Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts may recuse himself from an upcoming ruling. Pharmaceuticals giant Wyeth was charged with negligence in a tort case related to the loss of a patient’s arm that was argued before the court last November, and is also the acquisition target of Pfizer, a company in which Chief Justice Roberts owns stock. The court decision would likely affect the value of Wyeth and therefore Pfizer’s value as well. Justice Roberts’ decision will likely set the precedent for these types of conflicts of interest. (law.com)
In a federal corruption trial yesterday, former Pennsylvania state Sen. Vincent Fumo (D) defended a secret $17 million gift from a utility company to a charity run by his aides, arguing that it benefitted consumers. The charity’s main operations involve street cleaning and economic development work in Fumo’s district. Prosecutors allege that Fumo embezzled more than $1 million from the charity using its vehicles and credit cards. (Associated Press)
A well-known anti-tobacco attorney pleaded guilty yesterday to mail fraud in a case that involved the attempted bribery of a judge. Richard Scruggs, the brother-in-law of former Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS), tried to get a county circuit judge to rule in his favor by telling him he could get him appointed to the federal bench with Lott’s help. Lott himself has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the matter. (Associated Press)
An incident in which an official at the Department of Homeland Security brought a suspicious package containing a dead fish and white powder to work, and which caused authorities to conduct an evacuation of the building, has drawn the attention of lawmakers who now want a report into what happened. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) wants a full report, and many are concerned that a senior employee who has spent her career working on issues related to weapons of mass destruction would bring such a package into her workplace. (NationalJournal.com)
A probe into the military’s recruiting practices and their relation to a string of disturbing suicides has found that soldiers fresh from the battlefield were sent to recruiting posts and pressured intensely to produce results. While the report did cite evidence that soldiers had to work long and unpredictable hours under stressful conditions, it did not condemn the practice of sending soldiers straight from the battlefield to recruiting posts. (GovernmentExecutive.com)
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