Suit against former NYSE chairman Grasso sent back to state court News
Suit against former NYSE chairman Grasso sent back to state court

[JURIST] The lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer against former New York Stock Exchange chairman Richard Grasso over Grasso's $187.5 million compensation was sent back to state court late Thursday by US District Judge Gerard Lynch. Although Grasso's attorneys argued the lawsuit should be in federal court because the SEC regulates the NYSE, Lynch sent the lawsuit back to state court because no federal statutes are involved and the subject matter involves a violation of New York's non-profit law against excessive executive compensation. AP has more. The complaint filed against Grasso and the NYSE can be found here [PDF].

THIS DAY @ LAW

Georgia became first US state to ban lynching

On December 20, 1893, Georgia became the first state in the Union to pass a law against lynching, making the act punishable by four years in prison. The statute was not particularly effective—read the text of the 1899 pamphlet Lynch Law in Georgia by anti-lynching activist Ida Wells-Barnett.