JURIST Guest Columnist Todd Zywicki, Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law and a Fellow at the James Buchanan Center for Political Economy, says that the new federal bankruptcy legislation signed into law this past Spring weeds out fraud and abuse while preserving a "fresh start" for debtors… After eight years of [...]

US Magistrate Judge Craig Shaffer delayed the civil class action fraud case against former Qwest Communications chief executive Joe Nacchio and other former phone company executives until September 30 to eliminate possible interference with a parallel federal criminal investigation. US Attorney William Leone requested the delay , and argued that permitting civil discovery in the [...]

The UN has formally accused Carina Perelli, head of the UN's Electoral Assistance Division , with harassing her staff. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric did not offer specifics, but it is believed that the accusations stem from a four-month internal investigation initiated after several staff members accused Perelli of fostering an abusive work environment full of [...]

A US State Department spokesman warned Wednesday that if the Iraqi constitutional committee seeks a further extension of the deadline for drafting Iraq's constitution , such an extension would likely not be politically feasible. Iraq's constitutional committee Monday secured a seven-day extension , but there is no clear indication that Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni negotiators [...]

NATO General Steven Schook told reporters Wednesday that he believes that allied forces are very close to capturing former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic . Often referred to as one of the world's most wanted men, Karadzic is accused of leading the slaughter of thousands of Bosnian Muslims and Croats in July 1995, and has [...]

Leading Wednesday's states brief, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled today that faculty at a parochial school cannot join the Michigan Education Association, the state's largest teacher's union, because the legislature did not intend to grant the Michigan Employment Relations Commission jurisdiction over teachers at parochial schools. In 2003, after cuts in teacher's compensation, approximately [...]

Leading Wednesday's corporations and securities law news, Newsweek is reporting that the New York Stock Exchange may settle with former CEO Richard Grasso for $25 million. The NYSE is attempting to recoup some of the $187 million compensation package Grasso received from the NYSE when he left the exchange in 2003. In addition to his [...]

Ohio Governor Bob Taft was charged Wednesday with criminal misdemeanors for failing to acknowledge nearly 70 golf outings and other favors. The charges stem from a two-month investigation by a task force of Ohio authorities and come three months after Taft stressed at a conference the importance of ethical behavior for public employees. Taft released [...]

AP is reporting that the American Bar Association has given US Supreme Court nominee John Roberts a "well-qualified" rating, the highest recommendation given by the ABA to judicial nominees. An ABA committee was formed in July to review whether the "well-qualified" rating earned by Roberts when he was nominated for the US Court of Appeals [...]

The family of Brazilian citizen Jean Charles de Menezes, mistakenly killed by police who thought they were pursuing a July 21 London bombing suspect, called Wednesday for a public investigation into the circumstances surrounding the shooting. The family also wants the shooters charged with murder and have called for the resignation of London Metropolitan Police [...]