Legal Headlines ABORIGINAL LAW -- Feds Indict 24, for Theft & Sale of Native American Antiquities ABORIGINAL RIGHTS -- Highest UK Court Dashes Repatriation Dreams of Chagos Islanders ACCOUNTING PRACTICES -- Role in $500 M Accounting Fraud Nets AIG Exec 2 Years Probation AFFIRMATIVE ACTION -- Cal. Supremes Won't Order Bar Exam Desclosures to Affirmative Action Opponent AFFIRMATIVE ACTION -- New Iraq Law Guarantees Women 25% of Provincial Council Seats AFFIRMATIVE ACTION -- Prior Placings Scrambled when Law Firm Diversity Scorecard Implements Refined Formula 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 -- EPA Clears Californai to Regulate Automotive Greenhouse Emissions AIR -- N.E. Interstate Compact Establishes Regional Carbon Emissions Permit Trading Market AIR -- Whitehouse to Adopt Calif. Auto Emission & Mileage Standards ANIMAL LAW -- Maiming of Whales & Dolphins OK to Boost Realism of War Games, 6 of 9 Supremes Rule - Winter v. NRDC ANIMAL LAW -- Wal-Mart & Pet Food Mfgrs. Elude Labelling-Fraud Class Action for Concealing Off-Shore Sources of Ingredients ANIMAL RIGHTS -- Humane Society Sues Major Retailers for Fraudulently Labelling Fur from Creatures Skinned Alive ANIMAL RIGHTS -- Supremes Will Hear Whitehouse Challenge to 9th Circuit's Curtailment of Naval Sonar ANTI-TRUST -- EU Hits Intel with $1.45 B Fine ANTI-TRUST -- Google Pooh-Poohs Antitrust Potential of Search Ad Collusion with Yahoo ANTI-TRUST -- Hitachi Pleads to $31 M Fine; Admits Criminal Price-Fixing of LCD Panels ANTI-TRUST -- Liberal Anti-Trust Think Tank Offers Alternative Roadmap for Google-Yahoo Collaboration ANTI-TRUST -- Suit Charging GlaxoSmithKline MIsused Spurious Patent Litigation to Block Generics Survives Dismissal Motion ANTITRUST -- EU Threatens to Fine MSoft 10% of Global Revenue over Tying Internet Explorer to Windows ANTITRUST -- Judge in Hershey's Homeland OKs 87 Consolidated Chocolate Price-Fixing Suits, but Certifies Immediate Interlocutory Appeal ANTITRUST -- Republican Senator Proposes Public Disclosure of Pharma-Physician & Pharma-Researcher Collusion - Physician Sunshine Act ANTITRUST -- Under FOIA Challenge DOJ Discloses Legal Contours of Antitrust 'Amnesties', but Redacts Parties and Most Facts ANTITRUST -- Whole Foods Enlists Clintons' Former Top Operatives to Beat Back FTC Attacks on Wild Oats Merger ARBITRATION -- L.A. Judge OKs $4.1 Billion Arbitration Award to Fired Exec. ARBITRATION -- Supremes Endorse Labor Contracts Requiring Arbitration of Discrimination Grievances - 14 Penn Plaza v. Pyett ARRESTS -- Left & Right Dissenters Unite to Warn: 9th Circuit's en banc OK of S. Jose Warrantless Arrest Opens Dangerous Breach in 4th Amendment Protections -- Fisher v. San Jose 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 -- Arbiter Excoriates Eminent Asbestos Advocate's Allegedly Extortionate Prosecutorial Practices 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 CONDUCT -- Holocaust Reparations Superstar Litigator Disbarred ATTY CONDUCT -- Principled Army Lawyers Jeopardized Careers Upholding Due Process Rights of Guantanamo Prisoners ATTY FEES & COSTS -- San Diego Consumer Lawyer Rolls Out Suits Challenging Attorney Overbillings for Lexis/Nexis and Westlaw Fees ATTY-CLIENT -- SEC's Updated Enforcement Manual Backs off Demands for Atty Privilege Waivers BANKING -- Counsel Shield Banks from Menace of Obama's Tightened TARP Accountability BANKING -- Kyrgyz Pariament OKs Islamic Banking as Refuge from Global Economic Disaster BANKING -- Oregon's AG Sues Bond Fund for Blowing $37 M in College Funds Saved by 60,000 Families BANKING -- Race-Biased Subprime Mortgage Predation Suit Moved from Fed. to Mass. Court BANKRUPTCY OVERHAUL -- Obama Presidency May Bring Pro-Consumer Bankruptcy Relief BANKRUPTCY RELIEF -- High Court Will Tackle Statute Restricting Bankruptcy Attys' Advice to Clients - Milavetz, Gallop, & Milavetz v. U.S. BIOTECH -- Dalai Lama Co-Sponsors Stanford Neuro Research on Surgically Enhanced Compassion BRIBERY -- Illinois Supremes Won't Hear Petition on Blagojevich's Fitness to Govern BUSINESS ETHICS -- Pharmaceutical Titan Undertakes Vast Works of Altruism, Including Patented Tech Disclosures 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 BUSINESS PRACTICES -- Lilly Agrees to Largest Criminal Fine in History -- $515 M -- in $1.42 B Zyprexa Settlement BUSINESS PRACTICES -- Small Businesses Accuse SF's Yelp.com of Extortion and Unfair Practics BUSINESS TORTS -- Runaway Short-Selling of Taser Mfgr's Stock by Mega-Banks Decimated Value of Shareholders' Investment CENSORSHIP -- Philip Morris Pays Big, Undisclosed Sum to Major University for Research Professors Can't Discuss or Disclose without Donor's Permission CENSORSHIP -- Turkey's Muslim Creationists -- Egged on by US Christian Noah's Ark Seekers -- Get Nation's Premier Science Magazine's Editor Fired & Darwin Bicentenial Issue Suppressed 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 CITIZENSHIP & NATURALIZATION -- Immigrants Promise to Kill for Shot at US Citizenship CITIZENSHIP & NATURALIZATION -- Obama Citizenship Challenge Won't Get US Supremes Hearing CITIZENSHIP & NATURALIZATION -- U.S. Supremes Won't Hear 6th or 7th Attack on Obama's Citizenship CIVIL LIBERTIES -- ABA Calls for Full Habeas Rights for Gitmo Detainees, and for Federal Court Access for Undocumented Immigrants CIVIL LIBERTIES -- ACLU: Homeland Security Eradicating U.S. Civil Liberties throughout 100-Mile Deep Coast and Border 'Constitution Free Zone' CLASS ACTIONS -- Court, Lawyers and 1 Million Class Plaintiffs Flummoxed by Govt's Fannie Mae Takeover CLASS ACTIONS -- DOJ Moves to Impose Tax & Medicare Liens on Smokers' Trust Fund Awards CLEMENCY -- Amnesty International Denounces Colombia President's Pardon-for Hostage Swap Offer CLEMENCY -- Bush Commutes Assault Sentences of Border Agents who Shot Fleeing Drug Dealer in the Back CLIMATE -- Banning Black Car Paint Jobs Could Cut Greenhous Gasses, Cal-EPA Claims CLIMATE -- Climate Defenders Visualizing Supportive Supreme Court CLIMATE CHANGE -- Internet's Carbon Footprint Huge, Scientists Warn CONSENT-MEDICAL -- UK Govt. Proposes 'Presumed Consent' Opt-Out Organ Donor Law CONSUMER FRAUD -- Oakland, S.F. and Missouri Lawsuits Charge Labelling Fraud and Harmful Product Content in 'Organic' Market CONTRACT LAW -- Stanford Physicists Create TRULY Microscopic Print 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 -- Italian Court Tries Google Execs for Enabling Student Video Showing Abuse of Youth with Downs Syndrome CYBER-BULLYING -- Not Guilty Plea in Megan Meier Cyber-Bullying Suicide CYBER-BULLYING -- Only Misdemeanor Convictions in My-Space Teen Death Case CYBER-CRIME -- Dog Bites Man, as Craigslist Sues S, Carolina A.G. for Threatening a Pimping Indictment CYBER-CRIME -- Interpol, MSoft ,Yahoo, African Dev. Bank & Western Union Going After Online Lottery Fraud CYBER-CRIME -- Pentagon/Obama Envisaged Cyber-War Command Underscores Commonality Between Warmaking and Criminality CYBER-CRIME -- Report:: Year's Clandestine Sales of Crime-Enabling Software & Strolen IDs Top $276 M CYBER-CRIME -- Russian Supremacist Militias Sabotage Khyrgystan's Entire Internet CYBER-CRIME -- Verizon Warns: Outsourcing is Ramping up ID Theft Risk CYBER-CRIME -- Virus Spreader Convicted under Japanese Copyright law CYBER-LAW -- 9th Circuit: Woman Can Sue Yahoo for Promising to Take Down Nude Photos, but Failing to Do So - Barnes v. Yahoo! CYBER-SECURITY -- FBI: Feds Narrowly Averted Wipeout of Fannie Mae Database by Diisgruntled Employee CYBER-SECURITY -- In 2008, Corporations Averaged $6.6 M Remedial Outlays in Aftermath of Data Breaches CYBER-SECURITY -- McAfee Warns Web Sites in Certain Domains are High Security Risks CYBER-SQUATTING -- Trademark Holders Rush to Register Marks with Facebook by Midnight (EST), June 12 CYBERCRIME -- Italian Prosecutors Charge Google Complicit in Cyberposting of Hate Attack Video Victimizing Boy with Down's Syndrome CYBERCRIME -- Small Cluster of Professional Cyber-Crooks Commits Majority of Data Breaches CYBERLAW -- Lawsuit Can Proceed against Google, Charging Keyward Ads Violate Trademarking Rights CYBERLAW -- MySpace Postings Enjoy No Privacy Protections, Calif. Appellate Court Rules - Moreno v. Hanford Sentinel CYBERLAW -- SF's Digital Library Intervenes to Challenge Google's Book Scanning Settlement with Authors D.U.I. & TRAFFIC -- S. Bay Sentator Simitian's State Cell-Phone Statute Still Lets Us Text, but Not Talk DAMA\GES-INTEREST -- Supremes Preserve Exxon Plaintiffs' Financial Recovery - Baker v. Exxon DATA OWNERSHIP -- Facebook 's Abjuration Feigned, Privacy Wonks Find 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 -- Credit Card Fraud Ring Breaches 32,000 LexisNexis Users' Private Data DATA PRIVACY -- Data Miners Petition Supremes for 1st Amendment Shield for Collectimg and Selling Medical Data DATA PRIVACY -- Discount Retailer to Pay out $9.75 M in Multistate Data Security Negligence Settlement DATA PRIVACY -- FTC Busts Sears for Concealing Privacy-Compromising Nature of 'Free Software' It Gave Customers 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 