The US Defense Department said Tuesday that it has banned military officers and intelligence analysts from testifying on "Able Danger" , the highly classified US Army intelligence program alleged to have identified Mohammed Atta and three other 9/11 hijackers as suspected al-Qaeda terrorists prior to the 9/11 attacks . The personnel were scheduled to testify [...]

The Authors Guild, et al., v. Google, Inc., United States District Court Southern District of New York, September 20, 2005 . Read the full text of the complaint here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Common Cause/Georgia, et al. v. Billups, et al., United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, September 19, 2005 . Read the full text of the complaint here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The US Defense Department Tuesday directed that suspended military commission proceedings against Australian Guantanamo detainee David Hicks be resumed following a July US appeals court ruling in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that military commission trials did not have to be predicated by a ruling on terror detainees' POW status by another "competent tribunal". Hicks has been [...]

The Authors Guild , an advocacy organization for published writers, together with a former Poet Laureate, a Lincoln biographer and a children's book author, Tuesday sued search engine and advertising giant Google alleging "massive copyright infringement at the expense of the rights of individual writers." The class action suit filed in federal court in Manhattan [...]

The Saudi National Organization for Human Rights, the only human rights watchdog in Saudi Arabia , said Tuesday it has been banned from visiting Saudi prisoners in the US terror detention camp at Guantanamo Bay . Dr. Bandar bin Mohammed, head of the group, said the US ambassador in Riyadh would not allow the group [...]

In Tuesday's environmental law news, Judge Richard Webber of the US District Court of Eastern Missouri has ruled that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has failed to review its health standard for lead pollution in the air, and has ordered the agency to do so. The national standard for airborne lead is to be [...]

The military judge in the court-martial of Pfc. Lynndie England for her role in the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq on Tuesday barred the release of photos in her upcoming trial , many of which were published when the scandal came to light in early 2004. Many of the photos depict [...]

Leading Tuesday's states brief, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced today that his state will recognize the civil unions and domestic partnerships of other states, although not same-sex marriages. In a legal opinion , Blumenthal stated, "Civil unions performed in other states are entitled to full faith and credit in Connecticut and cannot be repeated [...]

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Harry Reid said Tuesday that he would vote against the nomination of Judge John Roberts for Chief Justice of the United States because he had too many questions remaining about him. Reid's announcement while speaking on the Senate floor came as a surprise, as many expected him to support the nomination. [...]