Legal Headlines ABORIGINAL RIGHTS -- Highest UK Court Dashes Repatriation Dreams of Chagos Islanders AFFIRMATIVE ACTION -- Cal. Supremes Won't Order Bar Exam Desclosures to Affirmative Action Opponent AIDS/HIV -- Despite Statutory Change, US Immigration Regs Still Block Visas for People with HIV AIR -- Environment & Health Advocates, Calif., & 10 other States Sue, Challenging EPA Lax New Smog Regs AIR -- N.E. Interstate Compact Establishes Regional Carbon Emissions Permit Trading Market ANIMAL LAW -- Maiming of Whales & Dolphins OK to Boost Realism of War Games, 6 of 9 Supremes Rule - Winter v. NRDC ANIMAL RIGHTS -- Supremes Will Hear Whitehouse Challenge to 9th Circuit's Curtailment of Naval Sonar ANTI-TRUST -- DOJ Settles with 3 LCD Screen Makers for $225 M in Price Fixing Fines ANTI-TRUST -- Google Pooh-Poohs Antitrust Potential of Search Ad Collusion with Yahoo ANTI-TRUST -- Liberal Anti-Trust Think Tank Offers Alternative Roadmap for Google-Yahoo Collaboration ARRESTS -- Rights Group Launches Global Legal and Support Project for Disappeared and their Loved Ones - EDIEC ASYLUM -- 9th Circuit Grants Asylum to Falun Gong Couple - Zhao v. Mukasey ATROCITIES -- SF Federal Trial Tests Chevron's Liability for Nigerian Govt. Massacres - Bowoto v. Chevron ATTY CONDUCT -- Calif. Lawyers Resist Proposed Professional Conduct Code Changes ATTY CONDUCT -- Crim Defender Tells Jurors Fen-Phen Settlement Shenanigans Resulted from Lawyers' Ignorance & Ineptitude, Not Criminal Greed ATTY-CLIENT -- SEC's Updated Enforcement Manual Backs off Demands for Atty Privilege Waivers BANKING -- Race-Biased Subprime Mortgage Predation Suit Moved from Fed. to Mass. Court BANKRUPTCY OVERHAUL -- Obama Presidency May Bring Pro-Consumer Bankruptcy Relief BUSINESS PRACTICES -- AARP Halts Medical Insurance Sales Pending Internal Investigation of Alleged Deceptive Marketing Practices BUSINESS PRACTICES -- Four Property Title & Escrow Heavyweights Sued for Abusive Trade Practices CENSORSHIP -- Philip Morris Pays Big, Undisclosed Sum to Major University for Research Professors Can't Discuss or Disclose without Donor's Permission CENSORSHIP -- UK Culture Minister Wants Single Standard to Police TV & Internet Porn & Violence CH. CUSTODY & VISITATION -- TX Officials Must Restore 450+ Children to Polygamist Community, State Supremes Rule CHILD WELFARE -- TX Appellate Court: Child-Custody Sweep of Polygamous Community Lacked Legal Justifcation CIVIL LIBERTIES -- ACLU: Homeland Security Eradicating U.S. Civil Liberties throughout 100-Mile Deep Coast and Border 'Constitution Free Zone' CLASS ACTIONS -- DOJ Moves to Impose Tax & Medicare Liens on Smokers' Trust Fund Awards CONSENT-MEDICAL -- UK Govt. Proposes 'Presumed Consent' Opt-Out Organ Donor Law CONSTRUCTION LAW -- Study Blames Lax State Design Review for Minneapolis Bridge Collapse CONSUMER FRAUD -- Oakland, S.F. and Missouri Lawsuits Charge Labelling Fraud and Harmful Product Content in 'Organic' Market CORPORATE ESPIONAGE -- S.J.'s Judge Fogel Gives 24-Month Sentence for Illegal Tech. Sale to Chinese Govt. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE -- Yahoo Asks Judge to Seal Much of Shareholders' Action over MSoft Buyout Attempt from Public COURT ADMINISTRATION -- Carnegie Foundation Report Gives Bush DOJ an F on Immigration Court Upgrades COURT ADMINISTRATION -- US Civillian Law Consultants See Selves as Committed to Authentic Rule of Law in Iraq CYBER-BULLYING -- Calif. Couple Devises Cyber-Bullying Alert Software CYBER-BULLYING -- Granted Immunity, Defendant Lori Drew's Business Assistant Testifies She Sent Lethal Final Message to Suicidal Teen CYBER-BULLYING -- Not Guilty Plea in Megan Meier Cyber-Bullying Suicide CYBER-CRIME -- Interpol, MSoft ,Yahoo, African Dev. Bank & Western Union Going After Online Lottery Fraud CYBER-CRIME -- Verizon Warns: Outsourcing is Ramping up ID Theft Risk CYBER-CRIME -- Virus Spreader Convicted under Japanese Copyright law CYBER-SECURITY -- McAfee Warns Web Sites in Certain Domains are High Security Risks D.U.I. & TRAFFIC -- S. Bay Sentator Simitian's State Cell-Phone Statute Still Lets Us Text, but Not Talk DATA PRIVACY -- 14 Internet Rights Groups Challenge Google's Concealment of Privacy Policy DATA PRIVACY -- AT&T Funds Web Privacy Policy Advocacy Group DATA PRIVACY -- Consumer Groups, Google, MSoft & Insurers Roll Out Proposed OnLine Health-Record Standard DATA PRIVACY -- Consumers Sue Foster City's NebuAd & ISP Accomplices, Charging Illegal Behavioral Marketing Experiments DATA PRIVACY -- ISPs: We're Such Staunch Privacy Guardians, Targetting Ad Regulation Would Be Superfluous DATA PRIVACY -- Some Big ISP's Back off of Client Web-Use Surveillance, but Other Players Still Openly At It DEATH PENALTY -- U.S. Supremes Reaffirms Rejection of Death Penalty for Child Rape - Kennedy v. Louisiana DEATH PENALTY -- Amnesty Int'l Condemns Extreme Nigerian Capital Punishment Abuses & Urges Moratorium DEATH PENALTY -- Calif. Commission Announces Report Exposing Defects in State's Judicial Death-Dealing Apparatus DEATH PENALTY -- Death Penalty for Child Rape is Unconstitutionally Excessive, US Supremes Rule - Kennedy v. Louisiana DEATH