February 2013 Archives

California almond producers claim that the Secretary of Agriculture — attempting to prevent the spread of salmonella — exceeded his authority in requiring California almonds sold domestically to be treated with heat or chemicals.

They should have raised that objection before the rule became final.

Last week, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the almond farmers waived those claims by failing to raise them during the rulemaking process.

Do you really want the State of New Jersey handling the decommissioning of a nuclear facility? If you’ve ever watched an episode of Jersey Shore, or Real Housewives of New Jersey, or Jerseylicious, you would have to have doubts, right?.

And you wouldn’t be alone.

This week, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s proposed transfer of authority over nuclear waste disposal at the Shieldalloy Metallurgical Corporation to New Jersey was arbitrary and capricious. This is the second time that the appellate court has put the kabosh on the NRC’s plans for the site, The Associated Press reports.

After a decade of litigation, Peter Atherton has finally lost his battle for a spot on a D.C. grand jury.

Atherton was sworn in as a District of Columbia Superior Court grand juror on April 9, 2001. The grand jury was scheduled to deliberate for 25 days, but Atherton was permanently removed from grand jury service on April 11, after an Assistant United States Attorney reported to the supervising AUSA, Daniel Zachem, that the jurors were complaining about Atherton.

Not every court-ordered record or report is available for public consumption, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week.

In 2004, after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged American International Group, Inc. (AIG) with securities violations, the parties entered into a consent decree that enjoined future violation. The decree also required AIG to retain an independent consultant to review transaction policies and procedures and to examine a number of AIG's completed transactions.