DATA PRIVACY -- SONY Settles Child Privacy Lawsuit with $1M Payout DATA PRIVACY -- Survey: Public Drops Google from Top 20 Trusted Corporations 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 Abolished in New Mexico DEATH PENALTY -- Death Penalty for Child Rape is Unconstitutionally Excessive, US Supremes Rule - Kennedy v. Louisiana DEATH PENALTY -- Judge Faces Removal for Abetting Wrongful Execution by Stonewalling Appeal Filing 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 DEATH PENALTY -- World Court Rules Texas Execution of Mexican National Violated International Law DEBTOR-CREDITOR -- Intermediary Has Standing to Sue on Client Creditors' Behalf, Supremes Rule - Sprint v. APCC DEBTOR-CREDITOR -- S. Jose Judge Certifies Enormous Class Action against Unduly Agressive Debt Collection Agency DEFAMATION -- Court Dismisses Libel Suit over Kathleen Cleaver's & Geronimo Pratt's FBI Informant & Perjury Accusations against Former Panther Chair DEFAMATION -- Germ Warfare Developer Fingered as 9/11 Anthrax Suspect Accepts $5.8 M Defamation Settlement from DOJ DEFAMATION -- Law Profs Can Sue West for Wrongly Listing Them as Authors of Lousy Crim Law Update DEPORTATION -- I.C.E. Chief Ends 3-Month Mercy Period, Deporting Hatians Back to Storm-Devastated Misery DEPORTATION -- Transfer from US Suburb to German Prison Nears for Nazi Camp Guard DESIGN PATENTS -- Fed. Circuit Alters Conceptual Fundamentals of Design Patent Infringement Analysis - Egyptian Goddess v. Swisa DETENTION -- Amnesty International: I.C.E.Holding Huge Masses of Prisoners, Including US Citizens, with Zero Due Process DETENTION -- DC Federal Judge: Administration Must Release 17 Chinese Muslims at Guantanamo into U.S. by Friday, Oct. 10 DETENTION -- Detainee Advocates Deride Obama Whitehouse's Revised Policies on 'Terrorism' Detentions as Cosmetic and Insubstantial DETENTION -- Habeas Extends to Guantanamo & other US Detainees, US Supremes Rule - Boumediene v. Bush DETENTION -- KGB Abducts NY Attorney in London for Torture, Secret Economic Espionage Trial, and Prison DETENTION -- Legal US Resident, Imprisoned 7 Years Without Charges, Enters Not Guilty Plea DETENTION -- Obama Resumes Guantanamo Tribunals with some Added Due Process Provisions DETENTION -- Obama's DOJ Moves to Strip Due Process and Habeas Rights from Afghans Imprisoned on US Air Base DISABILITY ACCOMODATION -- Whitehous Proposes Update & Strengthening of Federal Disability Access Regs DISCOVERY -- Mattel Claims Bratz Creator Scrambled Computer Evidence Before Departing Employment DISCRIMINATION-AGE -- Age Discrimination Considered Alone Must be Sufficient Factor Causing Injury, to Constitute Actionable Age Prejudice, 5 of 9 Supremes Rule - Gross v. FBL Financial Svcs. DISCRIMINATION-AGE -- Employees File Age Discrimination Suit against 3M in Northern California 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 -- DOJ's Internal Inquiry Confirms Flagrant , Conservative Ideological Manipulation of Hiring, Promotion and Assignments by Civil Rights Div. Chief 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-LANGUAGE & NATIONALITY -- Researcher: Single, Vicious White Supremacist Founded US's Three Most Influential Nativist/Anti-Immigrant Groups 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 -- Jusice Kennedy May be Swing Vote in Supremes' Invalidation of Voting Rights Act - NW Austin MUD v. Holder DISCRIMINATION-RACE -- Mountain View's State Assembly Rep. Co-Authors Resolution Acknowledging California's Historical Persecution of Chinese - ACR 42 DISCRIMINATION-RACE -- Whitehouse Envoy 'Welcomes' Inclusion of US in UN's Global Racism Probe, but Denies any 'Real Problem' DISCRIMINATION-RACE-PROFILING -- SJ Police Dept. Considers 'Implicit Bias' Training to Make Police More Conscious of Unintentional Race Prejudice 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-RELIGION -- Transp Security Agency & Airline Pay $240 K to Pasenger Forced to Remove Arabic T-Shirt DISCRIMINATION-SEX & GENDER -- 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy Evades Supreme Court Challenge DISCRIMINATION-SEX & GENDER -- 100 + Retired Generals & Admirals Urge Obama to Eliminate 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy DISCRIMINATION-SEX & GENDER -- Armed Services, Obama Mull Elimination of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' DISCRIMINATION-SEX & GENDER -- Breathless Lawyers Savor 9th Circuit's Reparte During En Bank Walmart Sex Discrimination Class Action Hearing DISCRIMINATION-SEX & GENDER -- EEOC About Faces -- Now Backs Wal-Mart Women Workers' Petition for Discrimination Class Action Certification DISCRIMINATION-SEX & GENDER -- Pennsylvania Judge Rules Firing Receptionist Who Wouldn't Fetch Coffee not Discriminatory - Appeal Planned DISCRMINATION-LANGUAGE & NATIONALITY -- Pennsylvania Town Tense after Defendants Acquitted for Beating Death of Latino Teen DIVORCE -- Divorces Proliferate in Northern Afghan City, with Greater Womens' Access to Legal Services & to Supportive NGOs DNA-FORENSICS -- Prisoners Have No Automatic Entitlement to Prosecution's DNA Evidence - District Attorney's Office v. Osborne DOM. VIOLENCE -- Economic Meltdown Produces Spike in Domestic Violence DOM. VIOLENCE -- EU Rights Court Holds Complacent Turkish Govt. Liable for Abuser's Murder of Mother-in-Law DOMAIN NAMES -- On-Line Society Column Registers Domain Names for Big Apple Business & Media Elite DRUGS -- Afghan Authorities Hope to Entice Heroin Growers into Saffron Trafficking DRUGS -- Afghan Poppy Farmers Join Taliban in Fighting off Govt. Opium Eradication Squads DRUGS -- Economic Model Indicates Tougher Policing Can Drive Heroin Purity Up and Prices Down DRUGS -- New Fed. Statute Outlaws Online Pill-Pushing DRUGS -- Nor-Cal Federal Defenders Charge Widespread Vindictive Drug Prosecutions DRUGS -- Stanford Research Yields Medication Eliminating Opiate Withdrawal Symptoms DRUGS -- Whisper of Racial Sentencing Equity Enraptures DC Cocaine Scene DUI & TRAFFIC -- Calif. Assembly Bill Would Require Courts to Impose Breathalyzer Ignition Lockouts for All DUI Offenders - AB91 ECONOMIC CRISIS -- Automaker Re-Structuring Will Strip Death & Injury Plaintiffs of Remedies ECONOMIC CRISIS -- Fed Anti-Fraud Enforcers Going after Lawyers, Mortgage Brokers & Real Estate Brokers for Mortgage Fraud ECONOMIC CRISIS -- Greenspan Tells Congress His Free Market, Anti-Regulation Ideology was Invalid ECONOMIC CRISIS -- Lawyer Suicides Feared as Economic Meltdown Continues ECONOMIC CRISIS -- White House Efforts to Rescue Chrysler from Bankruptcy Unravel ECONOMIC CRISIS -- Whitehouse Considers 'Soft Landing' Bankruptcy Innovation to Salvage at Least Parts of GM ELECTIONS -- Stanford Prof Urges Dismantling of US Electoral College EMPLOYEE BENEFITS -- 3rd, 4th & 7th Circuits Bless Employers who Gut Retiree Benefits. --- 6th Holds the Line ENFORCEMENT-ENVIRONMENTAL -- UK Postal Workers' Rubber Band Profligacy Brings Threats of Massive Fines ENFORCEMENT-IMMIGRATION -- Obama's Homeland Security Nominee Vows She'll Drop Hammer on Employers of Undocumented Workers ENFORCEMENT-IMMIGRATION -- Pilotless Drone to Surveil US/Canada Border 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 EXPORT-IMPORT -- $1Billion Class Action By US Food Producers Charges Insurers' Surety Bonds Abetted Chinese Product Dumping in US EXTINCTION -- Cameroon Poacher Caught with Plunderage from 8 Elephants Gets 5 Years EXTINCTION -- Lax Proposed Quota Dooms Last Major US Fishery to Collapse, Advocate Warn -- Sea Lion Species & McDonald's Fishwiches Both Imperilled EXTINCTION -- Tropical Researchers Recommend Regulated Indigenous Hunting of Central Africa's Endangered Species EXTRADITION -- EU's Membership Requirement that Balkan Nations Permit Extraditions is Important, but Falls Short FAIR USE -- Belgian News Combine Demands $77 M from Google for Unauthorized Storage & Publishing of Content FAIR USE -- Local Legal Luminary Lessig Lauds Obama Organization's Liberalized Licensure FAIR USE -- Major News Services Announce Plan to Choke off Unlicensed Web Uses of Their Reportage 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 FAIR USE -- NY Judge Ponders whether Salinger's Holden Caulfield Character Can Be Copyrighted against Future Portrayals FAMILY -- Mother Can't Seek Annulment of 8-Year-Old Daughter's Marriage to 47-Year-Old, Saudi Judge Rules FEDERALISM -- Whitehouse Disavows Federal Preemption as Bar to State Regulations Exceeding Federal in Strictness 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. Bar & Public Intrerest Clearinghouse Create Online Homeowner Resource for Avoiding Foreclosure FORECLOSURES -- Calif. Sues Countrywide & Its Officers over Mortgage Meltdown FORECLOSURES -- Silicon Valley Homes May Be too Pricey for Rescue from Foreclosure by Obama Plan FORECLOSURES -- Whitehouse Withdraws Crisis Relief's Already-Flacid Hind Tit from Imperilled Homeowners FORENSICS -- Peroxyde Foils Luminol Blood Residue Testing, Spanish Researchers Warn FORENSICS -- State Budget Crisis Shrinks NorCal Computer Crim Lab, Adding to S. Jose's Regional Computer