A new custody hearing ordered by the Nebraska Supreme Court after a finding that the state violated the due process rights of Guatemalan refugee Mercedes Santiago-Felipe has reunited her with the two American-born children she had not seen in three years. Santiago-Felipe came to the United States and sought asylum more than a decade ago, [...]

In Thursday's corporations and securities law news, a federal judge ruling in the Qwest investor lawsuit threw out claims against former Qwest president Afshin Mohebbi, former sales executive Gregory Casey, and some claims against the company. The claims arose from a investor lawsuit accusing the company and its executives of misleading investors in the company's [...]

Updating an earlier report in JURIST's Paper Chase, the Ukrainian Supreme Court adjourned Thursday without ruling on the opposition's election fraud case, as had previously been anticipated. The court did, however, begin hearing final arguments in the appeal, and will continue to do so Friday. AP has more. Opposition leaders are hoping that the court [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the FBI seeking information on why the agency task forces set up to combat terrorism also looked into animal rights, environmental, and anti-war groups. The ACLU is seeking FBI files on individuals and groups that have been interviewed, investigated or subjected [...]

The SEC said Thursday that it had filed charges against three former Kmart executives and various other executives of Kmart vendors alleging that these individuals helped Kmart in issuing materially false financial statements by improperly accounting for millions of dollars worth of vendor allowances. Kmart obtained these allowances for use in various promotional and marketing [...]

Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo announced Thursday that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has upheld the conviction of Lori Berenson, an American woman who was imprisoned in Peru for terrorist collaboration with Marxist guerrillas. The court, which is affiliated with the Organization of American States, debated Berenson's appeal and 20-year sentence last week and was [...]

Peter Henning, Wayne State University Law School: "The former New England Regional Director of the Republican National Committee, James Tobin, was charged in a four-count indictment on Wednesday, Dec. 1, with conspiracy to make harassing telephone calls to the New Hampshire Democratic headquarters on election day in 2002.  According to the indictment, Tobin worked with [...]

Microsoft announced Thursday that it has filed seven lawsuits against senders of bulk e-mail for violating the federal Can-Spam Act . Microsoft alleges that the defendants violated the law's "brown paper wrapper" requirement by failing to label sexually explicit content. According to Microsoft's press release: The seven lawsuits allege violations of the CAN-SPAM federal law [...]

A Chilean court Thursday stripped former military ruler Augusto Pinochet (profile from BBC News) of his immunity, allowing an investigation into Pinochet's role in the killing of Gen. Carlos Prats to proceed. Thursday's decision is the second case where Pinochet has lost his immunity. As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, a Chilean court ruled [...]

Defense lawyer Joseph Bevilacqua Jr. has acknowledged that he leaked an FBI videotape to Providence, Rhode Island TV reporter Jim Taricani. Taricani was found guilty for criminal contempt for refusing to reveal the source of the tape and was scheduled to be sentenced next week to up to six months jail time. Bevilacqua has said [...]