A federal judge in Atlanta has blocked portions of Georgia's
controversial new immigration law from going into effect while a lawsuit
challenging the law's constitutionality makes its way through the
courts. The blocked sections of the law, which were scheduled to take
effect on July 1, created penalties for those who knowingly transport or
shelter illegal immigrants while committing another crime, and also
authorized law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of
individuals without the proper forms of identification. The judge ruled
that the portions in question conflict with federal immigration law,
which takes precedence over state law when the two disagree.
The National Credit Union Administration has filed a lawsuit against J.P. Morgan and the Royal Bank of Scotland regarding their underwriting of residential mortgage-backed securities. The NCUA alleges that the banks' offering documents for the securities contained untrue statements of material fact or failed to state material facts, and misrepresented the securities as posing less of a risk than they actually did. As a result, the NCUA argues, several credit unions failed and required a bailout by the NCUA.
Ten members of the United States House of Representatives have filed a
lawsuit against President Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert
Gates seeking to end the United States' involvement in the Libya
conflict. The Representatives argue in the complaint that the US
participation in the Libya campaign violates the US Constitution, the
War Powers Act and the North Atlantic Treaty.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has overturned a lower court's decision that
prevented the implementation of Wisconsin's controversial labor law.
The Supreme Court ruled that the previous judge overstepped the
constitutional limits on the judiciary by interfering with the
legislative process.
Supporters of Proposition 8, California's voter-approved constitutional
ban on same sex marriages, lost their bid to overturn a previous
decision that the ban violated the United States Constitution.
The
supporters alleged that the judge who authored the decision, Chief Judge
Vaughn Walker, should not have heard the case because of his
involvement in a long-term homosexual relationship, a fact that he
revealed after his retirement from the bench.
The current judge
presiding over the case ruled against this argument, stating that "it is
not reasonable to presume that a judge is incapable of making an
impartial decision about the constitutionality of a law, solely because,
as a citizen, the judge could be affected by the proceedings."
Federal prosecutors have filed a six-count indictment against former
senator and Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards alleging that
Edwards conspired to accept illegal campaign contributions and made
false statements in an effort to conceal the illegal contributions. The
allegations stem from payments made by two Edwards supporters that
exceeded the contribution limits in the federal Election Act. The
government argues that the supporters made the payments in an effort to
conceal Edwards' extramarital affair and love child in order to protect
his presidential campaign.
