Microsoft filed an emergency stay application[PDF] late Wednesday in the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to delay implementation, pending appeal, of a District Court order[PDF] issued Tuesday requiring Microsoft to release an updated version of Sun Microsystem's Java language for Windows. Microsoft also made a motion to expedite appeal[PDF] of the order.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has issued press releases concerning new rules adopted Wednesday on retention of auditor records, financial disclosures, auditor independence and shareholder reports. Full texts of the new rules are not yet available on the SEC website. See below for more from Wednesday's Open Meeting.

US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher Wednesday expressed trhe United States' "disappointment" at Libya's election to the chairmanship of the UN Commission on Human Rights. Read excerpts from today's State Department briefing.

US District Judge Robert Sweet's Wednesday dismissal of a precedent-setting obesity lawsuit against McDonald's Corporation is now online[PDF] from the Southern District of New York. The suit was brought on behalf of overweight children in the Bronx and claimed that McDonald's products posed a danger to consumers of which they were unaware.

The Securities and Exchange Commission held a public meeting Wednesday to adopt new rules addressing shareholder reports, auditor independence, management disclosure and retention of records pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Listen to recorded audio and view the full agenda.

Law professors Eric Muller (UNC) and David Post (Temple) share their perspectives on the 30th anniversary of Roe. v. Wade. NOW President Kim Grandy has also issued a statement. President Bush spoke by telephone Wednesday to a Right to Life Rally on the Mall in Washington DC. Listen to recorded audio of his remarks.

Harvard Law School announced Wednesday that The Oneida Indian Nation of central New York (part of the Iroquois Confederacy) has made a $3 million gift endowing a chair at Harvard Law School for the study of American Indian law.

The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Wednesday that although under the Fair Housing Act a corporation is vicariously liable for an employee's discriminatory acts, that liability does not extend to corporate officers and owners. Read Meyer v. Holley - Opinion by Breyer, vacating and remanding to the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Professor Jerry Goldman's excellent Oyez Supreme Court Multimedia Project at Northwestern University has launched a beta version of a new-look website. The good news is that there's a lot more information readily accessible on this redesigned home page than was accessible on the original, with a new focus on news and discussions over and above the traditional audio files and case listings. More content from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism and APPELATE.NET adds depth, and the overall presentation is much brighter and new-wave. The bad news (reported with the caveat that all web developers live in glass houses) is that the new interface looks rather cluttered and zebra-like, and although it looks fine in Netscape 6 it's too wide in IE for the 800x600 displays which most legal users still run. Someone also needs to fix it up for Netscape 4 users. But there's still time to make adjustments before the site goes up officially! Thanks to Howard Bashman for the link.

Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs has posted recorded video of two recent law lectures. Watch former US War Crimes Ambassador and International Criminal Court negotiator David Scheffer on The United Nations and International Law: Still Relevant? and Georgetown law professor David Cole on Enemy Aliens and American Freedoms: Civil Liberties and the War on Terrorism.

The US Courts Service has posted recorded video of the formal unveiling of the Thurgood Marshall commemorative stamp earlier this month.

Miami law professor Michael Froomkin has posted proofs of his upcoming Harvard Law Review article Habermas@Discourse.net: Toward a Critical Theory of Cyberspace[PDF]. The article applies Habermas' discourse theory to the development of Internet standards, and concludes with reflections on various "technologies for democracy," including web logs (like this), community drafting and filtering drafting tools, and deliberative online environments.

From the "pro-choice" perspective... The National Organization of Women (NOW) is marking the 30th anniversary of Roe with a candlelight vigil in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC. The National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) is launching an anniversary ad campaign.The California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League has posted a special Roe. v. Wade Anniversary Page. Planned Parenthood also has a Roe at 30 site. The Center for Reproductive Rights offers an essay on Roe v Wade - Then and Now. From the "pro-life" side... Americans United For Life has been hosting a series of Roe anniversary symposia on college campuses. The President of National Right to Life is also reflecting on Roe v. Wade after 30 years.

The US Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday in Dole Food/Dead Sea Bromine v. Patrickson (immunity, corporations) and Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America v. Concannon (prescription drugs, Medicaid, Commerce Clause). Case summaries provided by the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University.

On January 22, 1973, the US Supreme Court handed down its split decision in Roe v. Wade, liberalizing abortion. Listen to the oral arguments and read the Justices' Opinions.