Forensics Lab's Burden FORENSICS-DNA -- Ethical and Privacy Hazards Lurk Around Unconsented and Undisclosed DNA Tests FRAUD -- Con Artist Rips off S. Jose Woman, Impersonating 'Grandsons in Trouble' FRAUD -- Consumers & Environmentalists Suing Corporations over Bogus Claims of Eco-Friendliness FRAUD -- Drs. & Public Excoriate Merck for Concocting Bogus Medical Journal FRAUD-INSURANCE -- Big Pharma Medicaid Fraud Actions Compounded with $95.5 M Aventis Settlemen FRAUD-SECURITIES -- Fresno Pair Busted for Role in Hybrid Spam Abuse and Stock Fraud Ring FRAUD-SECURITIES -- Lawsuit Charges Holland & Knight Negligence Abetted $360 M Ponzi Scheme FRAUD-SECURITIES -- Study: Smiles May Lure Investors to Disregard Own Valid Misgivings GANGS -- Researchers Claim Gene Predisposes Some US Teens to Gang Involvement & Weapon Use 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 -- Germany Seeks Extradition of Former Death Camp Guard from U.S., as Accessory to 29,000 Murders GENOCIDE -- I.C.C.'s Top Prosecutor Seeks U.N. & A.U. Support for Arrest of Sudan President GENOCIDE -- Prosecutors Appeal to ICC, Pursuing Darfur Genocide Indictment against Sudan Head of State GENOCIDE -- Rwanda Tribunal Orders Benin Prison Site for Convicted Genocide Leaders GENOCIDE -- Serbs in Picturesque Town Claim They Can't Remember 1992 Tortures and Massacres of Vanished Bosniak Majority GENOCIDE -- UN's International Justice Court Takes on Croatia Genocide Trial angainst Serbia GOVERNMENT & POLITICS -- Labor Advocates: DOL Needs Immediate, Thorough Housecleaing and Reorientation GOVERNMENT & POLITICS -- Obama Populates DOJ's Top Tier with 4 Former Clinton Stalwarts GOVERNMENT & POLITICS -- Obama's AG Choice Faces New Scrutiny Regarding Marc Rich Pardon GOVERNMENT & POLITICS -- Obama's, McCain's and Clinton's Plans for DOJ Revealed GOVERNMENT & POLITICS -- Senate Committee Heavyweights Fume; Complain Obama Cut Them out of CIA & DOJ Nomination Loops GOVERNMENT BENEFITS -- Calif. Aged, Disabled and Blind Legal Immigrant Lifeline Benefits Face the Axe GOVERNMENT BENEFITS -- Court: Kentucky Private Litigant Lacks Standing to Make Agencies Kick Undocumented Immigrants off of Health & Voc. Rehab. Programs GOVERNMENT BENEFITS -- Obama Warns Medicare & Soc. Security Funds Barreling toward Insolvency GOVERNMENT BENEFITS -- State Legislators Plan to Dump State SSI Supplementation, Slashing Aged, Blind & Disabled SSI to Miserable Fraction of Susbsistance GOVERNMENT BENEFITS -- Vets File Class Action Demanding Disability Benefits for PTSD GOVERNMENT WORKERS -- Bush Executive Order Strips Union Rights from 8,600 Federal Workers GUANTANAMO DETAINEES -- 17 Chinese Uighur Muslims Remain in Limbo Even after US Admits their 7-Year Gitmo Detentions Were Never Justified GUANTANAMO DETAINEES -- D.C. Cricuit Denies Uighur Mongol Prisoners' Release to US GUANTANAMO DETAINEES -- EU Council OKs Members' Acceptance of Some Released Guantamo Prisoners, but Sets Conditions GUANTANAMO DETAINEES -- Fed Judge - US Must Release 5 Algerians from Guantanamo GUANTANAMO DETAINEES -- French Courts Toss 2 Guantanamo Survivors' Terrorism Convictions GUANTANAMO DETAINEES -- Holder Visits Guantanamo GUANTANAMO DETAINEES -- Lawyers for Some Gitmo Detainees Object that Camp Closure Plan will Unnecessarily Lengthen Imprisonment GUANTANAMO DETAINEES -- No Mercy from Abuse Available in Civilian Courts for Guantanamo Prisoners, DC District Judge Rules GUANTANAMO DETAINEES -- Officials Disclose 4 Gitmo Prisoner Transfers to Iraq Jailers for Interrogation 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 GUANTANAMO PRISONERS -- Lawyers Seek Detailed Records of Alleged Al Qaida Agent 's Secret CIA Site Detentions GUANTANAMO PRISONERS -- Whitehouse May Throw a Few Detainees to Congressional Wolves to Break Guantanamo Closure Stalemate GUNS & WEAPONS -- Craigslist Immune from Handgun Injury Liability 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 -- Mugabe & Goons Harass, Frame, Slander and Scapegoat Zimbabwe's Remnant White Population 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-ASBESTOS -- High Court Will Review $ 1/2 B Asbestos Settlement Foreclosing all Future Claims against Travelers Companies, Inc. - Travelers v. Bailey and Common Law Counsel v. Bailey HAZARDS-ASBESTOS -- Supremes Confront Endlessly Metastasizing Asbestos Litigation HAZARDS-ASBESTOS -- W.R. Grace Forestalls Bankruptcy with $140 M Asbestos Home Insulation Settlement HAZARDS-BIOLOGICAL -- Inventory Turns Up 9,000 Unrecorded Vials of World's Deadliest Pathogens in Arny's Bio-'Defense' Lab HAZARDS-BISPHENOL -- Playtext Baby Bottle Chemical Contamination Plaintiff Seeks Class Certification HAZARDS-C02 -- EPA Proposes 'Endangerment Finding' to White House, Declaring that Greenhouse Gasses Imperil Human or Environmental Health HAZARDS-FIRE -- New Regulation Outlaws BBQing on Most Decks & Balconies HAZARDS-LEAD -- Calif. AG Secures $1.8M Lead Contamination Setllement from Nine Toy Makers 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 -- Longstanding $25 B Tobacco Settlement Survives Antitrust Challenge by Non-Paricipant Importers 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 HAZARDS-TOBACCO -- Supremes Drop Philip Morris Appeal of $79 M Oregon Punitive Damages Award - Philip Morris v. Williams HAZARDS-TOBACCO -- Supremes: False Advertising Claims against Cigarette Mfrgrs. Under Maine Statute Survive Federal Preemption - Altria v. Good 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, -- Rights Advocates, Prosecutors Dispute Motives for ICC Prosecutions of Sudan Rebels I.C.C. -- Arab League Derides I.C.C.'s Darfur War Crimes Warrant against Sudan President I.C.C. -- Darfur Refugees Tell ICC: Don't Divert Prosecutions from Sudan Govt., & Proxies to Insurgents 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 IDENTITY OFFENSES -- Burglar Gets SSA Nos. of Sacto. Crim Appeals Panel Lawyers IDENTITY OFFENSES -- Global Cyber-Fraudsters Mine Databases & Hijack Home Owners' Phone Accounts to Plunder Home Equity Credit Lines IDENTITY OFFENSES -- Investigative Reporter: Hackers Are Peddling Your Credit Card Codes for Peanuts IMMIGRATION REFORM -- 2 Biggest US Labor Federations Take Unified Stand on Immigration Policy IMMIGRATION-ENFORCEMENT -- Fed Court Tosses Okla. State Penalties for Employer Immigration Violations, as Pre-Empted IMMIGRATION-INCLUSION -- Salt Lake Police Chief Won't Involve Officers in Immigration Enforcement IMMIGRATION-STATUS ADJUSTMENT -- Victims of Human Trafficking & Other Crimes May Be Eligible for Permanent, Legal US Residency under New Regs IMPORT-EXPORT -- Lloyds Cops to $350 M Penalty for Covertly Circumventing US Embargoes against Iran, Sudan & Others; HP Halts Iran Printer Sales INFRINGEMENT-COPYRIGHT -- Apple Argues Copyright Laws Bar Users from Installatimg Unapproved Applications on their IPhones INFRINGEMENT-COPYRIGHT -- Titans Clash over Marvel Comics Empire INFRINGEMENT-PATENTS -- E. Texas 'Plaintiffs' Paradise' Sticks M-Soft with $200 M Infringement Verdict 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 INNOCENCE -- Authoring Nonfiction Work about Wrongful Death Sentence Transforms John Grisham into Innocence Project Zealot INSURANCE-MEDICAL -- Economic Crisis, Layoffs and Resulting Health Insurance Cutoffs Trigger Emergency Room Overloads in S. Clara Co. INSURANCE-MEDICAL -- GA Case May Define whether Treating Doctors or Medicaid Bureaucrat s Control Porr Patients' Care INSURANCE-MEDICAL -- GOP Leaders Decry Covert Marxist Assault on Insurance Industry, as Federal Child Health Plan Sails through Senate INSURANCE-MEDICAL -- Mental Health Parity Bill Clear Congress - H.R. 6983 INSURANCE-MEDICAL -- Uninsured Childrens' Healthcare Expansion Clears House over Bush Opposition - Children’s Hlth. Ins. Progr. Reauth. Act INSURANCE-MEDICAL -- Whitehouse Cant Restrict Medicare Coverage to 'Least Costly Treatment Alternative', Federal Judge Rules INTERNET GOVERNANCE -- Apple Holds Out, Stalling Adoption of Internet Automatic Software Updating Standard INTERNET GOVERNANCE -- EU Info Minister Calls for Un-Tethering of ICANN from US Govt. INVESTIGATION -- Japanese Technology Reconstructs Subjects' Mental Pictures Strictly from Brain Waves JUDICIAL CONDUCT -- High Court's Male Supermajority Cluelessly Crude & Dismissive of Teen Girl's Strip Search Trauma - Safford U.S.D.