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Senate to pass bill overhauling eavesdropping rules
Political and Legal |
2008/07/09 02:41
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| The Senate finally is expected to pass a bill overhauling rules on secret government eavesdropping, completing a lengthy and bitter debate that pitted privacy and civil liberties concerns against the desire to prevent terrorist attacks. The vote, planned for Wednesday, would end almost a year of wrangling between the House and Senate, Democrats and Republicans, and Congress and the White House over the president's warrantless wiretapping program that was initiated after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. A major issue was the Bush administration's insistence that the bill shield from civil lawsuits telecommunications companies that helped the government eavesdrop on Americans without court permission after 9/11. The White House had threatened to veto the bill unless it immunized companies like AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. from wiretapping lawsuits. About 40 such lawsuits have been filed. They are all pending before a single federal court. |
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Appeals court: EchoStar not barred from lease deal
Business |
2008/07/08 08:01
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| Federal law does not bar satellite television provider EchoStar Communications Corp. from leasing a transponder to another company to transmit network signals, a U.S. appeals court ruled Monday. CBS Corp.'s CBS Broadcasting subsidiary, News Corp.'s Fox network and other major network affiliate groups sued EchoStar 10 years ago in South Florida to prevent the Englewood, Co.-based company, which operates the DISH satellite network, from providing distant network signals to customers who can receive local affiliates' broadcasts through regular antennas. The Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1988 allowed carriers such as EchoStar to provide secondary transmissions of copyrighted distant network programming to "unserved households," those that could not otherwise receive the signals. The lawsuit claimed that EchoStar was infringing on network copyrights by providing the signals to "served" households as well. After a two-week bench trial in 2003, the district court found that EchoStar retransmitted network programs to hundreds of thousands of served homes, which it called "willful or repeated" copyright infringement. That ruling was upheld by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider an appeal in January 2007. According to court documents, EchoStar complied with an injunction that went into effect Dec. 1, 2006, by disconnecting distant network channels to about 900,000 customers — at a loss of $25 million a year. |
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Vick files for bankruptcy protection
Bankruptcy |
2008/07/08 07:01
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| Imprisoned quarterback Michael Vick is seeking bankruptcy protection, saying he owes between $10 million and $50 million to creditors. Vick filed Chapter 11 papers in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newport News on Monday. The seven largest creditors listed in the court papers are owed a total of about $12.8 million. Vick is serving a 23-month prison sentence at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, after pleading guilty last year to bankrolling a dogfighting ring. He was subsequently suspended indefinitely without pay and lost all his major sponsors, including Nike. He also faces state charges related to dogfighting. According to the filing, the debt includes a $3.75 million prorated signing bonus the Atlanta Falcons are seeking to recover. |
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EPA dropped wetlands cases after high court ruling
Environmental |
2008/07/08 06:00
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| The Bush administration didn't pursue hundreds of potential water pollution cases after a 2006 Supreme Court decision that restricted the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate seasonal streams and wetlands. From July 2006 through December 2007 there were 304 instances where the EPA found what would have been violations of the Clean Water Act before the court's ruling, according to a memo by the agency's enforcement chief. Officials "chose not to pursue formal enforcement based on the uncertainty about EPA's jurisdiction," according to the memo, which was released Monday by two Democratic House committee chairmen. The EPA also chose to "lower the priority" of 147 other cases because it was unclear whether the intermittent streams, swamps and marshes flowed into navigable waterways. |
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Next round begins in Guantanamo Bay court fight
International |
2008/07/08 04:59
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| Bush administration lawyers are heading to court to begin defending an estimated 200 lawsuits by Guantanamo Bay detainees. Tuesday's hearing is the first hearing since the Supreme Court ruled last month that detainees can challenge their imprisonment in civilian courts. Officials are expecting hundreds of lawyers and spectators to attend. Judges will eventually review the government's evidence and decide whether detainees are being lawfully imprisoned. The key issue Tuesday is when that review will begin. The Justice Department proposes eight weeks to begin filing the evidence. Lawyers for the detainees say it should be faster. |
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Jeffery Leving to Deliver Keynote Speech
Events and Seminars |
2008/07/07 09:46
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‘Dads Make A Difference’ is the theme of the 2008 annual conference hosted by The Fathers & Families Coalition, Inc.’s Get F.I.T. (Southwestern Fatherhood Institute Training). The conference will be held July 8 & 9 in Tucson, Arizona. The mission of the FFCA is to enhance the capacity of service providers throughout the nation, so they will be better equipped to effectively serve fathers, mothers and children. In doing so, the FFCA is able to improve the outcomes for children, through healthy father and family interaction. Chicago attorney Jeffery M. Leving will deliver the keynote speech at the conference on Wednesday, July 9th, at 12 pm.
