The US Supreme Court handed down four rulings Monday on its last decision day of 2004. In Florida v. Nixon, the Court ruled that an accused Florida man was not due a new trial even though his lawyer had conceded his guilt without his consent. Read the opinion here. AP has more. In Cooper Industries [...]

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William Donaldson has ruled against sanctioning Global Crossing founder Gary Winnick with a fine or charges in an unusual move that saw him side with two other commissioners in voting against the recommendation of an SEC staff panel. A settlement with Global Crossing on overstatement of revenues is pending. Observers [...]

Oral arguments due to take place Monday afternoon before a full bench of the US Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals were cancelled Sunday night as a Unocal spokeman announced the settlement of a lawsuit against the oil company in connection with slave labor, rape, and forced relocation in connection with its construction of an oil [...]

Hundreds of Russian rights activists allied with both liberal and communist groups rallied in Moscow Sunday to mark the country's Constitution Day and protest what they see as an undemocratic and dangerous centralization of power by the Kremlin. Not coincidentally, Sunday was also marked by President Vladimir Putin's signing of a bill that would make [...]

Oracle Corporation announced Monday that it has signed a $10.3 billion dollar merger deal with PeopleSoft, ending an 18-month hostile takeover bid plagued with legal challenges. Read the Oracle press release on the merger here. Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase: Corporations & securities brief: Oracle likely to win PeopleSoft takeover bid Corporations & securities brief: [...]

A US Army spokesman said Monday that eight former top aides to Saddam Huseein were taking meals again after having conducted a hunger strike over the weekend. AFP quotes a lawyer for former Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan as saying that "My client, who I met for the first time on Saturday, told me [...]

Several of Saddam Hussein's old lieutenants, including former deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, have gone on a hunger strike on the eve of the one-year anniversary of Saddam's capture by US forces to protest their "illegal detention" and their lack of access to defense counsel, according to Aziz attorney Aref Badia. The men, held by [...]

Oral arguments are scheduled to begin Monday morning in the US First Circuit Court of Appeals to decide whether Puerto Rico's Supreme Court or a US District Court has jurisdiction over thousands of disputed ballots cast in the territory. The ballots in question are from Puerto Rico's Nov. 2 gubernatorial race, and all indicate a [...]

The Israeli Cabinet Sunday agreed to release nearly 200 Palestinian prisoners currently being held in Israeli prisons. The release was part of an agreement between Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon. Israeli government spokesman Rannan Gissin referred to the release as "a gesture of goodwill shows also our intention to change [...]

The Ukraine prosecutor general's office announced Sunday that it will reopen the criminal investigation into allegations that Ukraine presidential candidate and opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned, damaging his health and disfiguring his formerly-youthful visage. The case, closed in November due to lack of evidence, will be reopened after confirmation from Yushchenko's Austrian doctors at [...]