Holder Under Fire: Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. knew his decision to appoint a prosecutor to investigate potential violations of anti-torture laws would be controversial. The Washington Post reports that senior Republican and Democratic senators are criticizing Holder's decision—for different reasons. Leading Republican lawmakers say the probe of alleged abuses by CIA officers will hinder intelligence gathering. On the other side of the aisle, Democrats complain the investigation should be broadened beyond a review of the actions of CIA officers who interrogated terrorism suspects. Meanwhile, there's a sense of betrayal in the ranks of the CIA, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Getting Out of Kentucky: Prison officials in Hawaii are removing the state's 168 female inmates who are being held at a privately run Kentucky prison stemming from allegations of sexual abuse by guards, The New York Times reports. Officials from the Hawaii Department of Public Safety investigated the allegations at the Otter Creek Correctional Center in Wheelwright, Kentucky. Seven inmates from Hawaii are reported victims of sexual abuse at the prison, according to the Times report.
Produce the Documents: A federal judge in New York is ordering the Federal Reserve to release records about emergency loans to investment banks and other financial institutions during the economic meltdown, The New York Law Journal reports. Judge Loretta Preska of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected claims that the documents are exempt from disclosure under the argument that they are inter-agency or intra-agency memos or letters unavailable other than to agencies in litigation.
Full Court Press: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has agreed to hear a case en banc that could reverse a written description requirement for patents that the court imposed a dozen years ago, The National Law Journal reports. The en banc court in Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Eli Lilly and Co. will examine whether the patent code requires a specific "written description" of the claimed invention in addition to enabling language, which explains how to make and use it.
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