Daily News Briefs: March  21, 2000
Date: Wednesday 21 March 2000  14:50:11--0800

Daily News Briefs: Directory: Main Room

LEGAL NEWS Mon, Mar 13, 2000
Date: Wednesday: March 21, 2000
Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2000 14:50:11 -0800

Table of Contents

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State Supreme Court refuses to hear appeal of adoption records law
Calif. jury ponders punitive damages vs. tobacco co's
US considers legal action against Opec
U.S. Supreme Court to hear Massachusetts Burma law case
Two Gunmakers Back Off Gun-Control Agreements

Cyberlaw News
MP3.com Under Fire Again

Criminal Law - Arresting Developments
Inmate used dental floss to cut cell, kill rival, Texas official says
Young thieves picking on older Toyotas
Missing Breast No Cause for Annulment
Frenchman caught smuggling snake in underpants

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A Note From Jim Twu

It seems yesterday's Supreme Court decision on tobacco regulation caught
some folks over at the FDA a bit off guard. It shouldn't have, given
that previous FDA commissioners - until David A. Kessler - did not
believe they had the authority to regulate tobacco and numerous attempts
in Congress to explicitly give them that authority have failed to pass.
Now, it's up to Congress and the "I didn't inhale" President to enact
that legislation assuming it reflects the will of the people.

However, don't think they're lighting up stogies on Tobacco Road today.
There is still a jury in Florida that just might smack the "Tobacco
Industry" with a punitive damage award big enough to bankrupt RJR and
Philip Morris and consequently send any stock portfolio or mutual fund
that own these stocks down with it. Better check out what's in the
401(k). -JT

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Top News

State Supreme Court refuses to hear appeal of adoption records law
Fox News

The Oregon Supreme Court on Tuesday let stand a lower court decision
upholding the nation's only voter-passed law allowing adult adoptees
access to their birth records. The decision clears the way for the law,
which easily passed in November 1998, to take effect April 12 unless a
court orders further delays. The state Supreme Court gave the law's
opponents 21 days to seek reconsideration, which seldom is granted, and
foes can appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

http://www.foxnews.com/national/0321/d_ap_0321_224.sml


Calif. jury ponders punitive damages vs. tobacco co's
FindLaw News

A California jury headed back to court Tuesday to deliberate possible
punitive damages against two major tobacco companies one day after they
awarded $1.7 million to a woman who developed lung cancer after smoking
for 25 years. The Superior Court jury's verdict Monday against Philip
Morris Cos Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. was the latest
blow against the embattled tobacco industry, which has faced a string of
consumer lawsuits in recent years.

http://news.findlaw.com/legalnews/s/20000321/tobaccowhiteley.html


US considers legal action against Opec
The Financial Times

Antitrust officials are examining whether the Organisation of Petroleum
Exporting Countries has violated US competition laws, as Congress
intensifies political pressure over the surge in oil prices. The Federal
Trade Commission is reviewing court rulings, dating back more than two
decades, that give Opec sovereign immunity from US antitrust laws.

http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3DFE2W36C&live=true&tagid=ZZZGXV4R00C&subheading=global


U.S. Supreme Court to hear Massachusetts Burma law case
FindLaw News

Can state and local governments make their own foreign policy? A
Massachusetts law against doing business with Myanmar because of its
poor human rights record has confronted the U.S. Supreme Court with that
fundamental constitutional question. A federal judge and an appeals
court have ruled against Massachusetts, and the state has appealed to
the nation's highest court. As the justices hear the case Wednesday,
cities and states with similar laws and activist groups will be watching
closely.

http://news.findlaw.com/News/s/20000321/usscboycott.html


Two Gunmakers Back Off Gun-Control Agreements
ABC News

Two gunmakers - Glock Inc. and Browning - will not sign voluntary
gun-control agreements similar to the one reached last week between
Smith & Wesson Corp. and the Clinton administration. The deal-breaker
for Glock was the creation of an outside "oversight commission," made up
of local, state and federal officials, who would supervise the gun
manufacturer.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/gunmakers000322.html


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Cyberlaw News

Tech-Deals - Internet Contracts - The Details
http://techdeals.findlaw.com
Meg Whitman & eBay, Dr. Koop's deal with drkoop.com & more
Amazon, AOL, eBay, Excite, iVillage, Netscape, TheStreet.com, Yahoo!

MP3.com Under Fire Again
Wired News

Just two months after the Recording Industry Artists of America filed
suit against MP3.com for alleged copyright violations, music publisher
Harry Fox has jumped in with one of his own. The crux of the suit deals
with MP3.com's new Mymp3 instant-listening service, which offers
customers instant access to digital copies of CDs they already own and
those CDs bought through MP3.com partners.

http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,35107,00.html


Criminal Law

Inmate used dental floss to cut cell, kill rival, Texas official says
Court TV

Prison officials believe an inmate used dental floss or a similar coated
string to painstakingly cut his way out of his cell and kill a rival.

http://www.courttv.com/national/2000/0321/floss_ap.html

Young thieves picking on older Toyotas
San Jose Mercury News

The latest fad among young car thieves, police say, involves a method of
stealing older model Toyotas that is literally a turn-key operation.
``They walk up, jiggle the door and open it,'' Hillsborough County,
Fla., sheriff's Detective Jim Moffitt said of thieves using altered keys
on the cars. ``It's become a sport. Now the girls are doing it.''

http://www.mercurycenter.com/breaking/docs/033930.htm


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Unusual Legal News

Missing Breast No Cause for Annulment
Reuters/Yahoo! News

An Egyptian court Wednesday rejected a suit filed by a man who wanted
his marriage annulled because he had discovered -- 20 months after their
wedding -- that his wife had only one breast, police sources said. A
medical examiner told the court, in the southern province of Qena, that
the wife was healthy and there was no reason why the couple could not
perform their normal marital duties.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000322/od/breast_1.html

Frenchman caught smuggling snake in underpants
San Jose Mercury News

French police on Tuesday caught a man trying to sneak through customs at
a Paris airport with a snake hidden in his underpants, an airport
spokeswoman said. The 30-year-old Frenchman, who was trying to smuggle
the 16-inch boa into Roissy airport from Colombia, was caught out after
a sniffer dog latched on to the reptile's scent through his bulging
trousers, she said.

http://www.mercurycenter.com/breaking/docs/063035.htm

 

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