#1 v. Redding JUDICIAL CONDUCT -- Kozinski Enemy Files New Cyber-Abuse Complaint JUDICIAL CONDUCT -- Mississippi Supremes Reprimand Black Judge for Criticizing White Attitudes to Black Community Group JUDICIAL CONDUCT -- Touchy, Scalia Flames Student over Camreras-in-Court Query JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE -- 12 of 60 Musharraf-Ousted Pakistani Judges Re-Instated So Far JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE -- Pakistan Govt. Announces Imminent Return of All Ousted Judges & Orders Release of All Jailed 'Long March' Protesters JUDICIAL SELECTION -- ABA Wants to Reclaim Seat at the Table, in Vetting of Federal Judicial Nominees JUDICIAL SELECTION -- Legal Scholars: McCain Win Would Probably Intensify Supreme Court's Rightward Bent; Obama Win Would Probably Continue Status Quo JUDICIAL SELECTION -- New Mutterers Increase Volume Slightly, of Sotomayor-Related Dithering JUDICIAL SELECTION -- Sotomayor Unapologetic for Membership in Elite Women-Only Bohemian Grove Simulacrum JURIES -- Patent Infringement Defense Requires Over-Ride of Jurors' Primal Ethical & Anti-Corporate Convictions JURY INSTRUCTIONS -- US High Court Reimposes San Mateo Felony Murder Conviction, Reversing 9th Circuit - Hedgpeth v. Pulido JUVENILES -- Research Pinpoints Possible Hormonal Cause of Male Juvenile Delinquency JUVENILES -- Study: Worst Breeding Grounds for Public School Mass Murders are Elite Sschools with Rigid and Sharp Social Stratification 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 -- Downturn in Legal Economy Driving up Depression & Substance Abuse Rates among Solos & Casualties of Large Firm Cutbacks LAW-BIZ -- Firms Claim They're Saving $250 K per Yr. per Associate They Lay Off; $100 K per Yr. per Staffer LAW-BIZ -- Grim Reaper Fells those Cherry-Pickers who Browse too Low in our Profession's Thinning Ranks LAW-BIZ -- Rancor Festers as Firm-Subsidized Trainee Associates Displace Committed Public Interest Aspirants from Careers of Conscience LAW-BIZ -- US Law Jobs Plummet , Dropping by 1,100 in May LAYOFFS -- Neologism 'Voluntary Reduncancy' Transmutes Fired Lawyers' Un-Consolable Discouragement into Fatalistic Contentment 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 MALPRACTI CE-LEGAL -- Bigtime Flub in Heller Ehrman Bankruptcy Far Graver than 'Clerical Error,' Say Informed Practitioners MALPRACTICE INSURANCE -- Mandatory Malpractice Insurance Disclosure Passes Calif. State Bar MALPRACTICE-MEDICAL -- Calif's Physician Discipline Rate Drops from 22nd to 43rd in US MALPRACTICE-MEDICAL -- Medicare to Stop Paying Hospitals to Correct Own Medical Blunders MALPRACTICE-MEDICAL -- Privatized, 'Contract' Institutional Review Board OKs Dangerous Medical Experiments in GAO Sting MALPRACTICE-MEDICAL -- Scientists' Advisory Helps Patients Determine Whether a Stem Cell Clinic is Hyping Snake Oil MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION -- Breyer Pissed, after Feds Extradite Medical Pot Advocate from Romania to Face Possible One-Day Sentence MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION -- Holder Calls Off Bush Era Harassment of Medical Pot Dispensaries MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION -- New Mexico Bill Directs State to Grow & Sell Medical Pot MARIJUANA-LEGALIZATION -- High Court Leaves Calif. Medical Pot Victory Intact MARIJUANA-LEGALIZATION -- Obama's Medical Pot Tolerance Directive May Abruply Reshape Santa Cruz/San Jose Pot Dispensary Lawsuit MARIJUANA-LEGALIZATION -- Proposed San Mateo City Ordinance Would Permit & Regulate Medical Pot Collectives MARIJUANA-LEGALIZATION -- SF's Ammiano Can't Find a Single Co-Sponsor for Pot Legalization & Commercialization Proposal 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 MARRIAGE-SAME SEX -- Upholding Prop.8, Calif. Supremes Rescue Traditional Marriages from Menacing LGBT Agenda - Strauss v. Horton 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 MARRIAGES-SAME SEX -- Opposing Demo & GOP Litigators in 2000 Vote Recount Unite to Fight for Gay Marriage Right MENS REA -- Neurosurgeon Pinpoints Cerebral Site Controlling Free Will METHODS PATENTS -- Fed. Circuit Narrows Business Methods Patenting Options - In Re Bilski MICHAEL JACKSON -- Posthumous Litigation Prolongs Lifelong Media Exploitation of Child Prodigy MICROSOFT ANTITRUST -- Euro-Commission Concludes MSoft Guilty of Antitrust Violations with IE 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 NET CENSORSHIP -- Facebook Relegates Isle of Man KKK Site to History's Dustbin NET CENSORSHIP -- Govt's Plea to Reinstate Mandatory Porn Filtering Fails to Make High Court's Calendar NET CENSORSHIP -- MSoft Abets US Isolation of Disfavored Societies NET NEUTRALITY -- House Demos Vote to Require Net Neutrality Concessions from Telecoms & ISPs Which Accept Economic Stimulus Payments NOTICE -- High Court to Rule on How Bad the News Must Get Before Investors Have Constructive Notice of Corporate Distress OFF-SHORING -- Silicon Valley Braces for Blowback from Indian Off-Shoring Contractor's Massive Scandal OFFENSES-HOMICIDE -- Spector Gets 19 to Life for Clarkson Murder OFFENSES-PREVENTION -- Mountain View Adopts 'Not in Our Town' Response to Hate Crime OFFENSES: MONEY LAUNDERING -- Evincing Lenity, Thomas & Scalia Author Majority Opinions Making Money Laundering Convictions Harder to Get - Cuellar v. US & US v. Santos OWNERSHIP-PATENTS -- SF IP Atty's New Company Will Buy Up & Aggregate Patents, to Foreclose Troll Lawsuits Against Clients PANTENTABILITY -- Supremes Agree to Clear the Air regarding Business Methods Patentability PATENTING -- Fed. Circuit Restores Jury Consideration of Infringement-Absolving Opinion Letters, Briefly Thought Obsolete - Broadcom v. Qualcomm PATENTING -- Patent Proliferation Gridlocks Bio-Innovation, UC Berkeley/U. Ariz. Survey Warns PATENTING -- PTO's New Regs Governing Patent Applications Upheld by Fed. Circuit - Tafas v. Doll 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 PIRACY -- US Opens Crack in Absolute Secrecy Surrounding International Anti-Counterfeiting Agreement PIRACY -- Verdict Gives Dish Network $1,500 of $1B Piracy Damages it Demanded from DirecTV PIRACY -- WTO Rules for US in China Cyber-Piracy Dispute 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 POLICE-PRIVATIZATION -- Shell Pays $15 1/2 M to Settle Claims for Collusion in Nigerian Army Atrocities against Environmental Act ivists POLITICS & GOVERNMENT -- AG Nominee's Private Sector Work Could Pose Conflicts POLITICS & GOVERNMENT -- Holder's AG Confirmation Hearing Set for January '09 POLITICS & GOVERNMENT -- Republicans Intimate they Plan to Vigorously Contest Holder's AG Confirmation PORN -- Calif. Porn Industry Has STD Epidemic, Public Health Officials Warn 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 -- Editor Recounts Hellish 6-MonthOrdeal in Congo Prisons PRISONS & JAILS -- Inmates Can't Copyright Creative Work Executed for Prison Industries, Fed. Circuit Holds - Walton v. U.S. PRISONS & JAILS -- Judges Demand California Cut Prison Population by 1/3 PRISONS & JAILS -- New Paint Brightens -- the Once Drab, -- but Now Cheery --- Abu Ghraib -- -- -- -- END TORTURE NOW ! ! ! 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 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 PRIVATIZATION -- NY Court May Let Rich Lawyer Hire Own Guards for Own Luxury 'Prison,' Pending Trial 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 -- Economic Crash Obliges People to Litigate for Themselves 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 -- Florida State Senator Undertakes Inquest into Toxic Chinese Drywall PRODUCTS-AUTOMOTIVE -- Fed. Seat Belt Rule Declares Itself Preemptive of State Injury Claims PRODUCTS-AUTOMOTIVE -- Mercedes Planned to Drop Emergency-Response System after Marketing Cars Based on the Feature, Class Action Suit Charges PRODUCTS-AUTOMOTIVE -- Oklahoma Supremes Revive National Ford Accelerator Defect Class Action PRODUCTS-AUTOMOTIVE -- Owner Can Sue Honda over Inflated Civic Hybrid Gas Efficiency Claims, Calif. Court Rules - Paduano v. American Honda PRODUCTS-DRYWALL -- Federal Court Consolidates Lawsuits Alleging Sulfur Offgassing of Chinese Drywall PRODUCTS-FOOD -- Demos & Repubs Jockey for Legislative Limelight on Food Safety PRODUCTS-FOOD -- Lead Content Triggers Recall of Chinese Confection Qi Cai Bang 2008 PRODUCTS-MEDICAL -- Medical Device Safety Act of 2009 would Restore Product Defect Liablilty for Medical Devices Mfgrs. Immunized by US Supremes' 2008 Ruling 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 -- Iraq's Journalists See Imprisonment of Shoe-Throwing Colleague as Unfair, but Not as a Direct Threat to Press Freedom PROTEST & CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE -- Israelis Jail S. Jose Teacher for Gaza Fishing Rights Protest 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 PROTEST & CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE -- Will Acclaim throughout Middle East Save Shoe-Hurling Journalist from 7 Years in Iraqi Prison? PUBLIC DOMAIN -- Judge Scorns Design Copyright Claims for Tie-Dye Tshirts RETALIATION -- US Supremes OK Suits Charging Employer Retaliation against Race & Age Discrimination Plaintiffs-- Gomez-Perez v. Potter and CBOCS West v. Humphries RIGHT TO COUNSEL -- Mukasey Instructs All US Immigration Judges that Aliens Aren't Entled to Competent Counsel - Matter of Compean RIGHTS - RELIGIOUSLY PREMISED BASED GENDER DISCRIMINATION -- Self-Styled 'Christian' Student Group Sues Hastings for Right to Exclude Gays, Lesbians & Nonbelievers RIGHTS TRIBUNAL -- Bosnia War Crimes Tribunal's Timetable Too Ambitious for Some Critics, Too Slow for Others RIGHTS TRIBUNALS -- Bosnian Serb Atrocitaire Tells War Crime Tribunal US Ambassador Promised Him Immunity for Abdicating Presidency of Genocidal Regime RIGHTS TRIBUNALS -- Chechen Families Finding Redress against