PENALTY -- Pending U.S. Executions -- Updated Weekly DEATH PENALTY -- Witnesses: Iraq's US-Client Regime's Jailers Inflict Secret, Torturous Executions on Hundreds & Destroy all Records DEBTOR-CREDITOR -- Intermediary Has Standing to Sue on Client Creditors' Behalf, Supremes Rule - Sprint v. APCC DEFAMATION -- Germ Warfare Developer Fingered as 9/11 Anthrax Suspect Accepts $5.8 M Defamation Settlement from DOJ DESIGN PATENTS -- Fed. Circuit Alters Conceptual Fundamentals of Design Patent Infringement Analysis - Egyptian Goddess v. Swisa DETENTION -- DC Federal Judge: Administration Must Release 17 Chinese Muslims at Guantanamo into U.S. by Friday, Oct. 10 DETENTION -- Habeas Extends to Guantanamo & other US Detainees, US Supremes Rule - Boumediene v. Bush DISABILITY ACCOMODATION -- Whitehous Proposes Update & Strengthening of Federal Disability Access Regs DISCOVERY -- Mattel Claims Bratz Creator Scrambled Computer Evidence Before Departing Employment DISCRIMINATION-DISABILITY -- ADA Amendments Act of 2008 Passes, Restoring Workplace Protections which Courts Had Eroded DISCRIMINATION-DISABILITY -- iTunes to Be Completely Blind Accessible by July '09 DISCRIMINATION-DISABILITY -- Supremes Let $108 K Discrimination Award Stand Against FedEx, for Deaf Package Handler DISCRIMINATION-IDEOLOGY & POLITICS -- Internal Report:: Hardline Rightist Ideologues Hijacked and Abused DOJ's Law Student Recruitment DISCRIMINATION-LANGUAGE & NATIONALITY -- Black on Black Anti-Immigrant Hate Violence Erupts in S. Africa's Cities -- at Least 12 Dead DISCRIMINATION-RACE -- Class Action Charges Federal Katrina Rebuilding Fund Systematically Short-Changes African American Homeowners DISCRIMINATION-RACE -- Filipino Hate Mail Harasser of Justice Thomas & Other African Americans Admits Motive was Loss of Own Girl Friend to African American DISCRIMINATION-RACE -- Whitehouse Envoy 'Welcomes' Inclusion of US in UN's Global Racism Probe, but Denies any 'Real Problem' DISCRIMINATION-RELIGION -- Fremont is Site for Sikh Coalition's New Western States Office DISCRIMINATION-RELIGION -- Meatpacker Fires 150 Muslim Workers for Shifting Break Time to Offer Ramadan Prayer DISCRIMINATION-SEX & GENDER -- 100 + Retired Generals & Admirals Urge Obama to Eliminate 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy DISCRIMINATION-SEX & GENDER -- Pennsylvania Judge Rules Firing Receptionist Who Wouldn't Fetch Coffee not Discriminatory - Appeal Planned DIVORCE -- Couple Meets and Falls in Love Virtually, then Actually; Marries Virtually, then Actually; Divorces Actually over Virtual Infidelity DRUGS -- Afghan Poppy Farmers Join Taliban in Fighting off Govt. Opium Eradication Squads DRUGS -- New Fed. Statute Outlaws Online Pill-Pushing ECONOMIC CRISIS -- Greenspan Tells Congress His Free Market, Anti-Regulation Ideology was Invalid ELECTIONS -- Stanford Prof Urges Dismantling of US Electoral College ENFORCEMENT-IMMIGRATION -- System Nears Overload, as Feds Charge & Prosecute Every Undocumented Mexican Border Crosser EVIDENCE -- Truth Sellers Claim Thieir Brain Scans Achieve 97% Certain Lie/Truth Detection EXTINCTION -- Cameroon Poacher Caught with Plunderage from 8 Elephants Gets 5 Years EXTINCTION -- Tropical Researchers Recommend Regulated Indigenous Hunting of Central Africa's Endangered Species FAIR USE -- Belgian News Combine Demands $77 M from Google for Unauthorized Storage & Publishing of Content FAIR USE -- NY Court Rules it's Fair Use for Anti-Evolutionist Film to Sample amd Display 'Imagine No Religion' Lyric as Prelude to Anti-Relgious Oppression FINANCIAL CRISIS -- Supbprime Fiasco Triggers Avalanche of Shareholder Class Actions FINES & CIVIL PENALTIES -- HP Boardroom Spies-for-Hire Will Pay FCC $600 K FORECLOSURES -- Calif. Sues Countrywide & Its Officers over Mortgage Meltdown FORECLOSURES -- Whitehouse Withdraws Crisis Relief's Already-Flacid Hind Tit from Imperilled Homeowners FORENSICS -- Peroxyde Foils Luminol Blood Residue Testing, Spanish Researchers Warn FRAUD-SECURITIES -- Class Litigators Allowed $31.5 M Fee in Coke Securities Case -- not the $43 M They Sought GENERICS -- FTC Taking Dim View of Pharm. Patent Settlements that Keep Generics Unavailable GENERICS -- Primary Patentholders Liable for Harm from Other Mfgrs' Generics , CA Appeals Court Rules -- Conte v. Wyeth GENOCIDE -- Bolivia's President Orders Rightist Provincial Governor Arrested for Peasant Massacre GENOCIDE -- I.C.C.'s Top Prosecutor Seeks U.N. & A.U. Support for Arrest of Sudan President GOVERNMENT & POLITICS -- Obama's, McCain's and Clinton's Plans for DOJ Revealed GOVERNMENT BENEFITS -- Calif. Aged, Disabled and Blind Legal Immigrant Lifeline Benefits Face the Axe GUANTANAMO DETAINEES -- Fed Judge - US Must Release 5 Algerians from Guantanamo GUANTANAMO DETAINEES -- Pentagon: Guantanamo Prisoners Included 12 Juveniles -- Instead of GUANTANAMO DETAINEES -- Teen-Soldier Canadian National's Guantanamo Trial Underscores Shamelessness of Whitehouse Terror-Baiting HATE CRIMES -- Hate Crimes Drop 1% for '07; Anti-Gay Crime Increases 6%, FBI Reports HATE CRIMES -- Jury: Klan Group Must Pay $2.5 M for Inciting Attack on Latino Teen HATE CRIMES -- Southern