The settlement should bring some relief to the plaintiffs after seven years of litigation. Hellerstein had encouraged [WSJ report] the plaintiffs to accept the $712.5 million settlement agreement that was approved [JURIST reports] last June. Hellerstein approved this settlement after lawyers had agreed to reduce their fees from 33.33 percent to 25 percent after throwing out an earlier agreement [JURIST report] in March. In 2007, Hellerstein ruled [JURIST report] that the class action lawsuit filed by cleanup workers against the city and the Port Authority could proceed. The lawsuit was filed [JURIST report] in 2004.

The dispute centers around Calero Island, a small area of land at the mouth of the San Jose river which has been disputed territory for over a century [LAT report]. The dispute arose last month when Eden Pastora, director of the dredging project, relied on a Google Maps error [Google Maps statement] based on flawed US State Department [official website] information to send troops to the area that Nicaragua now refuses to leave [Bloomberg report]. In 2009, the ICJ adjudicated another dispute [JURIST report] between Costa Rica and Nicaragua surrounding use of the San Jose river, which separates the two Central American nations. The court ruled [judgment, PDF] in July 2009 that Nicaragua had interfered with Costa Rica's right of free navigation on the San Juan river four years after Costa Rica filed the complaint [case materials] in 2005.

November's election ended two years of military rule under a transitional government formed by military captain Moussa Dadis Camara [BBC profile], who staged a coup in the wake of the death of former president Lansana Conte [Guardian profile], the nation's ruler for 24 years. In October, the OHCHR expressed concern that security forces in Guinea "committed serious human rights violations" [JURIST report] in subduing demonstrations. In September, two Guinean election officials were convicted of election fraud [JURIST report] and sentenced to a year in jail in connection with irregularities that arose in the June presidential primary election, one incident in a string of controversies responsible for multiple delays of the runoff, which was initially scheduled for July [Reuters report]. In May, the ICC sent a delegation from the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) [official website] to Guinea to further investigate the killing [JURIST report] of more than 150 pro-democracy protesters in Conakry in September 2009. The protesters had rallied against Camara, who announced in October that he intended to push elections forward three months and stand for election, breaking a promise not to run made shortly after he took power. Camara was ultimately forced into exile two months later after an assassination attempt staged by one of his aides.

DNA evidence is one of the most powerful tools available to the criminal justice system, and these new steps will ensure the department can use DNA to the greatest extent possible to solve crimes and ensure the guilty are convicted. Improving both the collection and the use of DNA evidence will help law enforcement and prosecutors keep communities safe."

Last month, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments [JURIST report] in Skinner v. Switzer on a convicted prisoner's right to seek access to DNA testing. The issue is whether a convicted prisoner seeking access to biological evidence for DNA testing may assert a civil rights claim under § 1983 or if such a claim is cognizable only under a writ of habeas corpus. The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court decision to dismiss Skinner's § 1983 claim seeking access to DNA evidence that may prove his innocence in the murders for which he is now sentenced to death, stating that relief could only be sought through habeas corpus. Last year, the Supreme Court ruled in District Attorney's Office v. Osborne [Cornell LII backgrounder; JURIST report] that a defendant does not have the right to obtain post-conviction access to the state’s biological evidence in order to do DNA testing.

In July, a Honduran court dismissed abuse of power charges against Zeleya because Zelaya's successor granted amnesty [JURIST reports] to Zeleya and those involved in his removal. In June, Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] accused the Honduran government [JURIST report] of failing to address human rights violations stemming from the June 2009 coup. AI contends that hundreds of people opposed to the coup have been beaten and detained. The group cited evidence that judges critical of the coup have "suffered a series of arbitrary transferrals and unfair disciplinary proceedings" as well as threats and intimidation. The interim government has been attempting to restore Honduras's reputation internationally. In May, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) [official website] announced that Honduras dropped proceedings against Brazil [JURIST report] brought by the Honduran interim government last October in response to the sheltering of Zelaya.

Indeed, in more than 200 years of debate as to the proper scope of the Commerce Power, the Supreme Court has never suggested that the Commerce Power allows Congress to impose affirmative obligations on passive individuals, or to punish individuals for failing to purchase a particular product. To the contrary, every landmark Commerce Clause case has dealt with congressional efforts to regulate different kinds of activity under the Commerce power. In every significant Commerce Clause case the Supreme Court has always had to decide whether Congress may regulate a given form of activity.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum [official website] filed the lawsuit in March, which is joined by 20 states [JURIST report] and the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) [association website; JURIST report]. The suit was allowed to proceed [JURIST report] in October, despite an attempt to dismiss. On Thursday, McCollum sent a letter [text, PDF] asking 13 other state attorneys general to join Florida in the suit. A federal judge in Michigan ruled [JURIST report] in October that the law is constitutional under the Commerce Clause as it addresses the economic effects of health care decisions and it does not represent an unconstitutional direct tax. In August, a federal judge allowed a similar lawsuit filed in Virginia to proceed on narrow grounds [JURIST report], addressing only subject matter jurisdiction [Cornell LII backgrounder] and the legal sufficiency of the complaint. Several days later, McCollum cited the ruling in his response [JURIST report] to the Obama administration's motion to dismiss the Florida challenge, filed in June.

The Indian Supreme Court [official website] announced in August that it will reconsider a ruling [JURIST report] allowing the men to be charged with negligence instead of culpable homicide. If the convictions are overturned and the men tried on charges of culpable homicide, they could face sentences of up to 10 years in prison. In July, the government apologized for improperly dumping waste [JURIST report] related to the incident The apology came one month after cabinet ministers announced the government would consider increasing compensation for victims of the disaster and seek the extradition [JURIST report] of the former chairman of Union Carbide so he could stand trial in India. A settlement was reached between Union Carbide and the Indian government in 1989 with the company paying $470 million to end its liability. The cabinet members, however, indicated the government was willing to revisit the settlement and possibly seek further compensation from Union Carbide. Dow Chemicals [corporate website], which purchased Union Carbide in 1999, contends that the settlement ended all possible claims against the company.

In October, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) [official website] and other participating countries released [JURIST report] a draft [text, PDF] of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) [USTR backgrounder], an international pact to defend intellectual property rights from counterfeit and piracy. The draft was released after three years [JURIST report] and 10 rounds of negotiations among the ACTA parties, which include the EU, Japan, Canada, Australia, Mexico and Korea, representing more than 50 percent of world trade. The agreement would establish a framework for combating counterfeiting and piracy of commercial goods that encourages international cooperation as well as strong enforcement practices. Participating countries agreed to further examine the document and plan to finalize the text of the agreement as soon as possible. The agreement will undergo a final review before it is opened for signatures. Notably, China, a source of many of the world's counterfeit goods, is not a participant [Reuters report] in the agreement or discussions.

In March, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] adopted a similar resolution [materials; JURIST report] condemning North Korea for human rights violations. The resolution came shortly after former Special Rapporteur Vitit Muntarbhorn presented a report [JURIST report] to the body that found the situation in North Korea was deteriorating and that sanctions had not improved human rights conditions. Last year, Muntarbhorn criticized [JURIST report] North Korea, saying the country was responsible for a broad range of human rights violations [press release], including torture, public executions and widespread hunger. Muntarbhorn told the UNHRC in March 2009 that he found egregious human rights violations [JURIST report] in North Korea.