Russia for Disappearaces and Murders in EU Rights Court RIGHTS TRIBUNALS -- Oxford Law Group Invites Short Expert Essays on Human Rights Prosecutions RIGHTS TRIBUNALS -- Rights Advocates Hope Kenya's Emerging Special Tribunal will Prove Exemplary RIGHTS TRIBUNALS -- Uganda's War Crimes Tribunal Criticized as Ploy to Circumvent ICC RIGHTS-EXPRESSION -- Feds Bust Gun-Rights Fanatic for Blog and Net-Radio Solictitation of Judicial Assassinations - Including Posner's RIGHTS-EXPRESSION -- Fremont-Based Singapore Dissident Arrested for Blogging that Colleague's Trial Judge 'Prostituted Herself' 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-EXPRESSION-CENSORSHIP -- FCC Ban & Fines for Chance & Momentary Obscenity Squeak through Intact with 5-4 Supremes Decision - FCC v. Fox TV RIGHTS-EXPRESSION-NET CENSORSHIP -- Vietnam Officials Contemplate Crackdown on Nation's Freewheeling Blogosphere 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-INFORMATION -- Google Agitates to Make US Govt. Networks Crawler-Accessible RIGHTS-INFORMATION -- Obama Erects Even More Obstacles than Bush, to Public Knowledge Regarding Proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Treaty RIGHTS-PRESS -- Central Asian Govts' Osbservances Make Travesty of UN's 'World Press Freedom Day' RIGHTS-PRESS -- Pro-China Journalist Framed & Blacklisted for Sedition During 1950s, Dies in SF at 89 RIGHTS-RELIGION -- 33 Pastors to Openly Preach in Support of Candidates, to Challenge Constitutionality of IRS Non-Profit Regs RIGHTS-RELIGION -- Afghan Star Chamber Proceeding Dooms Accused Young Womens' Rights Downloader to 20-Year Prison Term RIGHTS-RELIGION -- Armenian Law Revision Would Outlaw Most Proselytizing and Deny Licenses to Worship for Groups under 1,000 Members 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 -- FBI Refuses to Tell Muslim-American Groups whether It's Planting Spies in US Mosques RIGHTS-RELIGION -- Fed. Judge Rules Oregon Group Can Use Hallucinogen Yage RIGHTS-RELIGION -- Kyrgyz Parliament Enacts Law Suppressing Religious Activity RIGHTS-RELIGION -- Longstanding Uzbek Religious Scapegoating Continues with Apparent Frameup of Turkish 'Islamists' RIGHTS-RELIGION -- Religious Convictions Renew Concerns Regarding Hardline Islamicization of Aghan Judiciary RIGHTS-RELIGION -- Today in Legal History - 1635: Massachusetts Banishes Religious Liberty Advocate RIGHTS-RELIGION-SEPARATION -- Jurors' Resort to Bible in Capital Trial Won't Get Inmate Supreme Court Hearing RIGHTS-RELIGION-SEPARATION -- Texas Schools Can Designate Moment for Prayer or Silence, 5th Circuit Rules - Croft v. Governor of Texas ROYALTIES -- Legal Filing Challenges Fundamental Constitutionality of US Copyright Royalty Board ROYALTIES -- Royalty Management Firm Challenges Constitutionality of Copyright Royalty Board ROYALTIES -- Webcasters Get Bill Through House Letting Them Negotiate Music Royalties Below Federal Baseline - Webcaster Settlement Act SECURITIES-ETHICS -- FBI Investigating Insider Trading by SEC Lawyers SENTENCING -- Collective Thirst for Revenge Erupts -- Applause Sweeps Courtroom after Madoff Gets 150 Years SENTENCING -- Teens' YouTube Youth Vandalism Sentence Includes YouTube Apology SENTENCING -- US Sentencing Commission Slips Factor into Guidlines Mandating 25% Increases when Proxie Servers Used in Crimes SEPARATION OF POWERS -- Obama Continues Bush Legacy, Resisting Congressional Subpoenas of Predecessor's Staff SETTLEMENT -- Detente and Settlement Supplant Mutual Legal Bloodletting between Broadcom & Qualcom, after Both Parties Install Less Bellicose Legal Chiefs SEX OFFENSES -- Afghan Society Continues Enabling Rape, through Impunity SEX OFFENSES -- Molestation Victims Can Sue Vatican, 6th Circuit Rules - O'Bryan v. Holy See SEX OFFENSES -- MySpace Reports It's Detected and Ejected 90,000 Registered Sex Offenders 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 -- N.J. Teen Girl Busted for Child Porn after She Posts Own Nude Photos on MySpace SEX OFFENSES-CHILD PORN -- Senate Bill Would Launch Massive $1B Chld Cyber-Porn Crackdown - S.1738 - Combating Child Exploitation Act SEX OFFENSES-TRAFFICKING -- Prostitution Sweeps Rescue 48 Trafficked Children Nationwide, Including Seven in SF & Oakland SLAPPS -- Goldman Sachs & Nemesis Blogger Lob Cannonballs Across Each Others' Bows SLAVERY -- Criminal Profits from Slavery Soar to at Least $52 B / Year, Global Labor Agency Reports 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 SPAM & TELEMARKETING -- Cisco Study: Spam Doubled Worldwide Since 2007 to 200 Billion Messages/Day. US Biggest Source at 17.2% of Total STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS -- NY Court Cuts No Slack for Leap Year STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS -- Recent DOJ Win Would Foreclose Countless Actions Against Feds, if Widely Adopted - Fauvergue v. U.S. STOCK OPTIONS & 401KS -- Marvell Tech Group Settles Backdating Actions for $72 M SURROGACY & IVF -- Teen Can Sue Sperm Bank over Brain Impairments Induced by Sperm-Donor Father's Fragile-X Chromosome, Judge Rules SURVEILLANCE -- 'Bipartisan' Constitutional Rights Betrayal Will Unleash Massive, Renewed Domestic Spying & Will Amnesty Complicit Telecoms - FISA Amendments of 2008 SURVEILLANCE -- 'Terror' Profilers Propose Tracking Students by College Course Selection SURVEILLANCE -- Bush Regime Colluding with Chinese Govt. to Create Global Web User Track-Back Protocol SURVEILLANCE -- Despite Constitutional Rhetoric, Holder/Obama May Retain Many of Bush Civil Liberties Erosions 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 -- Homeland Security Designs Happy Face for its Data Mining SURVEILLANCE -- Homeland Security Provides Wonderful New Compulsory Computer Tracking for Non-Visa Visitors from Countries Deemed US-Friendly SURVEILLANCE -- New Google People-Tracking Service Alarms Privacy Activists SURVEILLANCE -- Police Want Blackberries Redesigned for Easy Wiretapping SURVEILLANCE -- Supposed 'Compromise' Would Spirit Grant Telcom Domestic Spying Defendants Automatic Dismissals, by Secret Intelligence Courts SURVEILLANCE -- Telcoms Retroactively Immune from Multitude of Consumer Lawsuits over Collusion with NSA Warrantless Wiretaps, SF Judge Rules - In Re: NSA Telcom Records SURVEILLANCE -- Texas Conservative Republican Trio Proposes Federal Bill Forcing all ISPs & Wi-Fi Access Points (including Home Users!) to Retain User Data for Police Review TAX -- Fed. Jury Throws Out White Collar Charge against Bechtel Lawyer Whose Unintended Error Led Him to Aggressively Advocate for Improper Research Deduction TAX-INTERNET -- Amazon: 'We'll Unplug from California, No. Carolina & Hawaii if States Impose Internet Sales Taxes' - AB 178 TAX-INTERNET -- Legislators Eyeing Internet Taxation as Tantalizing Budget Crisis Fix TORTURE -- ACLU Calls for Special Prosecutor to Inverstigate Bush Era Tortures TORTURE -- Blue Ribbon Panel Warns UK Parliament against Complicity in US Renditions TORTURE -- Documents Reveal Colin Powell Got Red Cross Alert about US Use of Torture in 2004 TORTURE -- DOJ Lawyer Argues 'State Secrets' Foreclose Lawsuit against S.J. Co for Complicity in CIA Rendition's for Torture 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 -- Guantanamo Families Sue Rumsfeld & Subordinates over Sons' Suicides TORTURE -- In 2002, CIA Trainer Told Guantanamo Interrogators, 'If the Detainee Dies, You’re Doing it Wrong.' TORTURE -- Iraqi Kurdistan's Rogue Security Apparatus Tramples Human Rights, Investigators Report 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 TOXIC TORTS -- Industrialists Bluster and Fume as Environmentalists Invoke Crime Victims' Rights to Advantage TRADE TREATIES -- US Trade Rep. Concealing 90% of Draft Global IP Enforcement Treaty's Text from Public 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 TRIALS -- Pocket Technology Latest Vector for Juror Misconduct 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 UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS -- Yale Law Student Clinic Secures US Constitutional Protection for Undocumented Immigrants UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS -- N.J. Appeals Court Shields Wage-&-Hour Plaintiffs from Immigration-Status Discovery Harassment by Employer's Lawyers VENUE -- Supremes Acquiesce in 5th Circuit's Prying Open Texas Plaintiff-Friendly Patent Venue VIGILANTISM -- Municipalities Start Using ID Theft Statutes to Bust Undocumented Immigrants VIGILLANTISM -- Rightist Legal Project Stokes Anti-Immigrant Rancor in Mountainview Neighborhood VISA WORKERS -- US Economic Crisis Erects Dual Obstacle to H-1B Immigration: Shrinking Opportunities & Xenophobic Scapegoating WAGE & HOUR -- 750-Page D.O.L. Reg. Revision May Obfuscate, Not Clarify, Family Med Care Issues WAGE & HOUR -- Calif's 4th Appellate District Knocks Out $86 M Starbucks Tip-Pooling Judgment` - Chau v. Starbucks WAGE & HOUR -- Fed. Court Rules Airline Deregulation Act and Collective Bargaining Agreement Both Preempt Calif. Wage & Hour Protections - Blackwell v. SkyWest WAGE & HOUR -- Judge Invalidates Miilwaukee Sick-Leave