Poverty Law Center Sues, Hoping to Bankrupt 2nd Biggest US Klan Group for Hate Violence HAZARDS -- Carbon Nanotubes Mimic Physical & Biological Properties of Asbestos Fibers, Researchers Warn HAZARDS-BISPHENOL -- Playtext Baby Bottle Chemical Contamination Plaintiff Seeks Class Certification HAZARDS-FIRE -- New Regulation Outlaws BBQing on Most Decks & Balconies HAZARDS-LEAD -- Research Correlates Early Lead Exposure with Adult Arrest Frequency HAZARDS-NANOTECH -- Study Indicates Carbon Nanotubes May Pose Asbestos-Like Enviro-Health Danger HAZARDS-RADIATION -- FCC's Phone Standards Setting Power Preempts Personal Injury Litigation Charging Cell Phone Cancer Risk - Farina v. Nokia HAZARDS-RADIATION -- NRC Reveals Software Screwup Triggered Nuke-Plant False Meltdown Alarm in March HAZARDS-TOBACCO -- DC Circuit May Let Big Tobacco Escape Historic 2006 RICO Judgment HAZARDS-TOBACCO -- Prospects Look Glum for State Light Cigarette Lawsuits, After Supreme Court Arguments - Altria Group v. Good HAZARDS-TOBACCO -- SF Beats Back Walgreens Challenge to Anti-Tobbacco Ordinance HIRING & RECRUITMENT -- Internet Data-Mining to Disqualify Applicants Becoming a Standard HR Procedure HOMICIDE -- Syrian Leaders Urge Statutory Reforms Ending 'Honour Crime' Leniency HUMAN RIGHTS -- International Employer & Business Groups Applaud & Endorse UN Initiative on Corporate Human Rights Responsibilities HUMAN RIGHTS-MONITORING & INVESTIGATION -- S. African ICC Judge & Anti-Apartheid Heroine Navanethem Pillay Becomes New UN High Commissioner for Human Rights I.C.C. -- ICC Prosecutor Reasserts Jurisdiction over Congo Atrocities, Given New Outrages I.C.C. -- Sudan's UN Ambassador Demands Removal of I.C.C. Prosecutor as 'Terrorist' I.C.C. -- Trial of Congo Atrocitaire Lubanga May Resume -- Credibility of ICC at Stake IMMIGRATION-ENFORCEMENT -- Fed Court Tosses Okla. State Penalties for Employer Immigration Violations, as Pre-Empted INFRINGEMENT-TRADEMARK -- ANOTHER Harvard Alumnus, & Southbay Denizien, Sues Facebook, Claiming Prior Dibs on Facebook Trademark INFRINGEMENT-TRADEMARK -- Calif. Industry Group Threatens to Sue Colo. Woman for Selling 'Got Soy Milk?' T-Shirts with Her Dog's Photo INFRINGEMENT-TRADEMARK -- Intel Suing Any Business with 'intel' In Its Name INNOCENCE -- 'Computer Illiterate' Worker Exonerated -- Crypto-Forensics Shows Child Porn on Office Computer Was Malware-Induced INSURANCE-MEDICAL -- Mental Health Parity Bill Clear Congress - H.R. 6983 INSURANCE-MEDICAL -- Whitehouse Cant Restrict Medicare Coverage to 'Least Costly Treatment Alternative', Federal Judge Rules JUDICIAL CONDUCT -- Cursory Review Suggests that Connoisseurs of Legal Trivia May Savor Hoover Institution's Initial Release from Rehnquist Archive JUDICIAL CONDUCT -- Kozinski Enemy Files New Cyber-Abuse Complaint JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE -- 12 of 60 Musharraf-Ousted Pakistani Judges Re-Instated So Far JUDICIAL SELECTION -- Legal Scholars: McCain Win Would Probably Intensify Supreme Court's Rightward Bent; Obama Win Would Probably Continue Status Quo JUVENILES -- Research Pinpoints Possible Hormonal Cause of Male Juvenile Delinquency LAW SCHOOLING -- Fed. Law School Loan Forgiveness Bill Could Relieve PDs and DAs from Moonlighting - John R. Justice Act LAW SCHOOLING -- Northwestern Becomes First Top Law School to Offer 2-Year JD Program LAW SCHOOLING -- Stanford Law Dumping Letter Grades LAW-BIZ -- US Law Jobs Plummet , Dropping by 1,100 in May LEGAL TRENDS -- Conservative & Liberal Scholars Rank Supremes' Worst Opinions LEGAL TRENDS -- Lawyers Poised to Exploit National & Global Economic Meltdowns LEGAL TRENDS -- New Washington Liberal Outpost Seeks to Instigate Progressive Constitutional Sea Change LICENSING & REGISTRATION -- U.S. Patent & Trademark Filing Fees Increased MALPRACTICE INSURANCE -- Mandatory Malpractice Insurance Disclosure Passes Calif. State Bar MALPRACTICE-MEDICAL -- Medicare to Stop Paying Hospitals to Correct Own Medical Blunders MARIJUANA-LEGALIZATION -- Proposed San Mateo City Ordinance Would Permit & Regulate Medical Pot Collectives MARRIAGE-SAME SEX -- Cal. Supremes Won't Stay Implementation of Same-Sex Marriage Legalization MARRIAGE-SAME SEX -- Calif. Ballot Initiative Qualifies, to Outlaw Same Sex Marriages MARRIAGE-SAME SEX -- Calif. Supremes to Review Constitutionality of Prop. 8 MARRIAGE-SAME SEX -- Christian Rightist Litigators Petition Lower Court to Circumvent Calif. Supremes & Suspend Same-Sex Marriages MARRIAGE-SAME SEX -- Lawsuit Seeks Invalidation of Prop. 8 MARRIAGE-SAME SEX -- Lawyers among California's First Same-Sex Marriage Partners MARRIAGES-SAME SEX -- Google's AdSense Injected Pro-Prop-8 Ads onto Lesbian/Gay & Gender Rights Web Sites - Including S. Jose Group's MARRIAGES-SAME SEX -- NY Gov. Instructs State Agenices to Recognize Calif., & Other Same-Sex Marriages METHODS PATENTS -- Fed. Circuit Narrows Business Methods Patenting Options - In Re Bilski MICROSOFT ANTITRUST -- MSoft & DOJ Release Joint Interoperability Compliance Status Update MILITARY LAW -- Iraq 'Pacification' Force Repositioned to Smash US Citizen Protest MINING & OIL -- Exxon Valdez Payout Stalled