“Any man’s loss of a child diminishes mankind,” commented Leving, “we must educate the public on the vital importance of the relationship between father and child, he added. The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Dads Make A Difference’. A father’s absence hurts. The lack of a father’s presence in the life of a child is linked to substance abuse, teen pregnancy, promiscuity and a host of other issues that greatly lessen the child’s chance at a successful and prosperous life.
Mr. Leving has long held the belief that fathers who are armed with the proper parenting tools and resources will raise healthier children. Leving is the author of “Fathers’ Rights”, co-authored The Illinois Joint Custody Law, and has been a tireless crusader of the advancement of fathers’ rights in America’s courtrooms. The Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving, Ltd. represents fathers across the globe, ensuring that fathers remain strong and vital influences in the lives of their children. For more information about fathers’ rights, please visit www.dadsrights.com.
In addition to Mr. Leving, some of the other facilitators of the conference will include;
• Richard Claytor- Director of Fatherhood Initiatives for the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Child Support Enforcement Division (CSE).
• Juanita Mendez, Ph.D., of San Francisco, CA; completed a qualitative study entitled “The Meaning of Fatherhood to Long-Term Incarcerated African-American Men”.
• Garry A. Mendez Jr. Ph.D. is the founder and director of the National Trust for the Development of African-American Men, in the DC area. Dr. Mendez authored a significant study of Incarcerated Men and Their Children. He is a nationally recognized force in the field of African-American men, incarceration, criminal justice and health as it effects those populations.
• Newt McDonald, M.Ed.-Newt is an instructor in the Child Development Department at Merritt College in Oakland, CA. He is co-director of the Preschool Lab School. A longtime member of the Bay Area Male Involvement Network (BAMIN), he has developed male involvement programs for a number of community-based agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• Pamela Wilson, MSW- Ms. Wilson has consulted with Public/Private Ventures on their Young Unwed Fathers Pilot Project. Ms. Wilson consulted with P/PV (Public/Private Ventures) on their Young Unwed Fathers’ Pilot Project and co-authored Fatherhood Development: A Curriculum for Young Fathers’, among other numerous positions with non-profits.
The conference will host professionals and fathers from 15 different states, showing the growing presence of organizations committed to the education and uplifting of fathers in America and the effect they are having on men, women and children across the U.S. There is limited seating still available. For more information about the conference, please visit www.axffc.org. Press inquiries should contact Carrie Klepzig at 312-730-5864(mobile) or 312-807-3990. |
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Coca-Cola settles lawsuit for $137.5 million
Securities |
2008/07/07 08:50
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| The Coca-Cola Co., the world's largest beverage maker, has agreed to pay $137.5 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit that claimed company officials misrepresented or omitted information in public statements, causing the company's stock price to be inflated. The Atlanta-based company did not admit any wrongdoing in settling the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, according to the agreement dated June 26 and entered July 3. The court has preliminarily approved the settlement and scheduled a settlement fairness hearing for Oct. 20. The lead plaintiffs in the suit were the Carpenters Health & Welfare Fund of Philadelphia & Vicinity and Local 144 Nursing Home Pension Fund, now called 1199 SEIU Greater New York Pension Fund. The class represented by the plaintiffs included all persons who bought Coca-Cola stock between Oct. 21, 1999 and March 6, 2000. |
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Class action or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued. This form of collective lawsuit originated in the United States and is still predominantly a U.S. phenomenon, at least the U.S. variant of it. In the United States federal courts, class actions are governed by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule. Since 1938, many states have adopted rules similar to the FRCP. However, some states like California have civil procedure systems which deviate significantly from the federal rules; the California Codes provide for four separate types of class actions. As a result, there are two separate treatises devoted solely to the complex topic of California class actions. Some states, such as Virginia, do not provide for any class actions, while others, such as New York, limit the types of claims that may be brought as class actions. They can construct your law firm a brand new website, lawyer website templates and help you redesign your existing law firm site to secure your place in the internet. |
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