Nota Bene

The NY Times reports:

The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the release of a trove of documents that revealed how Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick of Detroit and city lawyers tried to cover up Mr. Kilpatrick’s extramarital affair with his chief of staff, as well as text messages that could expose the mayor to perjury charges.

The seven justices voted unanimously to reject the city’s appeal to keep the documents secret, ending a two-month battle between Mr. Kilpatrick’s staff and Michigan’s two largest newspapers, The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News, in which the City Council had condemned the mayor’s secrecy. (more…)

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:

When a Forsyth County couple sent 99-cent text messages trying to win a prize on the NBC game show “Deal or No Deal,” they engaged in illegal gambling and should get their money back, a lawyer told the Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday.

So should all other Georgians who sent text messages in the show’s “Lucky Case Game” and lost, lawyer Jerry Buchanan said. A judge hearing the case has estimated the bounty could reach tens of millions of dollars.

The unusual federal lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, was filed last year by Michael and Michele Hardin against NBC Universal Inc. and two other companies affiliated with the show.

The ACLU has issued this press release:

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Northern California and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) last night filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit that led a federal district judge to order the domain name Wikileaks.org shut down. The motion is on behalf of organizations and individuals that have accessed and used documents on the Wikileaks.org website in their work and want to continue to be able to do so.

“The court’s order shuts down and locks up the domain name Wikileaks.org permanently, effectively interfering with the public’s ability to access the materials on the website as easily as possible,” said Aden Fine, senior staff attorney with the ACLU First Amendment Working Group. “The public has a right to receive information and ideas, especially ones concerning the public interest. This injunction ignores that vital First Amendment principle.”

The Sacramento Bee reports:

The city council has unanimously approved restricting where sex offenders can live, responding to a communitys outrage over more than a dozen registered sex offenders living in the same 12-unit apartment complex.Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal had proposed the ordinance, which would keep sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of licensed child-care facilities or within 2,500 feet of “high risk” sex offenders. She also wants to limit the number of sex offenders that can live within a multi-family residence.

The council on Tuesday night unanimously approved Lowenthals measure, directing the city attorneys office to research and craft the new law, which will come back to council members for approval.

The Associated Press reports:

A state appellate court on Wednesday upheld a renewal of a civil judgment against O.J. Simpson in a decade-old wrongful death lawsuit.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected an argument by Simpson that the Los Angeles Superior Court no longer had jurisdiction over him because he now lives in Florida.

Fred Goldman filed a renewal in October 2006 because Simpson has refused to pay the $33.5 million judgment that would have automatically expired on March 10. The judgment has grown to about $40 million, with interest.

Goldman’s attorney David Cook said the renewal will not expire for another 10 years and can be renewed again at that time if the full judgment isn’t received.

“A plane ticket to Miami is not a free pass for a wrongful death judgment,” Cook said in an e-mail message.

The AP reports:

The Supreme Court dealt a setback Tuesday to civil rights and privacy advocates who oppose the Bush administrations warrantless wiretapping program. The justices, without comment, turned down an appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union to let it pursue a lawsuit against the program that began shortly after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.The action underscored the difficulty of mounting a challenge to the eavesdropping, which remains classified and was confirmed by President Bush only after a newspaper article revealed its existence.

“Its very disturbing that the presidents actions will go unremarked upon by the court,” said Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLUs national security project. “In our view, it shouldnt be left to executive branch officials alone to determine the limits.”

The Terrorist Surveillance Program no longer exists, although the administration has maintained it was legal.

LifeHacker reports:

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You can access The Public Library of Law here.

TheAge.com reports

A US federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against a unit of Boeing Co that accused the firm of helping fly terrorism suspects abroad to secret prisons.The American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint in May accusing Jeppesen Dataplan Inc of providing flight and logistical support to the US government with at least 15 aircraft on 70 “extraordinary-rendition” flights.

“In sum, at the core of plaintiffs’ case against Defendant Jeppesen are ‘allegations’ of covert US military or CIA operations in foreign countries against foreign nationals - clearly a subject matter which is a state secret,” Judge James Ware wrote in a ruling.

The court “grants the United States’ motion to dismiss on the ground that the very subject matter of the case is a state secret.”

The LA Times reports:

Attorneys for former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona filed a motion Wednesday asking a judge to dismiss most of the charges against him, alleging federal prosecutors had no jurisdiction in the case.

The motion contends that California’s Fair Political Practices Commission adequately regulates the acceptance of gifts by elected officials — the basis for most of the charges against Carona — so the U.S. attorney’s office should not be allowed to prosecute him.

The OC Register reports:

A judge Monday allowed a lawsuit to proceed against a California Highway Patrol dispatcher in a high-profile case about graphic accident photos leaked onto the Internet.

A second dispatcher, however, was removed as a defendant in the complaint.

In separate rulings that keep alive the possibility of a jury trial against the CHP, Judge Steven L. Perk ruled that the alleged conduct of dispatch supervisor Thomas ODonnell was not protected by his constitutional right of free speech – as his attorneys argued.

Relatives of Nicole “Nikki” Catsouras sued the CHP, ODonnell and another dispatcher, Aaron Reich, after the agency took responsibility for improperly releasing the grisly images to the public. Accident-scene photos are supposed to be used only for investigative purposes.