by Plaintiff's Obection to Class Settlement MORTGAGE MELTDOWN -- Calif. Secures up to $3.5 B in Mortgage Relief in Countrywide-B of A Settlement NEPOTISM -- DOJ Report Recommends No Grand Jury Inquest of Gonzales Role in US Atty Filings NEPOTISM -- Mukasey: US Atty Firings to be Investigated by Special Prosecutor OFFENSES: MONEY LAUNDERING -- Evincing Lenity, Thomas & Scalia Author Majority Opinions Making Money Laundering Convictions Harder to Get - Cuellar v. US & US v. Santos PATENTING -- Fed. Circuit Restores Jury Consideration of Infringement-Absolving Opinion Letters, Briefly Thought Obsolete - Broadcom v. Qualcomm PIRACY -- EBay Liable for Bogus Fashion Goods Traffic, French Court Rules PIRACY -- File Sharer FBI Dragged from Home in Pajamas Pleads to Year in Jail for Uploading Guns N Roses Tracks PIRACY -- Founder's Harvard Classmates Lose Bid to Kick Open Settlement, Alleging He Stole Facebook from Them PIRACY -- Verdict Gives Dish Network $1,500 of $1B Piracy Damages it Demanded from DirecTV POLICE ADMINISTRATION -- ATF Audit Shows Agency Lost 418 Laptops & 76 Guns over 5 Years POLICE CONDUCT -- Increased I.C.E. & Cutsoms Corruption Suspected POLICE-OPERATIONS -- Pentagon Developing Taser-Equipped Robot Swarms to Hunt Noncompliant Individuals PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION -- Obama Moves DOJ Transition Forward PRISONS & JAILS -- Calif. Corrections Dept. to Extend Same Marriage Rights to Same-Sex Couples as to Straight Couples PRISONS & JAILS -- Receiver Overseeing CA Prison Health Care: $7 Billion Needed PRISONS & JAILS -- Thelton Henderson Suggests He's Near Forcing Calif. to Lay out $250 M for Prison Health, Immediately PRISONS & JAILS -- UK Investigators Expose & Denounce US Secret Prison Ships Anchored off Somalia & Diego Garcia PRISONS & JAILS-PRIVATIZATION -- Texas Lame Duck DA Secures Indictments of Cheney & Gonzales for Offenses Connected with Privatized Prisons PRIVACY -- Experts Warn that RFID Tags Invite Horrific Privacy and Surveillance Abuses PRIVACY -- MN Suburb Demands Google Drop it from Street View Feature PRIVACY -- Vienna Computer Network Employs Un-Snoopable Quantum Encryption PRIVILEGE- ATTY-CLIENT -- Bipartisan Former US Atty Group Calls for Legislation Barring DOJ 'McNulty' Demands that Defendant Corporations Waive Atty-Client Privilege PRIVILEGE- ATTY-CLIENT -- Right, Left & Legal Groundswell Unites Behind Bill Outlawing Forced Waivers of Atty-Client Privilege - Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act PRIVILEGE-EXECUTIVE -- House Judiciary Subpoenas Rove on US Atty. Firings -- Exec. Privilege Face-Off Likely PRIVILEGE-JOURNALIST’S; -- Former Anthrax Suspect Challenge's USA Today Reporter's Contempt Appeal, Threatening Massive Atty Fees PRO SE -- Supremes: States Can Impose Appointed Counsel on Criminal Defendants with Mental Disabilities -- Indiana v. Edwards PRO-SE -- Judge Requires Laptops for Guantanamo Prisoners Acting as Own Lawyers PRODUCTS-AUTOMOTIVE -- Fed. Seat Belt Rule Declares Itself Preemptive of State Injury Claims PRODUCTS-FOOD -- Lead Content Triggers Recall of Chinese Confection Qi Cai Bang 2008 PRODUCTS-MEDICAL -- Pharm Holdings Call Stanford Drug Researcher's Impartiality into Question, Congress Member Warns PRODUCTS-MEDICAL -- Stanford Researchers Unveil Non-Scar Bandage PROTEST & CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE -- 1,000s of Pakistan Lawyers Launch Nationwide Marches Demanding Musharraf's Removal, Supreme Court Reinstatement & Major Rights Reforms PROTEST & CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE -- Pennsylvania Troopers Had Qualified Immunity in Arrest of Protesters Simulating Abu Ghraib Nude Pyramid PROTEST & CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE -- Saudi Rights Activists Begin Hunger Strike against Illegal Detentions RETALIATION -- US Supremes OK Suits Charging Employer Retaliation against Race & Age Discrimination Plaintiffs-- Gomez-Perez v. Potter and CBOCS West v. Humphries RIGHTS TRIBUNALS -- Oxford Law Group Invites Short Expert Essays on Human Rights Prosecutions RIGHTS TRIBUNALS -- Uganda's War Crimes Tribunal Criticized as Ploy to Circumvent ICC RIGHTS-EXPRESSION -- Fremont-Based Singapore Dissident Arrested for Blogging that Colleague's Trial Judge 'Prostituted Herself' RIGHTS-EXPRESSION -- Prop. 8 Adversaries Demanding that Employers Fire Known Donors to Anti-Gay Marriage Campaign RIGHTS-EXPRESSION -- Town Can Ban Activists' Moving Billboard Depicting Animal Suffering, if Ordinance is Content Neutral, Calif. Appeals Court Rules - Shark v. W. Hollywood RIGHTS-GUNS -- 2nd Amendment Guarantees Private Gun Ownership for Self-Defense, Supremes Rule -- D.C. v. Heller RIGHTS-INFORMATION -- Bush Could Obstruct Congressional Subpoenas after Leaving Whitehose, Invokng Truman's Historical Precedent RIGHTS-PRESS -- Central Asian Govts' Osbservances Make Travesty of UN's 'World Press Freedom Day' RIGHTS-RELIGION -- 33 Pastors to Openly Preach in Support of Candidates, to Challenge Constitutionality of IRS Non-Profit Regs RIGHTS-RELIGION -- Central Asian Regimes Suppress Headscarves as Expressions of Religious 'Extremism' RIGHTS-RELIGION -- Chabad Jewish Sect Can Sue Russian Govt. to Reclaim Religious Archive Confiscated During Soviet Era, DC Circuit Rules RIGHTS-RELIGION -- Kyrgyz Parliament Enacts Law Suppressing Religious Activity RIGHTS-RELIGION -- Religious Convictions Renew Concerns Regarding Hardline Islamicization of Aghan Judiciary RIGHTS-RELIGION -- Today in Legal History - 1635: Massachusetts Banishes Religious Liberty Advocate ROYALTIES -- Legal Filing Challenges Fundamental Constitutionality of US Copyright Royalty Board ROYALTIES -- Webcasters Get Bill Through House Letting Them Negotiate Music Royalties Below Federal Baseline - Webcaster Settlement Act SENTENCING -- Teens' YouTube Youth Vandalism Sentence Includes YouTube Apology SEX OFFENSES -- Afghan Society Continues Enabling Rape, through Impunity SEX OFFENSES-CHILD PORN -- Calif. Gov. & A.G. Call on ISPs to Replicate Massive NY State Usenet Blockage, as Child Porn Remedy SEX OFFENSES-CHILD PORN -- Senate Bill Would Launch Massive $1B Chld Cyber-Porn Crackdown - S.1738 - Combating Child Exploitation Act SLAVERY & PEONAGE -- West Africa Rights Court Finds Niger Govt. Liable for Failing to Prevent Plaintiff's Enslavement SPAM & TELEMARKETING -- Arbitrator Orders Spammer to Pay MySpace $6M STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS -- NY Court Cuts No Slack for Leap Year SURVEILLANCE -- 'Bipartisan' Constitutional Rights Betrayal Will Unleash Massive, Renewed Domestic Spying & Will Amnesty Complicit Telecoms - FISA Amendments of 2008 SURVEILLANCE -- Bush Regime Colluding with Chinese Govt. to Create Global Web User Track-Back Protocol SURVEILLANCE -- Google, Yahoo & Microsoft Unveil Human Rights Assurance Guidlines SURVEILLANCE -- Govt. Surveillance Enthusiasts Paint Lurid Picture for Congress, of Private Industry Cyber-Attacks SURVEILLANCE -- Homeland Security Claims New Scanner Detects Pre-Criminal Intent SURVEILLANCE -- Supposed 'Compromise' Would Spirit Grant Telcom Domestic Spying Defendants Automatic Dismissals, by Secret Intelligence Courts TAX-INTERNET -- Legislators Eyeing Internet Taxation as Tantalizing Budget Crisis Fix TORTURE -- Blue Ribbon Panel Warns UK Parliament against Complicity in US Renditions TORTURE -- Call-In & EMail Campaign Brings National Torture Ban to Congress & to Obama TORTURE -- George Schultz, MadelBipartisan US Religious, Military and Political Dignitaries Call for Presidential Exec. Order Banning Torture and Conforming US Interrogations to 'Golden Rule' TORTURE -- In 2002, CIA Trainer Told Guantanamo Interrogators, 'If the Detainee Dies, You’re Doing it Wrong.' TORTURE -- Jordan Regime Steeped in Torture, Human Rights Watch Report Warns TORTURE -- Recovery Prospects Bleak for Survivors of Chicago PD Tortures TORTURE -- State Dept. Flunkie Tells Congress: Rendition of Canadian Citizen to Syria for Torture Was Routine Immigration Action TORTURE -- White Collar Defendant Charges UAE Investigators Tortured Him TRADEMARKING -- Christian Right Group to Sue to Block Obama's 'Joshua Generation' Campaign TRADEMARKS-LICENSING -- Blast of Bazooka Bubble Gum Reverberates throughout Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and Argentina UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS -- Euroopean Parliament Enacts Draconian, Punitive Migrant Legislation UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS -- SF Postpones Plan to Issue Local IDs, Irrespective of Immigration Status UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS -- Supremes Will Examine Feds' Threats to Hit Undocumented Immigrants with Severe Felony Identity Theft Sentences - Flores-Figueroa v. U.S UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS -- Town Can't Fine Landlords for Renting to Undocumented Immigrants, Fed. Court Rules UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS -- Undocumented Population May Have Plateaued, Pew Center & Feds Speculate VIGILANTISM -- Municipalities Start Using ID Theft Statutes to Bust Undocumented Immigrants WAGE & HOUR -- 750-Page D.O.L. Reg. Revision May Obfuscate, Not Clarify, Family Med Care Issues WAGE & HOUR -- Settlement Finally Secures Back Pay Mexican Govt. Withheld from 1940s Era Braceros WAGE & HOUR -- Workers, Unions Allies Persuade Calif. Supremes to Stay & Review 4th App. Distr's Onerous Meal Break Decision - Brinker Restaurant v. Superior Court WAR & WAR CRIMES -- 3rd Circuit OKs Stripping of Citizenship & Deportation of Former SS Concentration Camp Guard WAR & WAR CRIMES -- 5th Circuit Reinstates Halliburton Truckers' Iraq Ambush Death Suit WAR & WAR CRIMES -- Bosnian Massacre Perpetrators Peddling Mass Gravesite Info to Victims' Families WAR & WAR CRIMES -- Bosnian Police Arrest Four Former Bosnian Serb Officers for 1992 Atrocity WAR & WAR CRIMES -- Cambodia's Genocide Court Extends Detention for Khmer Rouge's 'Brother Number Two', Pending Further Investigation WAR & WAR CRIMES -- Colombia's Army Chief, 3 Generals & 24 Officers Sacked for Slaughtering Random Civilians to Inflate 'Insurgent Kill' Statistics WAR & WAR CRIMES -- Congolese Rape & Sexual Slavery Survivors Indignant ICC Dropped Their Cases against Militia Commanders WAR & WAR CRIMES -- Court Martial Dumps