US Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) announced Tuesday that the Senate Appropriations Committee he chairs has agreed to adopt new standards governing so-called earmarks inserted by legislators into bills to fund special spending projects. The proposed ethics and earmark reform legislation will define the term "earmark" and will require that all earmarks be clearly identified in the committee bill and report, both of which will be published on the Internet. In addition, the legislation will mandate that Senators certify that neither they nor their spouses have a financial interest in any earmark. Byrd said the Senate Appropriations Committee will follow the standards until they are enacted into law. The Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007 passed by the US Senate in a 96-2 vote in January proposed similar earmark reform rules, but that legislation has yet to receive approval from the US House of Representatives.

In September, the US House adopted a new rule requiring lawmakers to disclose their sponsorship of earmarks. H.Res. 1000 provides that earmarks can no longer be inserted anonymously and requires that bills coming out of committee, bills containing tax measures, and conference reports list all earmarks and the names of the congresspersons who requested them.

In Global Crossing v. Metrophones, the Court held that Sections 201(b) and 207 of the Communications Act create a private right of action allowing a provider of payphone services to sue a long distance carrier for allegedly violating regulations governing compensation for coinless payphone calls. Metrophones sued Global Crossing, a long distance carrier, arguing that Global Crossing violated Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations by failing to compensate Metrophones for coinless payphone calls, a practice determined by the FCC to be "unjust and unreasonable." The Court upheld the Ninth Circuit's decision in the case, which also held that that Metrophones could pursue the lawsuit. The Supreme Court determined that the FCC's "unreasonable practice" determination was lawful, and that the language of relevant Communications Act provisions allow a party injured by violations of Section 201(b) to bring a federal action for damages. Read the Court's opinion per Justice Breyer, along with a dissent from Justice Scalia and a second dissent from Justice Thomas.

Finally, in Zuni Public School District No. 89 v. Dept. of Education, the Court held that the US Department of Education properly applied an equalization public school funding formula in determining that New Mexico "equalized expenditures" for public school districts and could therefore offset federal Impact Aid funding by reducing state aid to individual school districts. The Court determined that the Department of Education is permitted by statute to refer to the the number of students in a school district as well as the amount of per-student expenditure in a school district when determining whether a state "equalizes expenditures" among public school districts. Read the Court's opinion per Justice Breyer, along with a concurrence from Justice Stevens, a second concurrence from Justice Kennedy, a dissent from Justice Scalia, and a second dissent from Justice Souter.

Authorities identify the gunman suspected of killing 32 people at Virginia Tech as 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui, an English major who has lived in the United States since immigrating from South Korea in 1992.  He had a Centreville, Virginia address and was a resident of VT's Harper Hall.

Police recovered two handguns, a nine millimeter and a 22 caliber.  Police say ballistics tests shows that one of the guns found with Cho Seung-Hui was used at the shootings in Ambler Johnston Dormitory and Norris Hall.

Steve Flaherty, with the Virginia State Police said, "The evidence has not led us to say with all certainty that the same shooter was involved" in both places.  However he said did not have evidence that there was another shooter.

A Cook County jury convicted Mantas Matulis of second-degree murder Monday night in the death of Tombol Malik, a 23-year-old University of Illinois at Chicago student beaten to death with a bike lock in 2005.

Prosecutors had brought first-degree murder charges against Matulis, 22, alleging he kicked Malik in the head after an accomplice beat him with the lock. But the defense argued Matulis acted in self-defense, and the jury convicted him of the lesser charge after seven hours of deliberation.

The second-degree murder conviction carries a sentence of four to 20 years in prison.

Bucks County Judge Kenneth Biehn complied, accepting Flor's plea and sentencing him to seven to 20 years in prison. It seemed a moot point because Flor, 39, is on death row for the Sept. 29, 2005, slaying of Newtown police Officer Brian Gregg.

But Miles, who suffered a broken finger and two black eyes during the beating, deserved justice, Biehn said. The courtroom was dark and silent as Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Gambardella played a tape of the attack, captured via a video camera mounted on the wall in Flor's cell block.

The video shows Flor battering Miles, knocking him to the floor. When Miles got to his feet, Flor continued to push him and knock him down again. Another inmate, Timothy Heidelmark, blocked another officer who tried to help.

The attack was broken up when other corrections officers stormed the cell block. Miles was out of work for six weeks as a result of the assault.

Peter Hall, Flor's attorney, told Biehn that Flor did not want to endure any more legal proceedings, saying his client "didn't want to have any reason to return to Bucks County Court."

Last week, Cooke refused to dismiss the terror charges based on Padilla's allegations that he was tortured. Padilla, a US citizen, was arrested in 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and subsequently detained as an "enemy combatant" at a Navy military brig in Charleston, South Carolina. Initially accused of planning to set off a "dirty bomb" in the United States, Padilla went from enemy combatant to criminal defendant when he was finally charged  in November 2005 on unrelated counts of conspiracy to murder US nationals and supporting terrorist activity. He was transferred to civilian custody  in January 2006 and has pleaded not guilty to the charges. In February, Padilla was ruled competent to stand trial.