Ordinance, Holding its Mandated Paid Leave for Domestic Abuse Victims Addresses No Public safety Issue 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 -- Dutch Supreme Court Sustains 17-Year Sentence for Mustard Gas Peddler to Saddam Hussein WAR & WAR CRIMES -- Fed. Jury Rejects all Nigerian Villagers' Atrocity Claims against Chevron WAR & WAR CRIMES -- Human Rights Watch Calls on Rwanda Tribunal to Prosecute Both Tutsi and Hutu War Crimes WAR & WAR CRIMES -- Hutu Convicted for War Crimes & Genocide in First Use of Canadian War Crimes Law WAR & WAR CRIMES -- ICC: Some Prosecution Setbacks During Testimony at Congo Militia Leader Lubanga's War Crimes Trial WAR & WAR CRIMES -- International Criminal Court Stays Child-Soldier Abductions Trial of Congolese Atrocitaire, Citing Evidenciary Improprieties WAR & WAR CRIMES -- Justice Dept. Transfers Nazi War Crime Files to US Holocaust Memorial Museum WAR & WAR CRIMES -- Kurdish Survivors of Chemical Attacks Sue Saddam Hussein's US Suppliers WAR & WAR CRIMES -- Main US Ally among Afghan Warlords Obliterating Mass Graves to Sabotage Atrocity Prosecutions 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 -- Rights Advocates: NBC's 'Catch a Predator' Format Doesn't Cut It with War Crimes Accusations WAR & WAR CRIMES -- Senegalese Court Filing Levels Atrocity Charges against Former Chadian Dictator WAR & WAR CRIMES -- Serbia Appears Committed at Last to Capturing Fugitive Atrocitaires WAR & WAR CRIMES -- Unprecedented Pentagon Brass Admission, after US Bombs 2 Afghan Villages: --- er --- uh --- Well, .... Maybe a FEW of the 100 Civilian Deaths Were our Doing 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 -- Congressional Inquiry Examines SEC's Failure to Detect and Stop Bernard Madoff's $50 B Ponzi Scheme WHITE COLLAR -- Court Grants DAs Some Power over Madoff Personal Assets 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 WRONGFUL DEATH -- 4th District: Survivors Can't sue Orange Co. Psychiatrist over Patient's Deadly Shooting Spree - Greenberg v. Superior Court WRONGFUL DEATH -- Private Prison Staff May Face Criminal Charges for Neglect of Immigration Detainee WRONGFUL DEATH -- S.J. Settles 2005 Taser Fatality Suit for $70,000 ZONING & LAND USE -- Redwood City Initiative would Require 2/3 Public Majority to OK Encroachment on Open Space Local Legal Headlines ABUSE OF PROCESS -- Convicted After 3 Years' Obstructing S.Clara Trial, Car Vandal Plans 5-Year Appeal Circus AFFIRMATIVE ACTION -- Prior Placings Scrambled when Law Firm Diversity Scorecard Implements Refined Formula AFFORDABILITY & GENTRIFICATION -- Proposed Car-Sleeping Ban May Pit Palo Alto Nimbies against Humanitarians AFFORDABILITY & GENTRIFICATION -- Real Estate Profiteers Squawk at S.J.'s Proposed 20% Affordable Housing Set-Aside AIR -- EPA Includes Cupertino School near Cement Plant in Nationwide Student Respiratory Risk Study ANTI-TRUST -- EU Hits Intel with $1.45 B Fine ANTI-TRUST -- FTC Investigates Apple/Google Interlocking Directorate 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 ARRESTS -- Left & Right Dissenters Unite to Warn: 9th Circuit's en banc OK of S. Jose Warrantless Arrest Opens Dangerous Breach in 4th Amendment Protections -- Fisher v. San Jose ATTY CONDUCT -- Asst S. Clara D.A. Misused Position to Vouch for Party in Land-Use Dispute ATTY CONDUCT -- Overzealous S. Clara Co. Deputy DA Hit with 4-Year Bar Suspension for Repeated Violations ATTY CONDUCT -- S. Clara Co. DA Installs Paralegal/Ombudsman ATTY CONDUCT -- S. Clara DA Adamantly Backs Implicated Personnel as Evidence Withholding Scandal Unfolds BAR ASSN. MEMBERSHIP -- Magnanimous County Bar Extends Dues Renewal Time Period BATTERY -- Neighbor Beaten & Left Disabled after Intervening to Stop Drunk Harassing Teen Girl BIOTECH -- Dalai Lama Co-Sponsors Stanford Neuro Research on Surgically Enhanced Compassion BUILDING & USE PERMITS -- Sunnyvale Council Enacts 4-Year Incremental Greening of Building Policies BUSINESS PRACTICES -- Lawsuits Erupt as Former S. Jose Electronics Exec's Kickback Scheme Comes to Light CLEMENCY -- Innocence Project & DA Clear Woman Wrongly Imprisoned 3 Years for Campbell Armed Burglary CLEMENCY -- S. Clara Sherrif's Office Absolves Scofflaws of Penalties for Dodging 553 Warrants CLEMENCY -- S. Mateo Co. Intervenes to Slow or Block Massive Impending Calif. Prisoner Release COMPETENCY & COMMITMENT -- Remand Pending on Competency of Accused S.. Jose Cop-Killer CONFLICT OF INTEREST -- S. Clara Co.. Judge Disqualifies Qiuinn Emanuel from Silicon Valley Trade Secrets Lawsuit, because of Conflicted Lateral Hire CONFLICT OF INTEREST -- Silicon Valley's Informal Practice Style Gums Up Startup Consultant's Whistleblower Litigation CONSUMER -- Industry Group Announces Lawsuit Against P. Alto's New Plastic Bag Ban CONSUMER FRAUD -- Oakland, S.F. and Missouri Lawsuits Charge Labelling Fraud and Harmful Product Content in 'Organic' Market 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 -- S. Clara Co. Superior Court to Open New Courthouse in Morgan Hill COURT ADMINISTRATION -- Traffic Court Moved from Downtown San Jose to Courthouse in Santa Clara CYBER-BULLYING -- Italian Court Tries Google Execs for Enabling Student Video Showing Abuse of Youth with Downs Syndrome CYBER-CRIME -- Interpol, MSoft ,Yahoo, African Dev. Bank & Western Union Going After Online Lottery Fraud CYBER-CRIME -- Report:: Year's Clandestine Sales of Crime-Enabling Software & Strolen IDs Top $276 M CYBER-LAW -- Another Company Sues Google for Selling its Trademarked Names to Competitors for Search Keywords 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 CYBERCRIME -- Italian Prosecutors Charge Google Complicit in Cyberposting of Hate Attack Video Victimizing Boy with Down's Syndrome CYBERLAW -- Lawsuit Can Proceed against Google, Charging Keyward Ads Violate Trademarking Rights CYBERLAW -- MySpace Postings Enjoy No Privacy Protections, Calif. Appellate Court Rules - Moreno v. Hanford Sentinel CYBERLAW -- SF's Digital Library Intervenes to Challenge Google's Book Scanning Settlement with Authors 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 DATA PRIVACY -- Survey: Public Drops Google from Top 20 Trusted Corporations DEBTOR-CREDITOR -- S. Jose Judge Certifies Enormous Class Action against Unduly Agressive Debt Collection Agency DEPENDENT ABUSE -- S. Clara DA to Turn Over Representation of Abused Minors to Non-Profit Agency 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 -- Mountain View's State Assembly Rep. Co-Authors Resolution Acknowledging California's Historical Persecution of Chinese - ACR 42 DISCRIMINATION-RACE-PROFILING -- Advisors Recommend S.J. Council Commission Audit of Drunkenness Arrests DISCRIMINATION-RACE-PROFILING -- Palo Alto Council Orders Audit of Race Profiling by Its Police 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-RACE-PROFILING -- SJ Police Dept. Considers 'Implicit Bias' Training to Make Police More Conscious of Unintentional Race Prejudice DISCRIMINATION-RELIGION -- Fremont is Site for Sikh Coalition's New Western States Office DISCRIMINATION-RELIGION -- Lawsuit Charges Hindu Bosses of Sunnyvale Indian Restaurant Insulted and Harassed Muslim Cooks DOM. VIOLENCE -- Economic Meltdown Produces Spike in Domestic Violence DRUGS -- Cops Destroy Pot Plantation in Hills above San Jose DRUGS -- Police Speculate They Took Out One Cell of Unidentified Drug Cartel with Coordinated Busts throughout the South & East Bay DRUGS -- Stanford Research Yields Medication Eliminating Opiate Withdrawal Symptoms ELECTIONS -- Stanford Prof Urges Dismantling of US Electoral College EMPLOYEE BENEFITS -- S. Jose Employee Pensions Overpaid Millions over Several Years ENVIRONMENTAL MITIGATION -- Commission Urges County-Wide Charge for Disposable Shopping Bags FAIR USE -- Belgian News Combine Demands $77 M from Google for Unauthorized Storage & Publishing of Content FAIR USE -- Candy Mfgr. Hits Burlinggame Pez Museum Operators with Infringement Suit FAIR USE -- Local Legal Luminary Lessig Lauds Obama Organization's Liberalized Licensure FAIR USE -- Major News Services Announce Plan to Choke off Unlicensed Web Uses of Their Reportage FINES & CIVIL PENALTIES -- Hard Times Derail Stanford Alum and Former Upscale Call Girl's $313 K Unpaid Tax Settlement FINES & CIVIL PENALTIES -- HP Boardroom Spies-for-Hire Will Pay FCC $600 K FORECLOSURES -- Community Advocates Host Public Meeting on Foreclosure Crisis FORECLOSURES -- S. J. Council Resolves to Upgrade Vigilance after Foreclosure Crisis Erases $1.3 B from Pension Funds FORECLOSURES -- Silicon Valley Foreclosure Impacts: More Renters Looking; More Tenant Evictions; Higher Rents; Fewer Vacancies FORECLOSURES -- Silicon Valley Home Values Drop as Banks Put Foreclosed Properties on the Block FORECLOSURES -- Silicon Valley Homes May Be too Pricey for Rescue from Foreclosure by Obama Plan FORENSICS -- State Budget Crisis Shrinks NorCal Computer Crim Lab, Adding to S. Jose's Regional Computer Forensics Lab's Burden FRAUD -- Con Artist Rips off S. Jose Woman, Impersonating 'Grandsons in Trouble' FRAUD -- Local Solar Energy Fraudster