USLegal Reporter

Although, motions for petitions for rehearing are typically only brought by parties to the original lawsuit, the US Department of Justice has filed a motion for a petition for rehearing of the US Supreme Court’s decision in Kennedy v. Louisiana, claiming the court’s decision was based on incomplete knowledge of federal law. Louisiana state prosecutors recently filed a similar petition regarding the ruling that the death penalty can only be imposed in child rape cases that involve murder.

The Department of Justice previously admitted its failure to inform the Court of an amendment to a military law that allows the death penalty as punishment for child rape cases. As a result, the Court did not take this military law into consideration in making its decision, which was based on current state law and the lack of federal law regarding the applicability of capital punishment in such cases.

Source: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/07/doj-seeks-supreme-court-rehearing-of.php

President Bush on Wednesday signed The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 into law. The measure is designed to avert foreclosures and two provide additional credit to two of the nation’s leading mortgage lenders.

Some of the key provisions of the legislation include the following:

$300 billions in loans to help distressed homeowners refinance their mortgages through a new FHA backed program. The program is expected to help some 400,000 Americans to keep their homes.

A tax break of up to $7,500 for first time home buyers. Eligible individuals are those who purchase between April 9, 2008 and July 1, 2009 and who haven’t owned a home in the past three years.

New lines of credit for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and a new regulator - the Federal Housing Finance Agency to provide additional oversight of these mortgage lenders.

$3.9 billion in community development grants to buy and repair abandoned and foreclosed properties.

Sources: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN3042756820080731,

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hs5zArRJP0FhzvfKNXi60I95LyqQD928CD780,

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/financialsvcs_dem/press0723082.shtml 

US Army private Ronald A. Gray received the death penalty by a military court after being convicted in civilian court and given a life sentence for two counts of murder and five counts of rape. Gray was originally charged for his connection to four murders and eight rapes in North Carolina in the mid-1980s.

A court martial panel convicted Gray in 1988 of two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, as well as counts of rape, forcible sodomy, and robbery, in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. He received a dishonorable discharge, was demoted, and sentenced to death. A military sentence of death requires presidential approval under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The last time a military execution was approved was in 1957.

Source: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/07/bush-approves-first-us-military.php

Dick Heller, the plaintiff in the US Supreme Court’s recent decision regarding an individual’s right to own a handgun, joined other plaintiffs in filing a lawsuit Monday challenging new regulations passed by the District of Columbia on July 15, 2008. Although the District of Columbia began allowing individuals to apply for handguns shortly after it passed the regulations, Heller and others contend that the city’s new gun legislation violates the Heller decision by essentially preventing persons from owning a gun for self-defense purposes.

The lawsuit finds fault with the new regulations’ prohibition against machine guns, required registration fee and rules for keeping guns unloaded and disassembled or equipped with trigger locks unless the individual “reasonably perceive[s] [a] threat of immediate harm.”

The new law is temporary (effective for 90 days), while permanent legislation is being drafted.

Source: http://news.findlaw.com/ap/f/1310/07-28-2008/20080728142006_21.html

A federal grand jury today indicted Alaska Senator Ted Stevens on seven counts of failing to disclose services related to a rennovation project on his home. Prosecutors allege the Republican senator received more than $250,000 in gifts and services from VECO Corporation and concealed the information.

Stevens has denied any wrong doing.

The longest serving GOP senator now becomes the first sitting U.S. senator to face federal indictment since 1993.

Sources: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/ted-stevens-indictment-july-29-2008/?resultpage=1&,

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008079697_webstevens29m.html

The US Senate on Saturday passed a comprehensive bill designed to help prevent foreclosures and to extend additional credit to two of the nation’s leading mortgage lenders.

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 passed by a vote of 72-13. The House approved the measure on July 23rd. The Bill has been sent to President Bush who is expected to sign it.

Some of the key provisions of the bill include the following:

* $300 billion in loans to help distressed homeowners refinance their mortgages into more affordable 30 year fixed loans backed by the government. The measure is expected to help some 400,000 thousand Americans to keep their homes. Of note, in return for refinancing a loan, borrowers agree to give the Federal Housing Administration a share in the profits of the home’s future appreciation.

*A tax break of up to $7,500 for first-time homebuyers. Eligible first time buyers are those who purchase between April 9, 2008 and July 1, 2009 and who haven’t owned a home in three years.

*Authorizes the United States Department of The Treasury to provide increased credit to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and creates a new regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to provide additional oversight of these mortgage lenders.

*Provides $4 billion in grants to states and local communities to buy abandoned and foreclosured properties.

*Establishes an Office of Housing Counseling to provide counseling and educational material for people applying for mortgages.

Sources:

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/financialsvcs_dem/press0723082.shtml,

http://biz.yahoo.com/brn/080728/26169.html?.v=1,

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92826335

Chicago police collected guns Saturday in an effort to decrease gun violence in a city with similar gun laws to those overturned by the US Supreme Court’s recent decision in District of Columbia v. Heller. Although the city had hoped to receive 14,000 guns, it collected more than 6,800 through the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy program that has resulted in the collection of more than 11,000 guns since 2006. The program allowed individuals to drop off their guns at locations city-wide in exchange for amnesty and a $100 debit card.

The city’s mayor, Richard M. Daley, issued a press release regarding the program and stated that the city’s gun laws are still in effect, even after the Heller decision, which he claims applies only to the District of Columbia’s handgun ban. Several Chicago residents, the Second Amendment Foundation and the Illinois State Rifle Association have filed suit challenging Chicago’s handgun bans and registration laws in light of the Heller decision.

Source: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/07/chicago-implements-gun-amnesty-program.php

Hasbro, the maker of popular word game Scrabble, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York on Thursday against Scrabulous, a similar online application. In its complaint, Hasbro says Scrabulous manufacturer, RJ Softwares, has committed copyright infringement and engaged in unfair competitive practices.

Scrabulous has more than 500,000 daily active users on Facebook, a popular social networking site. 

Hasbro has formally notified Facebook of the problem and has asked for the application to be taken down. Under the Digital Millennium  Copyright Act, Facebook will not be liable for any alleged copyright infringement under a safe harbor provision. However, Facebook must respond to the notification or it will lose its immunity.

Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/technology/chi-fri-hasbro-scrabulousjul25,0,7068069.story

The national  minimum wage increased to $6.55 per hour today. The increase came about as part of the Fair Mininum Wage Increase Act of 2007.

Previously, minimum wage was $5.85 an hour. Prior to the 2007 legislation, the rate was $5.15, a figure which had been in place since 1997.

An additional minimum wage increase is scheduled to take place on June 24, 2009. At that time, a rate of $7.25 per hour will become effective.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/24/news/economy/minimum_wage/?postversion=2008072407

The Child Protection Act, which required websites with adult material to verify visitors’ ages, was declared unconstitutional by the 3rd U.S. Circurt Court of Appeals. The law was passed in 1998 and has been under attack by groups such as the ACLU, who opposed it as censorship. The court found that the law was in violation of free speech rights since it was not the most effective method of keeping children from visiting adult websites.

The law prohibited the posting of material deemed harmful to minors on a website that is using the material for commercial purposes. The court found that the definition of the standards for material that was required to be hidden from open browsing was overbroad and would have required age verification for any material not suitable for a four-year-old.

The decision from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court decision. The ACLU sued the government, arguing that the law criminalizes constitutionally protected speech, resulting in diverting pornography sites to non-U.S. servers, and preventing the spread of health information because of the requirement for people to enter sensitive information. The government will likely appeal the decision.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/AheadoftheCurve/Story?id=5428228&page=1