A lawsuit brought against Donald Rumsfeld by former detainees at Guantanamo Bay will be given a second look by a federal appeals court at the request of the Supreme Court. The former detainees, who are British subjects, charge that they were tortured and subjected to religious persecution at the camp. (New York Times)
Another midnight rules change by the Bush administration: a proposed new regulation for the Department of Energy would eliminate a rule of thumb encouraging the department to release information, even if not legally required to do so, if the information would benefit the public interest. (Federation of American Scientists)
A new report issued by the Inspector General of the Department of the Interior charges that a senior official mishandled nearly every decision she was responsible for with respect to the Endangered Species Act. Julie McDonald, a deputy assistant secretary in the Fish and Wildlife Service from 2002 until her 2007 resignation, was found to have exerted “improper political interference” throughout her work for the department, ruling in favor of industry and against environmental protection. (AP)
Alaska state Sen. Jerry Ward has been the target of a federal investigation into public corruption since March 2008, according to evidence submitted in the criminal case against Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) revealed that state Sen. Jerry Ward has been the target of a federal investigation into public corruption since March 2008. The probe has already netted several state lawmakers in addition to Stevens. (KTUU)
Three Algerian detainees at Guantanamo Bay will be transferred to Bosnia and released after a federal judge ordered that the prisoners be freed “forthwith.” The court ruling rejects claims that the men were actively enemy combatants. (Washington Post)
Residents of the Pacific Northwest sickened by the accidental release of radiation from a nuclear weapons research facility dating back to the Second World War might see compensation for their health troubles. The Supreme Court succinctly denied an appeal from contractors involved in the case, leaving intact a previous ruling by a lower court assigning them responsibility for damages to plaintiffs. (AP)
