Stevens: Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. finally put the kaibosh on former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens’ prosecution yesterday, requesting that the court withdraw all charges because he had had not received a fair trial. It’s unclear what punishment the Justice Department’s prosecution team will face, after Holder acknowledged it withheld key documents from the defense, reports Legal Times’ Mike Scarcella. But one prominent Washington defense lawyer calls it “career ending behavior.”
Arbitration: The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that arbitration clauses in union contracts are enforceable by federal law. In a 5-4 ruling, Justice Clarence Thomas said the court’s previous understanding of the issue "rested on a misconceived view of arbitration that this Court has since abandoned." See the article from Legal Times' Tony Mauro.
Made in China: China is gunning to become the world leader in hybrid and electric vehicles, according to this New York Times piece. The country lags far behind other major nations in gas-powered vehicle production, but is hoping to jump straight to the next level of technology. As if Detroit didn’t have enough to worry about.
LegiStorm: Check out this amusing article from the Washington Post, about the man who made searching for Hill staffers’ salaries as easy as a click of the mouse. Jock Friedly apparently counts being burned in effigy as a career high point. "I've never found it to be a problem to be a hated person," he says. "I'm perfectly happy when people are yelling at me."
Sperm Bank: The lede on this one from the Legal Intelligencer pretty much says it all. “In the first decision of its kind, a federal judge has ruled that a sperm bank may be sued under product liability laws for failing to detect that a sperm donor had a genetic defect.”
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