Dan Tokaji, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University: "There's been continuing attention devoted to the Ohio recount and contest efforts in recent days. The latest developments include the Kerry campaign's reported intent formally to join the recount litigation, and Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.'s attempt to call attention to alleged irregularities. But the most significant [...]

Former New England Bush campaign chairman James Tobin was indicted Wednesday on charges of conspiring to commit telephone harassment and aiding and abetting the jamming of Democrats' get-out-the-vote phone lines on Election Day 2002. Tobin resigned as Bush regional campaign chairman two weeks before the November 2, 2004 vote when the Democrats first accused him [...]

Governor Rick Perry of Texas granted a stay of execution to Frances Newton Wednesday only two hours before Newton was scheduled to die by lethal injection. Gov. Perry said in a statement that he granted the stay to allow for the retesting of gunpowder residue found on Newton's skirt using technology that was not available [...]

Joint Statement following Round Table Talks on Settlement of Political Crisis in Ukraine. Ukraine Presidency, December 1, 2004. Text: At their second session in Kyiv on December 1, 2004, the Parties in the round table meeting considered in detail development of the political situation in Ukraine and agreed on the following: 1. The Parties reaffirm [...]

David Wagner, Regent University School of Law: "Boston Globe: U.S. Justices Won't Hear Mass. Case, i.e. an appeal from Goodridge. Well of course not. This appeal was based on the "guarantee" clause, Article IV, Section 3: "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government…." This is the [...]

Attorneys for Florida Governor Jeb Bush filed a brief Wednesday asking the US Supreme Court to step into the legal battle over Terri Schiavo's life. At issue is whether Governor Bush overstepped his bounds in pushing through Terri's Law in October 2003, which mandated the reinsertion of Schiavo's feeding tube six days after her husband [...]

The Arizona Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to hear an appeal which will determine whether state motorists will be allowed to cite racial profiling in defending against criminal prosecutions stemming from traffic stops by police. Judge Janis Sterling of Yavapai County Superior Court ruled last February that the question of whether traffic stops were based on [...]

In Wednesday's corporations and securities law news, the SEC is investigating Analog Devices Inc. over stock option awards given to officers and directors over the past five years. The Boston Business Journal has more. In other news, the SEC has subpoenaed The Chubb Corp. for information regarding loss-mitigation insurance products. New York Attorney General Eliot [...]

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former CEO of the Russian oil company Yukos, will remain in jail until February 14, the Moscow City Court ruled on Wednesday, rejecting an appeal from Khodorkovsky's legal team. Khordorkovsky will be tried on charges of criminal fraud and tax evasion in connection with his involvement with Yukos and its subsidiaries. If [...]

Reversing an earlier decision, Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti indicated his intention plans to run for the Palestinian presidency Wednesday by paying a $3,000 deposit and submitting 5,000 signatures. Barghouti is currently in an Israeli jail, serving a life sentence for his role in shooting attacks which killed five. Although there is a Palestinian movement to [...]