Controversies
Appeals Court Denies Ashcroft Immunity in Arrest of Muslim American as Material Witness
Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft will continue to be vulnerable to lawsuits directed at him for his alleged misuse of the material witness statute that involved arresting Arabs and Muslims after the September 11, 2001, attacks. The Ninth... read more
Wachovia/Wells Fargo Pays $160 Million to Halt Drug Money Laundering Probe
The U.S. Department of Justice has convinced Wachovia bank to pay the government $160 million for allowing its foreign exchange houses in Mexico to launder drug money.
Wachovia, now owned by Wells Fargo, admitted to permitting $110 million to ... read more
Oil Company Sues to Regain Drilling Rights in National Forest
Oil company Stanley Energy wants to drill for petroleum in Bridger-Teton National Forest, located in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Having lost the leases it gained from the Bush administration in 2005 and 2006, Stanley Energy is now ... read more
Insurance Company Routinely Cancelled Coverage of HIV Patients…and Destroyed Records
In an industry where rescission—scheming to cancel the coverage of the seriously ill—is commonplace, Fortis/Assurant Health managed to do something other insurance companies hadn’t: specifically target people with HIV. Following a South Carolina... read more
Education Secretary Duncan Suggests Banning Low-Graduation Rate Schools from NCAA Tournament…Including Kentucky
Next to President Barack Obama, there may not be a bigger basketball fan in the current administration than Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. But education comes first for the former college and professional player who says the NCAA should ban c... read more
JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank Accused of Fraud in Both U.S. and Italy
JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank find themselves facing lawsuits on both sides of the Atlantic over their financial strategies that helped cripple the financial industry in the United States and Italy.
In San Francisco, the local Federal Home ... read more
Maternal Death Rate in U.S. Doubles in 20 Years
Even with the tremendous sums spent on health care and its advances in medicine, the United States is more dangerous for women giving birth than dozens of other countries. A new report published by Amnesty International says that more than two wom... read more
Obama Needs to Bring Back the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board: Lanny Davis
Wary of the McCarthyism-like rhetoric leveled by Dick Cheney and his daughter, Liz, on the Obama administration for expressing concern about the civil liberties of suspected terrorists, Washington lawyer Lanny Davis says it’s time to bring the Pri... read more
Lieberman and Collins Try to Pass Bill Weakening FBI Whistleblower Protection
Legislation being fast-tracked through the U.S. Senate has been labeled a setback for protections guarding government employees who expose wrongdoing in the FBI and other national security operations.
According to the National Whistleblowers C... read more
Obama Fights against Congressional Oversight of Spy Agencies
President Barack Obama is threatening to veto legislation that funds intelligence agencies unless Congress backs off on several fronts to expand oversight of the intelligence community.
For starters, lawmakers want to give the Government Accou... read more
Wal-Mart Fires Employee with Cancer for Using Medical Marijuana
Suffering from sinus cancer and an inoperable brain tumor, Joseph Casias, 29, took the advice of his doctor and started using marijuana for medicinal purposes, which is permitted under state law in Michigan after it was approved by voters in 2008.... read more
Wife of Supreme Court Justice Thomas Starts Conservative Lobbying Group
Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has drawn criticism from liberals and some legal experts for launching Liberty Central Inc., a conservative activist organization linked to the Tea Party movement.
Th... read more
The Oldest Unanswered Freedom of Information Act Requests
The U.S. government has a long way to go before it fulfills decades-old requests for classified documents, despite the promises made by President Barack Obama to make federal agencies more open to the public.
According to The National Security... read more
High School Valedictorian Sues to Stop Graduation Prayer
Eric Workman, the top student at Greenwood High School in Indiana, does not want the coming graduation ceremony to feature a student-led prayer, and has filed a lawsuit to stop the religious activity. Aided by the American Civil Liberties Union of... read more
Collapse of Lehman Brothers: What Did Geithner Know and When Did He Know It?
Lehman Brothers managed to conceal from the outside world a multi-billion-dollar mess that was years in the making, according to an audit investigation released last week. But the size and scope of Lehman’s manipulative accounting has led some Wal... read more
Senate Rejects Equal Sentences for Crack and Powder Cocaine
The Senate is moving closer to reducing the disparity between jail times for cocaine and crack, but is not ready yet to equalize punishments altogether. The issue is a sensitive one because, according to recent statistics, African-Americans accoun... read more