Bits of News
May 13, 2008KBR [Halliburton] had moved for [Jamie Leigh] Jones’ claim to be heard in private arbitration, instead of a public courtroom, as provided under the terms of her original employment contract.
Ellison, however, wrote in his order Friday that Jones’ claims of sexual assault, battery, rape, false imprisonment and others fall beyond the scope of her employment contract.
“The Court does not believe that Plaintiff’s bedroom should be considered the workplace, even though her housing was provided by her employer,” Ellison wrote. ABC News
Good start.
The number of Americans being secretly wiretapped or having their financial and other records reviewed by the government has continued to increase as officials aggressively use powers approved after the Sept. 11 attacks. But the number of terrorism prosecutions ending up in court — one measure of the effectiveness of such sleuthing — has continued to decline, in some cases precipitously. CommonDreams
American civil liberties up for grabs …
The Michigan Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that local and state institutions cannot provide health insurances for partners of employees in same-sex relationships. The Associated Press reports that the decision was a result of Michigan’s 2004 ban on same-sex marriage. MS Wire
More American families with no health insurance - good work “justice” system.
The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) calls on Congress to appoint a Special Prosecutor, independent of the Department of Justice, to investigate and prosecute high Bush officials and lawyers including John Yoo for their role in the torture of prisoners in U.S. custody. CommonDreams (NLG Press Release)
Go lawyers!
Earlier this week, the White House disclosed that it could not recover lost e-mails from emergency backup tapes for the period covering the invasion of Iraq and the U.S. failure to find Iraq’s alleged WMD.
This new gap - from March 1, 2003, to May 23, 2003 - also may have wiped out evidence of how George W. Bush and his top aides reacted to the emerging criticism from former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson that the White House had sold the war using false claims about Iraq seeking uranium from Niger in Africa, an investigation by The Public Record has found.
George and his boys regret not hiring a secretary.
Outrage over the killings [of Iraqi civilians] prompted the Iraqi government to demand Blackwater’s ouster from the country. But after an intense public and private lobbying campaign, Blackwater appears to be back to business as usual. RINF
Business as usual …
[...] of her original employment contract. Ellison, however, wrote in his order Friday that Jones?? chttp://alterwords.wordpress.com/2008/05/13/bits-of-news/Lawsuit allowed in alleged rape of Iraq contractor The Kansas City StarHOUSTON A woman who said she [...]