[JURIST] A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit [official website] on Tuesday upheld [opinion, PDF] a New Hampshire law that prohibits the gathering of data from prescription drug records to target pharmaceutical sales to doctors. The Prescription Information Law [text] was enacted in June 2006 and was aimed at limiting health care costs by reducing the number of

[JURIST] Eric Holder [professional profile], Deputy US Attorney General [archive materials] during the Clinton administration, has been asked and has agreed to serve as US Attorney General for the incoming administration of now President-elect Barack Obama, according to media reports citing unnamed sources late Tuesday. If officially nominated and if confirmed by the Senate, Holder would be the

[JURIST] California Attorney General Jerry Brown [official website] on Monday urged [press release] the state Supreme Court [official website] to review the petitions [materials; JURIST report] raised in reference to the recent passage [results; JURIST report] of Proposition 8 [text, materials], the voter initiative that amended the state constitution [text] to make same-sex marriage illegal in

[JURIST] Over 100 retired admirals and generals of the United States military called Monday for a repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy [USC text; HRC backgrounder] regarding homosexuals in the armed forces. The controversial policy requires the dismissal of openly gay or lesbian service members. The statement [text] was released by Admiral Charles Larson [professional profile] and was

[JURIST] Officials from the administration of US president-elect Barack Obama [transition website] will likely not prosecute Americans who approved or actually carried out the torture or other harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects, according to an AP report [text] published Monday. The adoption of such a policy would be in line with plans [Salon report] expressed earlier in the presidential

[JURIST] US Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann [JURIST news archive] announced Monday that his retirement from the post of chief judge of US military commissions [DOD materials; JURIST news archive] will be effective immediately. Kohlmann initially announced his retirement [JURIST report] in September, but said then that it would not be effective until April 2009. According to an AFP report [text],

[JURIST] US president-elect Barack Obama [transition website] has reportedly selected [Washington Post report] Gregory Craig [professional profile] to serve as White House counsel. Craig, who was an adviser to Obama during the presidential campaign, led former President Bill Clinton's defense during his 1998 impeachment proceedings [PBS materials; JURIST materials]. In 2000, Craig represented the

[JURIST] A spokesperson for the Pentagon [official website] acknowledged [AP report] on Sunday while speaking to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) [official website] that the US held 12 juveniles at the Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] prison. The announcement came in response to a study [text] released last week by the Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas (

[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] said [HRW press release] Monday that upon inauguration US president-elect Barack Obama [official website] should immediately denounce the previous administration's "abusive" counterterrorism policies in order to bring US practices into accordance with the country's "basic values" and its own obligations under international law. HRW released a

[JURIST] The Iraqi cabinet voted Sunday in an emergency session to approve a final draft of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) [CFR materials] between the US and Iraq. The SOFA, which determines the relationship between Iraqi, American and Multi-National Force Iraq (MNF-I) [official website] forces in the country, requires US and MNF-I forces to exit Iraqi cities by June 30 [UPI report], and

The comparisons are eerily similar.

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, the Republican lawmaker convicted on felony corruption charges in October, was defeated in his bid for re-election by Democrat Mark Begich, according to a release from Begich's campaign and unofficial results from state officials.

President-elect Barack Obama has picked Peter Orszag, the head of the Congressional Budget Office, to head his Office of Management and Budget, a top Democratic source told CNN Tuesday.

Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Lieberman managed to keep his Senate committee chairmanship in part because President-elect Barack Obama didn't want to punish him for supporting Sen. John McCain, Lieberman said Tuesday.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] on Friday ruled [opinion, PDF] that tribal sovereign immunity [NCAI backgrounder] applies to lawsuits brought in federal court dealing with the profit-making businesses of Indian tribes. In Cook v. Avi Casino Enterprises, Christopher Cook filed suit against Avi Casino Enterprises (ACE), a tribal corporation, and its

Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales have been indicted on separate charges related to alleged prisoner abuse in federal detention centers, Willacy County, Texas, District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra told CNN Tuesday.

Lawmakers challenged Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on his handling of the $700 billion bank bailout program and stressed the importance of doing more to help homeowners.

Two weeks after losing his bid for the presidency in an electoral landslide, Sen. John McCain is beginning the thorny transition back to life out of the spotlight as he weighs his future role in the Senate.

More than a week after voters in California, Arizona and Florida passed ballot initiatives outlawing same-sex marriage, thousands of people across the country protested the bans in simultaneous rallies Saturday. In California, Proposition 8 overturned a May ruling by the California Supreme Court that struck down a 2000 ban on same-sex unions. It passed 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent. CNN's D.L. Hughley spoke to sex columnist Dan Savage about the ongoing battle to legalize same-sex marriage in California. Savage is the author of the popular syndicated sex advice column "Savage Love."

Ford Motor Company chief executive Alan Mulally defended his company Tuesday against charges that Ford caused its own problems and said bailing out Detroit was essential to the U.S. economic recovery.