Haditha Massacre Coverup Charges against Marine Lieutenant WAR & WAR CRIMES -- International Criminal Court Stays Child-Soldier Abductions Trial of Congolese Atrocitaire, Citing Evidenciary Improprieties WAR & WAR CRIMES -- Police Arrest Accused Central African Republic Atrocitaire on ICC Warrant WAR & WAR CRIMES -- Prosecutors Hope to Establish Serb Govt. Culpability for Bosnia Atrocities, in Trial of Milosevi's Army Chief WAR & WAR CRIMES -- Senegalese Court Filing Levels Atrocity Charges against Former Chadian Dictator WAR & WAR CRIMES -- US Soldier Testifies for Prosecution Detailing Own Complicity in Murders of 4 Iraqis -- Gets 7 Month Sentence WHISTLEBLOWERS -- Schwarzenegger Entitled to Fire Labor Standards Atty. for Criticizing Gov's Slackening of Meal Break Enforcement, 3-2 Personnel Board Majority Rules WHITE COLLAR -- Chevron's Ecuador Counsel Face Corruption Prosecution in Massive Rainforest Pollution Scandal WHITE COLLAR -- Crim Defenders of the Rich Brace for Surge in Indictments, as Public Hostility Deepens WHITE COLLAR -- Fed. Prosecutors Indict 2 Former Broadcom Execs for Stock Option Backdating and 1 for Corporate Drug Partying WHITE COLLAR -- Marvell Tech Agrees to Pay $16 M to Stockholders & Promises Reforms, to Settle Bakdating Suit WHITE COLLAR -- Revised Zoran Backdating Derivative Settlement Disgorges Cash to Company -- Not Just Lawyers WITNESSES & TESTIMONY -- Courts Reigning in Inflammatory Language by Criminal Trial Witnesses & Victims WORKPLACE PRIVACY -- 9th Circuit Curtails Employer Snooping into Workers' e-Messages -- Quon v. Arch Wireless ZONING & LAND USE -- Redwood City Initiative would Require 2/3 Public Majority to OK Encroachment on Open Space Local Legal Headlines AFFORDABILITY & GENTRIFICATION -- Real Estate Profiteers Squawk at S.J.'s Proposed 20% Affordable Housing Set-Aside ANTI-TRUST -- Google Pooh-Poohs Antitrust Potential of Search Ad Collusion with Yahoo ANTI-TRUST -- Google-Yahoo Deal Draws EU Challenge, Via 'World Federation of Advertisers' ANTI-TRUST -- Liberal Anti-Trust Think Tank Offers Alternative Roadmap for Google-Yahoo Collaboration ANTITRUST -- Dismissal of Antitrust Countersuit against Apple May Doom 'Mac Clone' Manufacturer ATTY CONDUCT -- S. Clara Co. DA Installs Paralegal/Ombudsman BATTERY -- Neighbor Beaten & Left Disabled after Intervening to Stop Drunk Harassing Teen Girl BUILDING & USE PERMITS -- Sunnyvale Council Enacts 4-Year Incremental Greening of Building Policies COMPETENCY & COMMITMENT -- Remand Pending on Competency of Accused S.. Jose Cop-Killer CONSUMER FRAUD -- Oakland, S.F. and Missouri Lawsuits Charge Labelling Fraud and Harmful Product Content in 'Organic' Market CORPORATE ESPIONAGE -- Seemingly Unnecessary Secrecy Shrouds Silicon Valley US-China Industrial Espionage Trial Pleadings CORPORATE GOVERNANCE -- Yahoo Asks Judge to Seal Much of Shareholders' Action over MSoft Buyout Attempt from Public COURT ADMINISTRATION -- Los Gatos Small Claims Court Moves from Los Gatos to Santa Clara Courthouse COURT ADMINISTRATION -- Traffic Court Moved from Downtown San Jose to Courthouse in Santa Clara CYBER-CRIME -- Interpol, MSoft ,Yahoo, African Dev. Bank & Western Union Going After Online Lottery Fraud CYBER-LAW -- Harvard Prof's Class Action Charges Google with Complicity with Lurking Typo-Exploiting Web Miscreants CYBER-SECURITY -- McAfee Warns Web Sites in Certain Domains are High Security Risks D.U.I. & TRAFFIC -- S. Bay Sentator Simitian's State Cell-Phone Statute Still Lets Us Text, but Not Talk D.U.I. & TRAFFIC -- S. Clara County Superior Court Traffic Case Information Now Available On-Line D.U.I. & TRAFFIC -- Traffic Safety Installations to Be Available to More S. Jose Neighborhoods DATA PRIVACY -- 14 Internet Rights Groups Challenge Google's Concealment of Privacy Policy DATA PRIVACY -- Consumer Groups, Google, MSoft & Insurers Roll Out Proposed OnLine Health-Record Standard DATA PRIVACY -- Consumers Sue Foster City's NebuAd & ISP Accomplices, Charging Illegal Behavioral Marketing Experiments DATA PRIVACY -- Proposed S. Jose Commandeering Pet Owner Data Has Veterinarians Snarling DEPENDENT ABUSE -- Special Needs Trust Continues Accepting Donations for Severely Abused Toddler DISCRIMINATION-DISABILITY -- iTunes to Be Completely Blind Accessible by July '09 DISCRIMINATION-RACE-PROFILING -- Palo Alto Police Data Shows Widespread Racial Disparity in Traffic Stops DISCRIMINATION-RACE-PROFILING -- Palo Alto Police Profiling Policies & Practics Provoke Protest - UPDATE DISCRIMINATION-RELIGION -- Fremont is Site for Sikh Coalition's New Western States Office ELECTIONS -- Stanford Prof Urges Dismantling of US Electoral College EXTINCTION -- Game Wardens Catch Gilroy Poacher with 335 Frozen Bird Corpses, Including Sandhill Crane & Trumpeter Swan FAIR USE -- Belgian News Combine Demands $77 M from Google for Unauthorized Storage & Publishing of Content FINES & CIVIL PENALTIES -- HP Boardroom Spies-for-Hire Will Pay FCC $600 K FORECLOSURES -- Silicon Valley Foreclosure Impacts: More Renters Looking; More Tenant Evictions; Higher Rents; Fewer Vacancies GANGS -- Gangs in SJ Schools on the Rise GANGS -- School Dress Codes Discourage