[JURIST] Doe v. Bush [PDF opinion] (February 24, US District Court for the District of Massachusetts [official website]). US District Judge Joseph Tauro dismissed a suit brought by Democratic members of Congress, US military personnel and members of their families seeking to enjoin the President from launching a military invasion of Iraq on the grounds that Congress has neither declared war nor taken any action that would give the President the power to wage such a war: "[A] federal court may judge the war policies of the political branches only when the actions taken by Congress and those taken by the Executive manifest clear, resolute conflict.... Case law makes clear that Congress does not have the exclusive right to determine whether or not the United States will engage in war. Congressional ratification for the continuation of undeclared war activity may be found even though there has not been a formal declaration of approval. The manner and form of ratification is up to Congress, and the courts have no power to second guess the wisdom or form of such approval. The fact that Congress and the President may appear to be at odds from day to day concerning the conduct of military affairs does not necessarily add up to resolute conflict between the political branches."

McLaughlin v. Holt Public Schools Board of Education [opinion] (February 24, US 6th Circuit Court of Appeals [official website]). The Court reversed a District Court decision overturning an administrative ruling that a disabled child be enrolled in an educational program some distance from her home that school officials believed would be better able to meet her needs as opposed to a school closer to her home, which is what her parents preferred. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, "states and school districts should be afforded some discretion in determining what type of [educational] program is appropriate based on the individual needs of a disabled child."

Also of interest: Schwartz v. TRW and Boeing (February 24, US District Court for the Central District of California [official website]). Judge Ronald Lew dismissed a suit filed under the False Claims act alleging that the defendants had falsified ballistic missile test data and misled the US government about the missile defense system they were building. UCLA law student (and former journalist and Army officer) Phil Carter was in the courtroom and posts this report.

[JURIST] By a vote of 84-0 Monday the Senate passed the Protect Act [text], a child pornography bill designed to help authorities track down pedophiles on the Internet while avoiding free-speech concerns that prompted the US Supreme Court to strike down a similar law last April in Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition [decision syllabus]. Read the Senate Judiciary Committee report on the legislation, and review a statement by Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Senator Patrick Leahy, who supported its passage. The bill now awaits action by the House.

UPDATE: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Orrin Hatch has issued a press release and a copy of his floor statement on the bill.

[JURIST] On the 200th anniversary of Marbury v. Madison [JURIST report], it's appropriate to note that the University of Illinois College of Law [official website] has posted streaming video of In Defense of Judicial Review: The Perils of Popular Constitutionalism , a lecture delivered February 17 by Erwin Chemerinsky of the University of Southern California Law School [official website].

[JURIST] Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Orrin Hatch delivered the Recording Academy's Entertainment Law Luncheon address in New York City on Friday. The full text of his speech is now available online.

[JURIST] Reuters has posted the new US-UK draft resolution on Iraq that is being circulated today at the UN Security Council. The French and German governments are circulating a separate Memorandum [text].

UPDATE: White House National Security Advisor Condeleezza Rice gave a press briefing late Monday explaining the US-UK resolution. Read the press conference transcript.

[JURIST] The American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary [official website] has released an updated list of judicial nominee ratings [PDF text] for the 108th Congress. Miguel Estrada (previously rated for the 107th Congress) remains "WQ" - "Well Qualified."

[JURIST] Yale Law School [official website] hosted the ninth annual Rebellious Lawyering Conference over the weekend. The Yale Daily News has this report.... The Columbia Law School [official website] branch of the Federalist Society sponsored a talk Saturday by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Orrin Hatch in which he discussed the Miguel Estrada nomination and ideology in the court system. Read more in the Columbia Daily Spectator.... Lani Guinier [faculty profile] of Harvard Law School [official website] spoke on race and law Friday at the University of Washington School of Law. The UW Daily reports....

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court granted certiorari in four cases Monday morning - breaking news and more details from DC Supreme Court litigators Goldstein & Howe [SCOTUSblog post]. The full Supreme Court Order List [PDF text] for Monday is now online.

[JURIST] The annual ADR Cyberweek all-online conference [conference website] on online dispute resolution starts Monday, hosted by the Center for Information Technology and Dispute Resolution [official website] in the Department of Legal Studies, University of U. Mass. Amherst [official website]. Registration and participation in Cyberweek is free.

[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia confirmed Monday that Serb nationalist leader Vojislav Seselj had entered detention at The Hague pending trial for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war. Read the ICTY press release and the full indictment against Vojislav Seselj.

[JURIST] The latest issue of the New York University Law Review [official website] is now available online. It includes a commentary on the Supreme Court and the death penalty by Carol Steiker [faculty profile] of Harvard Law School [official website] and courts and the protection of liberty by Rebecca Brown [faculty profile] of Vanderbilt University Law School [official website]. SSRN has posted the Introduction to Democracy by Decree: What Happens When Courts Run Government, the new book by Ross Sandler [faculty profile] and David Schoenbrod [faculty profile] of New York Law School [official website].

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court hears arguments Monday in PacifiCare Health Systems, Inc. v. Book [US SC docket] (arbitration, punitive damages, RICO - read backgrounders from DC appellate litigators Goldstein & Howe and Sam Heldman) and California Franchise Tax Board v. Hyatt [US SC docket] (sovereign immunity, tax collection - more from Goldstein & Howe and Sam Heldman).