The American Civil Liberties Union is urging a federal appellate court to continue its challenge to the Bush administration's domestic spying program.

The Bush administration appealed to the court after a federal judge in Detroit ruled the program was unconstitutional.

But the administration now says the case is moot and should be dismissed since the surveillance is monitored by a secret court.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has said the judges who oversee the program are reviewing applications to spy on people believed to be linked to al-Qaida, and there is no longer any controversy.

But the A-C-L-U says the administration might return to surveillance outside the secret panel without a court order against it.

Spain Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos argued for an expanded European constitution in his opening statement at the “Friends of the EU Constitution” summit that got under way in Madrid Friday. The summit is only open to delegates from the 18 countries that already have ratified the constitution, as well as delegates from Ireland and Portugal, where ratification is strongly supported and seems likely, and seeks to find ways to convince countries that have not ratified the constitution to do so. Moratinos advocated a more comprehensive constitution that could address topics such as immigration, climate change, and defense.

While most summit delegates argued against modifying the constitution, others agreed with Moratinos, and said that the current text is at the threshold for being so minimalist that any further reductions would destroy the worth of the document entirely. Of the countries that have not ratified the current text, several have advocated significant reductions.

20th Century Fox served YouTube with a subpoena Wednesday, demanding that the Google-owned viral-video site disclose the identity of a user who uploaded copies of entire recent episodes of "24" and "The Simpsons."

The subpoena, which first came to light on the blog Google Watch, was granted by a judge in U.S. District Court in San Francisco after being filed Jan. 18 by the News Corp.-owned studio. It is not yet known whether YouTube has complied with the request.

In addition, lesser-known video site LiveDigital was served with a similar subpoena. A spokesman for LiveDigital confirmed the company received the subpoena and intended to comply immediately.

A Fox spokesman confirmed the subpoenas were filed and served but declined further comment. A spokesman for YouTube declined comment.

The "24" episodes in question actually appeared on YouTube before their primetime Jan. 14 premiere on the Fox broadcast network, which spread four hourlong episodes of the hit drama over two consecutive nights. Fox became aware thst the episodes were on YouTube on Jan. 8, according to the subpoena.

Judge L. T. Senter, Jr. of the US District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi on Friday rejected for the time being a proposed settlement reached between the State Farm insurance company and Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood on behalf of hundreds of Mississippi policy holders whose claims were denied after Hurricane Katrina. Senter said the parties had not provided enough information to allow the court to conclude that the "proposed settlement establishes a procedure that is fair, just, balanced, or reasonable." Senter was particularly concerned with the wellbeing of "other litigants... who are not members of the proposed class... and their views on the fairness of the proposed settlement," which would bind a "large number of policyholders into the process of binding arbitration" without their assent to the proposal.

The proposed settlement, if ultimately approved, would award $80 million to the 640 named homeowners who filed the lawsuit and would also provide an additional $50 million for approximately 35,000 other homeowners in Mississippi who did not sue State Farm after their claims were denied. The $50 million figure, however, is just a minimum and depending on the number of applicants, could easily reach hundreds of millions. The settlement would also end Hood's investigation into allegations of fraudulent claim denials by State Farm, including allegations that the company pressured its engineers to doctor their reports. Hood has also brought actions against other insurance companies, including Allstate and Nationwide.

Nexsen Pruet Adams Kleemeier jumped nine spots in The National Law Journal's listing of the 250 largest U.S. law firms. The firm now ranks No. 231 in the publication's 29th annual survey.

Nexsen Pruet added 18 attorneys in 2006, giving the firm a total of more than 180 lawyers.

Last year, Nexsen Pruet ranked 240th in the survey.

Nexsen Pruet, with 43 attorneys working out of its Greensboro office, is the fifth-largest law firm in the Triad, according to Business Journal research.

State lawmakers, governors, and privacy advocates have express concerns about implementing the federal law, with many objecting to the expensive undertaking required for state compliance and privacy concerns associated with the federal requirements. In December 2005, the National Governor's Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, collectively released a report concluding that states are unprepared to implement the law and may need up to eight years to acquire the resources and time to successfully enact the legislation.