Gang-ID Displays GANGS -- SJ Cops Suspect Hells Angels in Pipe Bombings Near Home of Top-Level Mongols Leader HAZARDS-ALCOHOL -- Serving Booze to Partying Teens is a Crime in Many S. Bay Towns HAZARDS-FIRE -- New Regulation Outlaws BBQing on Most Decks & Balconies HAZARDS-TOBACCO -- SF Beats Back Walgreens Challenge to Anti-Tobbacco Ordinance HAZARDS-TOBACCO -- Walgreens Sues to Block SF Ordinance Barring Tobacco Sales from Pharmacies HISTORIC PRESERVATION -- Settlement Restores Piece of Partially Demolished Historic IBM Structure, with Interpretive Display INFRINGEMENT-TRADEMARK -- ANOTHER Harvard Alumnus, & Southbay Denizien, Sues Facebook, Claiming Prior Dibs on Facebook Trademark INFRINGEMENT-TRADEMARK -- Intel Suing Any Business with 'intel' In Its Name INSURANCE-MEDICAL -- 140,000 Silicon Valleyans Lack Health Coverage, Study Reveals JUDICIAL CONDUCT -- Cursory Review Suggests that Connoisseurs of Legal Trivia May Savor Hoover Institution's Initial Release from Rehnquist Archive JUDICIAL CONDUCT -- NY Archbishop Berates & Bullies Fordham Law School for Honoring Justice Breyer JUDICIAL SELECTION -- 55% Majority Chooses Civil Litigator over Veteran Prosecutor, as S. Clara Co. Superior Court Judge JUDICIAL SELECTION -- S. Clara Co. Superior Court Elects Presiding Judge and AssistantPresiding Judge JUDICIAL SELECTION -- Stanford Law Prof Picked by High Court as Special Master in Montana/Wyoming Yellowstone River Dispute JUVENILES -- S. Clara County Officials' Scheme to Double Juvenile Incareration Dumbfounds already Outraged Youth Advocates LANDLORD-TENANT -- East Palo Alto Class Action Charges Landlord Using Sham Corporations to Evade Rent Control LAW SCHOOLING -- Stanford Law Dumping Letter Grades LAW-BIZ -- Orrick Sacks 40 Associates & 35 Staff LAW-BIZ -- Silicon Valley's Law Business Continues Expanding, Despite Economic Downturn LOCAL GOVERNMENT & POLITICS -- S.J. Budget Director Faces Ethics Challenge over Ballot Measure Fundraising MARIJUANA-LEGALIZATION -- Proposed San Mateo City Ordinance Would Permit & Regulate Medical Pot Collectives MARRIAGE-SAME SEX -- Lawsuit Seeks Invalidation of Prop. 8 MARRIAGE-SAME SEX -- Lawyers among California's First Same-Sex Marriage Partners MARRIAGES-SAME SEX -- Google's AdSense Injected Pro-Prop-8 Ads onto Lesbian/Gay & Gender Rights Web Sites - Including S. Jose Group's MORTGAGE MELTDOWN -- Foreclosures Overwhelm E. San Jose Neighborhood OFFENSES - BATTERY -- Sch. District Safety Director: Oak Grove HS Stabbing Perp Was in Gang, but Attack Not Gang Related OFFENSES-THEFT -- Nationwide Fencing Ring Cracked with Help of SJ Police PATENTING -- Fed. Circuit Restores Jury Consideration of Infringement-Absolving Opinion Letters, Briefly Thought Obsolete - Broadcom v. Qualcomm PIRACY -- EBay Liable for Bogus Fashion Goods Traffic, French Court Rules PIRACY -- Founder's Harvard Classmates Lose Bid to Kick Open Settlement, Alleging He Stole Facebook from Them POLICE ADMINISTRATION -- Embattled Palo Alto Police Chief Steps Down POLICE ADMINISTRATION -- Hearing on Tues. Nov. 18 will Probe Links between S. Jose Policies and City's Stratospheric Public Drunkenness Arrest Rate POLICE ADMINISTRATION -- S.J. Council Resolves to Reign in Excessive Drunk-In-Public Arrests POLICE CONDUCT -- 6 S.Jose Parking Enforcers Busted for Fixing Co-Worker's Tickets POLICE CONDUCT -- Biker's Daughter Sues SJ Cops, Mfgr., over Tasering Death POLICE CONDUCT -- Chief: S.J. Police Deal with Drunks Properly, Notwithstanding Indications to Contrary POLICE CONDUCT -- Palo Alto Council Resolution Denounces I.C.E. Agent Abuses POLICE CONDUCT -- Soon-Retiring County Supe Charges Racial Disparity in S.J. Drunkenness Arrests PRISONS & JAILS -- S. J. Arrestee Apparently Smuggled Lethal Drug Overdose into Holding Cell PRISONS & JAILS -- S. Mateo Co. Not Biting on $100 M Jail Upgrade Offer in Exchange for Welcoming State Prison Societal Reentry Facility PRISONS & JAILS -- San Mateo Co. Holding Newly Rehabbed Jail Structure on Standby PRISONS & JAILS -- Stanford Gives $1 M Plus Student Team, to Shrink Our Jail's Energy Footprint PRIVACY -- MN Suburb Demands Google Drop it from Street View Feature PRODUCTS-FOOD -- Lead Content Triggers Recall of Chinese Confection Qi Cai Bang 2008 PRODUCTS-MEDICAL -- Pharm Holdings Call Stanford Drug Researcher's Impartiality into Question, Congress Member Warns PRODUCTS-MEDICAL -- Stanford Researchers Unveil Non-Scar Bandage PROSECUTORIAL CONDUCT -- Staffer Testifies to State Bar about Prosecutor Field's Actions in Controversial Prosecutions PROSECUTORIAL CONDUCT -- Zealous, Controversial S. Clara County Prosecutor Faces State Bar Review and Possible Sanctions RESTORATION & MITIGATION -- Model Ordinance Would Phase Out Paper & Plastic Bags from Santa Clara Co. Retail Shopping RETALIATION -- US Supremes OK Suits Charging Employer Retaliation against Race & Age Discrimination Plaintiffs-- Gomez-Perez v. Potter and CBOCS West v. Humphries RIGHTS-EXPRESSION -- Fremont-Based Singapore Dissident Arrested for Blogging that Colleague's Trial Judge 'Prostituted Herself' RIGHTS-EXPRESSION -- Prop. 8 Adversaries Demanding that Employers Fire Known Donors to Anti-Gay