Busted FRAUD -- S. Clara County Assessor Alerts Community against Property Tax Reduction Scam FRAUD-SECURITIES -- Silicon Valley Hedge Fund Scammer Claimed Fictitious Law Firm Relationships FRAUD-SECURITIES -- Study: Smiles May Lure Investors to Disregard Own Valid Misgivings GANGS -- Gangs in SJ Schools on the Rise GANGS -- Police & A.T.F. Award Morgan Hill Girl's Gang Prevention Essay First Place among 1,500 Bay Area Entries GANGS -- S. Jose Cops Seek Survivors of 'Biker' Gang Rapes GANGS -- School Dress Codes Discourage Gang-ID Displays GANGS -- SJ Cops Suspect Hells Angels in Pipe Bombings Near Home of Top-Level Mongols Leader GENTRIFICATION -- Affordable Housing Policy Enacted for San Jose GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES -- S.J. Council Considers Workers' Comp and Disability Cuts Matching SF, Sacramento & Santa Clara County Practices GRAFITTI -- S. Clara Cops Claim They've Nabbed Notorious Local Grafittist 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 IMMIGRATION REFORM -- Monterey County Immigration Justice Effort Unifies UFW with County Politicians, Clergy and Activists IMPORT-EXPORT -- Lloyds Cops to $350 M Penalty for Covertly Circumventing US Embargoes against Iran, Sudan & Others; HP Halts Iran Printer Sales INFRINGEMENT -- High-Tech Corporations Settling Out Fewer Patent Suits INFRINGEMENT-PATENT -- IP Mavens Fear Apple I-Phone's Multi-Touch Technology will Trigger Massive Patent Litigation Battle 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 INNOCENCE -- Audit Exonerates Palo Alto Childrens' Theater Staff of Embezzlement, to City Council's Chagrin INSURANCE-MEDICAL -- 140,000 Silicon Valleyans Lack Health Coverage, Study Reveals INSURANCE-MEIDICAL -- Surge in Medicaid Applications Overwhelm State' Social Service Apparati INTERNET GOVERNANCE -- Apple Holds Out, Stalling Adoption of Internet Automatic Software Updating Standard JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION -- S. Clara Co. Judges Take 4.6% Cut in Pay JUDICIAL CONDUCT -- Investigator: S. Clara Judge Allegro, when a Prosecutor, Withheld Exculpatory Evidence and Secured Defendant's Death Sentence JUDICIAL CONDUCT -- NY Archbishop Berates & Bullies Fordham Law School for Honoring Justice Breyer JUDICIAL SELECTION -- Republican Attorney Beth McGowen Appointed to Santa Clara Co. Superior Court Judgeship 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 JURIES -- S. Clara Co. Superior Court Announces Juror Appreciation Week JURY INSTRUCTIONS -- US High Court Reimposes San Mateo Felony Murder Conviction, Reversing 9th Circuit - Hedgpeth v. Pulido JUVENILES -- Phalanx of Lawyers, Community Advocates Rally, Excoriating Milipitas School District for Blackballing Struggling Student from Commencement JUVENILES -- S. Clara County Officials at a Loss to Explain 5-Day Jailing of 10-Year-Old 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 SCHOOLING -- Stanford Plummets to 3rd-Ranked US Law School in 2010 US News & World Report Tally LAW-BIZ -- 'Heller Syndrome' Could Precipitate Thelen Bankruptcy & Relegate Firm's Laid-Off, Unpaid Personnel to Hind Teat LAW-BIZ -- 2010 Summer Associateships Evaporating as Economy Loses Steam LAW-BIZ -- D.C. Based Megafirm Absorbs Silicon Valley Tech Boutique LAW-BIZ -- Ex-Partners Fight Defunct SF Mega-Firm's Bankruptcy Trustee, Claiming Right to Take Clients with Them LAW-BIZ -- Former Employees Raise Massive Unpaid Wage Claims against Defunct S,F, Area Firms LAW-BIZ -- Heller's Creditors Can Sue Former Partners, Plus Citibank & Bank of America, Fed. Judge Rules LAW-BIZ -- Megafirms' Billable Hours Slip Less in S.F. than Elsewhere, Reported Data Suggest LAW-BIZ -- Senior HP In-House Lawyers Resign over Workplace Rule Tightening LAW-BIZ -- Silicon Valley Legal Titans Poised to Fill Emergent Power Lacunae LAW-BIZ -- Silicon Valley's Law Business Continues Expanding, Despite Economic Downturn LAW-BIZ -- Summer Associateships Dwindle as Likelihood of Global Economic Catastrophe Soaks Into Big Firms LOBBYING -- Lobbying Irregularity Allegations Trigger S. Jose Council Pyrotechnics LOCAL GOVERNMENT & POLITICS -- Howard Univ. J.D.'s Values Draw Him to East Palo Alto City Atty. Post LOCAL GOVERNMENT & POLITICS -- S.J. Budget Director Faces Ethics Challenge over Ballot Measure Fundraising MALPRACTI CE-LEGAL -- Bigtime Flub in Heller Ehrman Bankruptcy Far Graver than 'Clerical Error,' Say Informed Practitioners MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION -- Breyer Pissed, after Feds Extradite Medical Pot Advocate from Romania to Face Possible One-Day Sentence MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION -- San Mateo Council Votes to Regulate Medical Pot Collectives MARIJUANA-LEGALIZATION -- Obama's Medical Pot Tolerance Directive May Abruply Reshape Santa Cruz/San Jose Pot Dispensary Lawsuit MARIJUANA-LEGALIZATION -- Proposed San Mateo City Ordinance Would Permit & Regulate Medical Pot Collectives MARIJUANA-LEGALIZATION -- SF's Ammiano Can't Find a Single Co-Sponsor for Pot Legalization & Commercialization Proposal MARRIAGE-SAME SEX -- Lawsuit Seeks Invalidation of Prop. 8 MARRIAGE-SAME SEX -- Lawyers among California's First Same-Sex Marriage Partners MARRIAGE-SAME SEX -- SUNDAY, JUNE 14 -- Join the Bar Association's Rainbow Committee and Marriage Equality Silicon Valley in the SAN JOSE PRIDE MARCH 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 OFF-SHORING -- Silicon Valley Braces for Blowback from Indian Off-Shoring Contractor's Massive Scandal OFFENSES - BATTERY -- Sch. District Safety Director: Oak Grove HS Stabbing Perp Was in Gang, but Attack Not Gang Related OFFENSES-COUNTERFEITING -- East Palo Altans Busted with Counterfeit $100 Bills OFFENSES-HOMICIDE -- Father's Murder of Teen Highlights Inedquacy of Juvenile Copits ) OFFENSES-HOMICIDE -- Justice Dept. Tells SF Police Union to Refrain from Public Statements on 1970 Bombing OFFENSES-PREVENTION -- San Jose Schools' Gang Prevention Course Expanding OFFENSES-PREVENTION -- Mountain View Adopts 'Not in Our Town' Response to Hate Crime OFFENSES-THEFT -- Music Lover Steals & Abandons Mtn. View Cop Car Undamaged, Leaving No Clues OFFENSES-THEFT -- Nationwide Fencing Ring Cracked with Help of SJ Police OFFENSES-THEFT -- Peninsula Theft & Burglary Rates Leap Skyward OFFENSES-THEFT -- San Josean Admits to Court He Was Notorious, Wig-Adorned Bankrobber OUT-SOURCING -- S.J. Council Votes to Critique City's Outsourcing Practics more Deeply & Fully OWNERSHIP & TITLE -- House Theft Conspiracy Lands Would-Be Ben Lomond Resident Behind Bars OWNERSHIP-PATENTS -- SF IP Atty's New Company Will Buy Up & Aggregate Patents, to Foreclose Troll Lawsuits Against Clients 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 -- City Mngr.: Palo Alto Looking Beyond Internal Hires for Next Police Chief POLICE ADMINISTRATION -- Class Action Charges that S. Jose's Public Intoxication Arrest Practices are Unconstitutional and Discriminatory POLICE ADMINISTRATION -- Notwithstanding Racial Profiling Controversy, Colleagues Give Accolades for Palo Alto Police Chief POLICE ADMINISTRATION -- Palo Alto PD Announces Minority Relations Initiative POLICE ADMINISTRATION -- S. Jose Back to Square 1 in Recruiting Police Auditor POLICE ADMINISTRATION -- S.J. Council Replaces Independent Police Monitor with Cop-Friendlier In-House Pick POLICE ADMINISTRATION -- S.J. Council Resolves to Reign in Excessive Drunk-In-Public Arrests POLICE ADMINISTRATION -- SJPD's Explanation Unravels, for Disproportionate Drunkenness Arrests of Latinos 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 -- Favoritism Charges Dog Sentencing of Sheriff's Deputy Who Dozed at Wheel, Killing Bicycle Team Members POLICE CONDUCT -- Grand Jury Reviewing Police Killing of Knife-Wielding Person to be Closed to Public, DA Announces POLICE CONDUCT -- Palo Alto Council Resolution Denounces I.C.E. Agent Abuses POLITICS & GOVERNMENT -- Obama Taps Silicon Valley Legal Heavy for Japan Ambassadorship PORN -- Council Vote Rejects Porn Filter Proposal for S.J. Libraries PRISONS & JAILS -- S, Clara County & Family Announce $1M Settlement over Jail Suicide of Inmate with Schizophrenia 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 -- Expert's Testimony Undermines Prosectutor's Account of His Discovery of 'Withheld' Videos of Sex Abuse Victim Interviews PROSECUTORIAL CONDUCT -- In Retrial Dispute, S. Clara Prosecutors Claim they Were Unaware Child Vicitm Videotapes Existed, and Were Withheld from Defense PROSECUTORIAL CONDUCT -- Molestation Retrial Re-Opens Videotape Withholding Scandal at S. Claral DA's Office PROSECUTORIAL CONDUCT -- S. Clara D.A. Will Release Many of 3,300 Sex Crime Victim Med Exam Videos Previously Withheld from Defenders 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 REAL ESTATE -- 20% of S. Jose Metro Homes 'Underwater' as Values Plummet 17.2% Compared with Winter 2007 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 - RELIGIOUSLY PREMISED BASED GENDER DISCRIMINATION -- Self-Styled 'Christian' Student Group Sues Hastings for Right to Exclude Gays, Lesbians & Nonbelievers RIGHTS-EXPRESSION -- Fremont-Based Singapore Dissident Arrested for Blogging that Colleague's Trial Judge 'Prostituted Herself' RIGHTS-INFORMATION -- ACLU, S.J. Council & Cops Face Off over Sunshine Committee's Call for Public Release of Police Reports RIGHTS-INFORMATION -- Google Agitates to Make US Govt. Networks Crawler-Accessible RIGHTS-PRESS -- Pro-China Journalist Framed & Blacklisted for Sedition During 1950s, Dies in SF at 89 RIGHTS-RELIGION -- FBI Refuses to Tell Muslim-American Groups whether It's Planting Spies in US Mosques SEX OFFENSES -- Police Seeking Undiscovered Victims of S.J. Serial Molester SEX OFFENSES-CHILD PORN -- N.J. Teen Girl Busted for Child Porn after She Posts Own Nude Photos on MySpace SEX OFFENSES-TRAFFICKING -- Prostitution Sweeps Rescue 48 Trafficked Children Nationwide, Including Seven in SF & Oakland SOCIETY -- Service Mourns 82 Santa Clara Co. Homeless who Died in 2008 - 55 Died on Streets SPAM & TELEMARKETING -- Cisco Study: Spam Doubled Worldwide Since 2007 to 200 Billion Messages/Day. US Biggest Source at 17.2% of Total SPAM & TELEMARKETING -- Spamhaus Rates Google as World's 3rd Worst Spam Conduit, Despite Prodigious Anti-Spam Program STOCK OPTIONS & 401KS -- Marvell Tech Group Settles Backdating Actions for $72 M SURVEILLANCE -- Google, Yahoo & Microsoft Unveil Human Rights Assurance Guidlines SURVEILLANCE -- Local Police Announce Data-Sharing Scheme to Nail Graffitists SURVEILLANCE -- New Google People-Tracking Service Alarms Privacy Activists SURVEILLANCE -- Telcoms Retroactively Immune from Multitude of Consumer Lawsuits over Collusion with NSA Warrantless Wiretaps, SF Judge Rules - In Re: NSA Telcom Records TAX -- Fed. Jury Throws Out White Collar Charge against Bechtel Lawyer Whose Unintended Error Led Him to Aggressively Advocate for Improper Research Deduction TAX-PROPERTY -- Novel Burlingame Tax Would Hike Assessments for Anything Impeding Surface Water Absorption 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 TERMINATION -- 800 Jobless Heller Survivors Sue 179 Former Partners for WARN Act Damages THEFT -- As Frugal Commuters Go Greener, BART Bike Thefts Spike THEFT -- Hulking Thieves Photographed Bashing open Locked Shop Doors, Grabbing Cash & Running THEFT -- P. Alto Grade School's Stolen Computer Recovered THEFT -- S. Clara Co. Sheriff Sergeant Alerts Realtors to Dangers of Their Trade TORTURE -- DOJ Lawyer Argues 'State Secrets' Foreclose Lawsuit against S.J. Co for Complicity in CIA Rendition's for Torture TRADE SECRETS -- Marvell Lawyers Claim Someone Doctored Former GC's Supposedly Damning Voicemail Recording TRADE SECRETS -- MoFo Scores $36 M Trade Secrets Verdict with S. Jose Jury, for Mountain View Mfgr. of Robot Catheters TRADE SECRETS -- S. Jose Judge Abruptly Dismisses Eight-Year Jasmine-Marvell Trade Secrets Lawsuit, on Standing UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS -- SF Postpones Plan to Issue Local IDs, Irrespective of Immigration Status VEXACIOUS LITIGATION -- Palm Spinoff Nails Patent-Squatter for Atty Fees VIGILLANTISM -- Rightist Legal Project Stokes Anti-Immigrant Rancor in Mountainview Neighborhood VISA WORKERS -- US Economic Crisis Erects Dual Obstacle to H-1B Immigration: Shrinking Opportunities & Xenophobic Scapegoating WAGE & HOUR -- Laid Off Personnel Sue Thelen Law Firm Under WARN ACT WAGE & HOUR -- Palo Alto Stalls Plan Guaranteeing Prevailing Wages to Employees of Municipal Contractors 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 WAR & WAR CRIMES -- Co-Workers Gather Donations for S. Jose Refugee from So. Sudan War Crimes to See Mother and Hold Father's Funeral WAR & WAR CRIMES -- Fed. Jury Rejects all Nigerian Villagers' Atrocity Claims against Chevron WASTE DISPOSAL -- Palo Alto Council Runs Foam Food Containers Out of Town WATER -- SF Superior Court Divests City of Modesto of Recourse against P.C.E. Polluters 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 -- DOJ Rebuffs Option Backdating Clemency Petitions from Brocade's Reyes WHITE COLLAR -- Fed. Prosecutors Indict 2 Former Broadcom Execs for Stock Option Backdating and 1 for Corporate Drug Partying WHITE COLLAR -- Former McAfee GC Beats SEC Option Backdating Charges 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 WRONGFUL DEATH -- S.J. Settles 2005 Taser Fatality Suit for $70,000 WRONGFUL DEATH -- Tasering Claims Another San Jose Life 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 -- Crim. Defense Lawyers Call for Dissolution of Misdemeanor Courts COURT ADMINISTRATION -- Judges', Lawyers' & Profs' Group Calls on Congress to Enact Total Supreme Court Makeover COURT ADMINISTRATION -- Los Gatos Small Claims Court Moves from Los Gatos to Santa Clara Courthouse COURT ADMINISTRATION -- S. Clara Co. Superior Court to Open New Courthouse in Morgan Hill 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 DEATH PENALTY -- Judge Faces Removal for Abetting Wrongful Execution by Stonewalling Appeal Filing DEPENDENT ABUSE -- S. Clara DA to Turn Over Representation of Abused Minors to Non-Profit Agency 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 GUANTANAMO PRISONERS -- Lawyers Seek Detailed Records of Alleged Al Qaida Agent 's Secret CIA Site Detentions I.C,C, -- Rights Advocates, Prosecutors Dispute Motives for ICC Prosecutions of Sudan Rebels 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 ADMINISTRATION -- S. Clara Co. Judges Take 4.6% Cut in Pay JUDICIAL CONDUCT -- Clarence Thomas No Longer a Pariah at Howard Law School JUDICIAL CONDUCT -- Clarence Thomas Rakes in 150% of Salary in 2008 Book Royalties JUDICIAL CONDUCT -- Investigator: S. Clara Judge Allegro, when a Prosecutor, Withheld Exculpatory Evidence and Secured Defendant's Death Sentence 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 -- Mississippi Supremes Reprimand Black Judge for Criticizing White Attitudes to Black Community Group JUDICIAL CONDUCT -- NY Archbishop Berates & Bullies Fordham Law School for Honoring Justice Breyer JUDICIAL CONDUCT -- Scalia Exposes Dangerous Internal Contradictions, International Law Correspondent Warns JUDICIAL CONDUCT -- Touchy, Scalia Flames Student over Camreras-in-Court Query JUDICIAL SELECTION -- ABA Wants to Reclaim Seat at the Table, in Vetting of Federal Judicial Nominees JUDICIAL SELECTION -- Arlen Specter Departs from yet Further Convention, Recommending Women Non-Judges for Supreme Court JUDICIAL SELECTION -- Calif. High Court's Moreno Good Pick for U.S. Supremes JUDICIAL SELECTION -- Ginsburg Weigshs in with Praise for Sotomayor JUDICIAL SELECTION -- Legal Scholars: McCain Win Would Probably Intensify Supreme Court's Rightward Bent; Obama Win Would Probably Continue Status Quo JUDICIAL SELECTION -- Obama-Watchers Speculate Bronx Housing Project Alum May Be First Hispanic High Court Justice JUDICIAL SELECTION -- Ousted Pakistan Chief Justice Resumes Position JUDICIAL SELECTION -- Pakistan's New Supreme Ct. Bar President Vows to Reinstate Ousted (but Rightful) Chief Justice ASAP JUDICIAL SELECTION -- Political Science Study Suggests 'Some Bias against Republican Nominees' in ABA's Federal Judicial Candidate Ratings JUDICIAL SELECTION -- Republican Attorney Beth McGowen Appointed to Santa Clara Co. Superior Court Judgeship JUDICIAL SELECTION -- Rightists Concoct Another Attack on Sotomayor, Willfully and Disinformationally Sensationallizing her Unremarkable 'Reversal Rate' JUDICIAL SELECTION -- S. Clara Co. Superior Court Elects Presiding Judge and AssistantPresiding Judge JUDICIAL SELECTION -- Sonia Sotomayor -- Obama's High Court Nominee -- Would Be Big Bench's First Latina Woman JUDICIAL SELECTION -- Stanford Law Prof Picked by High Court as Special Master in Montana/Wyoming Yellowstone River Dispute JURIES -- S. Clara Co. Superior Court Announces Juror Appreciation Week LEGAL TRENDS -- Response to Oil Drilling Case May Signal Shift in 9th Circuit's Ideological Balance MARRIAGE -- Georgia Supremes Place Pro-Marriage Billboards as Anti-Crime Measure 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 PROTEST & CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE -- Global Rights Group Augments Petition for End of Cuba Embargo by Sailing Protest Ship to Americas Summit RIGHTS TRIBUNAL -- Bosnia War Crimes Tribunal's Timetable Too Ambitious for Some Critics, Too Slow for Others RIGHTS TRIBUNALS -- Bosnian Serb Atrocitaire Tells War Crime Tribunal US Ambassador Promised Him Immunity for Abdicating Presidency of Genocidal Regime RIGHTS TRIBUNALS -- Flamboyant Defense Counsel Turns Cambodia Genocide Court into Dysfunctional Circus RIGHTS TRIBUNALS -- Khmer Rouge Atrocity Tribunal Hits Snag, over Court Corruption Complaint Procedure RIGHTS TRIBUNALS -- Milosevic Prosecutor: Star Chamber Review of Govt. 'National Security' Evidence Arguments Obstructs Balkan War Crimes Justice RIGHTS TRIBUNALS -- Rights Advocates Hope Kenya's Emerging Special Tribunal will Prove Exemplary 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' RIGHTS-RELIGION -- Afghan Star Chamber Proceeding Dooms Accused Young Womens' Rights Downloader to 20-Year Prison Term 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