal Can-Spam Act . Microsoft alleges that the defendants violated the law's "brown paper wrapper" requirement by failing to label sexually explicit content. According to Microsoft's press release: The seven lawsuits allege violations of the CAN-SPAM federal law [...]

A Chilean court Thursday stripped former military ruler Augusto Pinochet (profile from BBC News) of his immunity, allowing an investigation into Pinochet's role in the killing of Gen. Carlos Prats to proceed. Thursday's decision is the second case where Pinochet has lost his immunity. As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, a Chilean court ruled [...]

Defense lawyer Joseph Bevilacqua Jr. has acknowledged that he leaked an FBI videotape to Providence, Rhode Island TV reporter Jim Taricani. Taricani was found guilty for criminal contempt for refusing to reveal the source of the tape and was scheduled to be sentenced next week to up to six months jail time. Bevilacqua has said [...]

The High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan filed a report Wednesday containing over 100 suggestions for improving the role of the UN in preventing and managing global conflicts. Significantly, the report affirmed the right of nations to practice self-defence, including pre-emptive self-defense when an attack is imminent. [...]

Bank of America announced Thursday that it has asked the US District Court for the Western District of North Carolina to dismiss a lawsuit filed against it by insolvent Italian dairy company Parmalat. Enrico Bondi, who was appointed by the Italian government to administer the company under bankruptcy protection, filed the suit in October seeking [...]

Sweden's Supreme Court Thursday reinstated the life sentence of the man convicted of murdering Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh in a Stockholm department store last year. Mijailo Mijailovic received the life sentence in March, but an appeals court later overturned the sentence, saying that Mijailovic should be transferred to a psychiatric facility instead. The Supreme [...]