Marriage Campaign RIGHTS-INFORMATION -- ACLU, S.J. Council & Cops Face Off over Sunshine Committee's Call for Public Release of Police Reports SEX OFFENSES -- Police Seeking Undiscovered Victims of S.J. Serial Molester SURVEILLANCE -- Google, Yahoo & Microsoft Unveil Human Rights Assurance Guidlines SURVEILLANCE -- Local Police Announce Data-Sharing Scheme to Nail Graffitists TAX-PROPERTY -- S. Bay Property Tax Appeals Increase as Real Estate Market Disintegrates TAX-PROPERTY -- S. Clara Co. Assessor Going after Companies which Acquired Properties TAX-SALES -- Palo Alto Council Balks at Sales Tax Increase to Fund S.J. BART Extension TAX-UTILITIES -- S.J. Ballot Measures Offer Voters Phone Rate Cut in Exchange for Phone Tax Re- TAXES-PROPERTY -- Mountain View & Los Gatos Parcel Taxes Advocated for School Funding THEFT -- As Frugal Commuters Go Greener, BART Bike Thefts Spike THEFT -- Hulking Thieves Photographed Bashing open Locked Shop Doors, Grabbing Cash & Running TORTURE -- Call-In & EMail Campaign Brings National Torture Ban to Congress & to Obama UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS -- SF Postpones Plan to Issue Local IDs, Irrespective of Immigration Status VEXACIOUS LITIGATION -- Palm Spinoff Nails Patent-Squatter for Atty Fees WAGE & HOUR -- S.J. Airport Subcontractor Living Wage Extension Nears Passage WAGE & HOUR -- Settlement Finally Secures Back Pay Mexican Govt. Withheld from 1940s Era Braceros WETLANDS -- Cargill Salt Pond Rehabilitation Expands by 350 Acres WHITE COLLAR -- Apple & Its Top Brass to Pay Out $ 22 1/2 M over Backdating WHITE COLLAR -- Chevron's Ecuador Counsel Face Corruption Prosecution in Massive Rainforest Pollution Scandal WHITE COLLAR -- Fed. Prosecutors Indict 2 Former Broadcom Execs for Stock Option Backdating and 1 for Corporate Drug Partying WHITE COLLAR -- Marvell Tech Agrees to Pay $16 M to Stockholders & Promises Reforms, to Settle Bakdating Suit WHITE COLLAR -- Revised Zoran Backdating Derivative Settlement Disgorges Cash to Company -- Not Just Lawyers WORKPLACE PRIVACY -- 9th Circuit Curtails Employer Snooping into Workers' e-Messages -- Quon v. Arch Wireless ZONING & LAND USE -- Redwood City Initiative would Require 2/3 Public Majority to OK Encroachment on Open Space Court News AFFIRMATIVE ACTION -- Black Classmates Repudiate Clarence Thomas's Claim that Affirmative Action Invalidated Caché of Yale Degree COURT ADMINISTRATION -- Los Gatos Small Claims Court Moves from Los Gatos to Santa Clara Courthouse COURT ADMINISTRATION -- Traffic Court Moved from Downtown San Jose to Courthouse in Santa Clara D.U.I. & TRAFFIC -- S. Clara County Superior Court Traffic Case Information Now Available On-Line DISCRIMINATION-RACE -- Filipino Hate Mail Harasser of Justice Thomas & Other African Americans Admits Motive was Loss of Own Girl Friend to African American GENOCIDE -- I.C.C.'s Top Prosecutor Seeks U.N. & A.U. Support for Arrest of Sudan President GUANTANAMO DETAINEES -- Teen-Soldier Canadian National's Guantanamo Trial Underscores Shamelessness of Whitehouse Terror-Baiting I.C.C. -- ICC Prosecutor Reasserts Jurisdiction over Congo Atrocities, Given New Outrages I.C.C. -- Sudan's UN Ambassador Demands Removal of I.C.C. Prosecutor as 'Terrorist' I.C.C. -- Trial of Congo Atrocitaire Lubanga May Resume -- Credibility of ICC at Stake JUDICIAL CONDUCT -- Kozinski Enemy Files New Cyber-Abuse Complaint JUDICIAL CONDUCT -- Kozinski's Web Smut Practices Surface as He Prepares to Oversee Major Porn Trial JUDICIAL CONDUCT -- NY Archbishop Berates & Bullies Fordham Law School for Honoring Justice Breyer JUDICIAL SELECTION -- 55% Majority Chooses Civil Litigator over Veteran Prosecutor, as S. Clara Co. Superior Court Judge JUDICIAL SELECTION -- Legal Scholars: McCain Win Would Probably Intensify Supreme Court's Rightward Bent; Obama Win Would Probably Continue Status Quo JUDICIAL SELECTION -- Pakistan's New Supreme Ct. Bar President Vows to Reinstate Ousted (but Rightful) Chief Justice ASAP JUDICIAL SELECTION -- S. Clara Co. Superior Court Elects Presiding Judge and AssistantPresiding Judge JUDICIAL SELECTION -- Stanford Law Prof Picked by High Court as Special Master in Montana/Wyoming Yellowstone River Dispute MILITARY LAW -- US Soldiers Would Be Tried by Iraqi Courts for Off-Base and Non-Combat Crimes, Under Draft US/Iraq Agreement PROTEST & CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE -- 1,000s of Pakistan Lawyers Launch Nationwide Marches Demanding Musharraf's Removal, Supreme Court Reinstatement & Major Rights Reforms RIGHTS TRIBUNALS -- Milosevic Prosecutor: Star Chamber Review of Govt. 'National Security' Evidence Arguments Obstructs Balkan War Crimes Justice RIGHTS TRIBUNALS -- UN's Kosovo Mission On Defensive, over Dearth of KLA Atrocity Prosecutions RIGHTS-EXPRESSION -- Fremont-Based Singapore Dissident Arrested for Blogging that Colleague's Trial Judge 'Prostituted Herself' SAME SEX MARRIAGE -- CA Supreme Court Issues Landmark Decision Holding Ban Against Same Sex Marriage Unconstitutional WAR & WAR CRIMES -- International Criminal Court Stays Child-Soldier Abductions Trial of Congolese Atrocitaire, Citing Evidenciary Improprieties