[JURIST] The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a US District Court ruling Thursday and held that owners of votexchange2000.com and other websites which had organized informal online vote-swapping between Democratic and third-party voters during the 2000 Presidential election could sue the California Secretary of State for violating their First Amendment rights by sending cease-and-desist letters threatening criminal prosecution for allegedly brokering votes. Read Porter v. Jones [PDF opinion].

[JURIST] The Securities and Exchange Commission voted at an open meeting Thursday to adopt a new rule requiring analysts to provide certifications regarding expressed views and to disclose any compensation they may have received related to those views and recommendations. Listen to recorded audio of Thursday's SEC meeting and review the full agenda.

[JURIST] The full text of the opening statement by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Orrin Hatch on several pending judicial nominations at Wednesday's Committee hearing is now online.

[JURIST] The full Senate resumed debate Thursday on the nomination of Miguel Estrada to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. Watch recorded video of Thursday's proceedings [via Fednet]. The text of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Orrin Hatch's opening statement Wednesday supporting the nomination [Hatch statement] is now available, as is that of Senator Patrick Leahy opposing the nomination [Leahy statement]. For a transcript of Wednesday's full debate on the Estrada nomination, see the Congressional Record [debate transcript].

[JURIST] Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch and other Senators from both parties joined Wednesday in introducing new legislation to ban human cloning while facilitating continued scientific research. Read a press conference transcript and listen to an audio clip.

[JURIST] The UN has released an official summary [UN press release] of Wednesday's UN Security Council presentation by US Secretary General Colin Powell on Iraqi compliance with Resolution 1441, along with statements by other UN Security Council members and Iraq [UN News Service report]. Recorded video of Wednesday's meeting is also available.

[JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union Wednesday renewed its warnings [ACLU government surveillance backgrounder] about the US government's Total Information Awareness cybersecurity initiative. Listen to a briefing [recorded audio] featuring ACLU Legislative Counsel Katie Corrigan, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) ( sponsor of a amendment limiting Total Information Awareness), and Barbara Simons, head of the Association for Computing Machinery’s policy wing and a critic of the technical ideas underpinning the Pentagon’s program. DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) offers this fact sheet [PDF] on TIA.