Bourgeois et al. v. Peters et al., United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, October 15, 2004 . Excerpt: While the threat of terrorism is omnipresent, we cannot use it as the basis for restricting the scope of the Fourth Amendment's protections in any large gathering of people. In the absence of some [...]

United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, October 15, 2004 . Excerpt: In essence the plaintiffs are claiming a blanket right of registered voters to vote by absentee ballot. For it is obvious that a federal court is not going to decree weekend voting, multi-day voting, all-mail voting, or Internet voting (and [...]

Evans and Jordan v. Stephens, United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, October 14, 2004 . Excerpt: Twelve Presidents have made more than 285 intrasession recess appointments of persons to offices that ordinarily require consent of the Senate. So, given the words of the Constitution and the history, we are unpersuaded by [...]

Iguarta de la Rosa v. US, United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, October 14, 2004 . Read the full text of the opinion here . Excerpt from the dissent by Judge Juan Torruella: Those born in Puerto Rico have since 1917 been born citizens of the United States. See Jones Act (Puerto [...]

In Re: Nomination Paper of Ralph Nader, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, October 13, 2004. Read the full text of the opinion here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Report of the Department of Justice's Task Force on Intellectual Property, October 12, 2004 . An accompany DOJ press release notes that in addition to recommendations regarding civil and antitrust enforcement of IP laws, the Task Force's proposals include: Charging and prosecuting all intellectual property crimes whenever federal law applies, including organized crime, fraud, and [...]

Federal Trade Commission, Plaintiff, v. Seismic Entertainment Productions, Inc., SmartBot.net, Inc., and Sanford Wallace, Defendants., United States District Court, District of New Hampshire, filed October 6, 2004. Read the full text of the complaint here and the memorandum in support here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky, petition to the US Supreme Court for writ of certiorari . Read the petition here , filed by Liberty Counsel. Certiorari granted October 12, 2004.

US Commission on Civil Rights staff report released October 5, 2004 . Highlights : Voting Rights: The Bush administration did not provide leadership to ensure timely passage and swift implementation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002. As a result, Congress did not appropriate funds for election reform until almost two years into [...]

HR 4520, passed in the House Thursday on the basis of a conference committee report and awaiting approval in the Senate, October 11, 2004 . Read the full text of the Act here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.