Legislation & Lobbying

EU to Renew Probe of Secret CIA Prisons

The European Union plans to reopen an earlier investigation of secret CIA prisons in foreign countries there. After news reports of a new secret prison in the Ukraine to which the U.S. allegedly has sent terrorism suspects, the EU is reopening an investigation of member governments “accused of allowing the…

Nov 14, 2007 5:29 PM CST

Bill Would Give 9th Circuit Another Judge—in 2009

Draft language in a pending courthouse security bill would give the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals an extra judge, but the seat wouldn’t be filled until President Bush leaves office. The bill would eliminate a vacant seat on the D.C. Circuit, in effect transferring the judgeship to…

Nov 14, 2007 12:51 PM CST

House Approves Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act

The Attorney-Client Protection Act was adopted in the U.S. House of Representatives by a voice vote today, but it may not be addressed by the Senate until the spring. Supported by an unusually broad-based coalition of organizations that includes the American Bar Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the…

Nov 14, 2007 1:33 AM CST

DOJ Reopens Domestic Wiretap Investigation

Updated: In a move seen as an indicator of where the Department of Justice may now be headed under the direction of a new U.S. Attorney General, the department has reopened a dormant investigation of whether the National Security Agency violated the law by engaging in a warrantless domestic wiretapping…

Nov 13, 2007 8:56 PM CST

Illinois Judge Axes Med-Mal Damages Cap

In a test case that is expected to go farther, an Illinois trial judge ruled today that a 2005 state statutory cap on noneconomic damages in some medical malpractice cases should not be applied to a specific plaintiff. Cook County Circuit Court Judge Diane Joan Larsen held that the law…

Nov 13, 2007 7:56 PM CST

ABA Experts: Cut Crack Cocaine Sentences

In testimony this week before the U.S. Sentencing Commission, experts representing the American Bar Association are among the scheduled witnesses expected to call for the reduction of relatively high prison sentences imposed on a largely African-American group of defendants convicted of crimes related to crack cocaine. In written statements concerning…

Nov 13, 2007 5:00 PM CST

ABA Prez Calls for March on Washington to Support Pakistan Lawyers

Updated: In response to this week’s attack by the Pakistan government on the country’s judiciary and lawyers, the president of the American Bar Association is calling for fellow attorneys to march on Washington in sympathy with their beleaguered colleagues there. “On Wednesday, November 14, the ABA is organizing a lawyers’…

Nov 10, 2007 12:18 AM CST

House Passes AMT Relief; Senate Battle Next

A so-called patch to prevent tens of millions of middle-income Americans from being hit with the “dreaded” alternative minimum tax on their 2007 returns was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives today. But it is by no means certain that it will also pass in the Senate, where it…

Nov 9, 2007 11:36 PM CST

Waterboarding is Torture—and Ineffective, Military Witnesses Tell House Panel

Two witnesses with substantial military experience told a U.S. House subcommittee in no uncertain terms today that waterboarding is not only torture but an ineffective method of obtaining information from terrorism suspects. A third military witness on active duty was expected to testify but was barred from doing so by…

Nov 8, 2007 7:55 PM CST

Massive Loss of Reagan Library Artifacts

In a cautionary tale of government disorganization and inadequate standards, security and funding, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is missing a massive number of artifacts. A recent audit “found that the Reagan library was unable to properly account for more than 80,000 artifacts out of its collection of some 100,000…

Nov 8, 2007 6:19 PM CST

Shock, Security Concerns After Finland School Shootings

As Finland observed a national day of mourning today for the eight victims of yesterday’s high school shooting, the country’s legislature met in emergency session to consider imposing stepped-up school security measures. Although the country has the third-highest amount of per-capita gun ownership in the world, violent crime is rare…

Nov 8, 2007 5:24 PM CST

4 Pakistan Activists Charged With Treason; Will Lawyers Be Next?

Four Pakistani men were charged today with treason for making anti-government speeches in the city of Karachi. If convicted, the three politicians and a union leader potentially face the death penalty, reports the London Times. Although these are the first reported treason charges amidst ongoing attorney-led demonstrations focused on the…

Nov 8, 2007 4:47 PM CST

House Approves Bill to Protect Gay Workers

The House has approved a bill to protect gay men and lesbians from employment discrimination. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said he would introduce similar legislation in the Senate, the New York Times reports. Many Democrats expected President Bush to veto the bill, although a White House spokesman said no final…

Nov 8, 2007 11:37 AM CST

Bad-Faith Treble Damages Win in Wash. Vote

In a big-bucks lobbying battle that pitted trial lawyers against the insurance industry in Washington state, the attorneys have prevailed. Voters have approved a referendum upholding a state law passed earlier this year that calls for courts to award treble damages to policyholders when their carriers refuse, in bad faith,…

Nov 7, 2007 10:46 PM CST

AMT Nightmare May Await Many

For the first time in more than five years, it appears unlikely that Congress will enact a so-called temporary patch to prevent the alternative minimum tax from hitting unwary middle-class wage-earners with an unexpectedly high tax bill for 2008. The likely result, at minimum, is delayed tax refunds for many,…

Nov 7, 2007 7:40 PM CST