The Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of the families in Pulaski County Circuit Court seeking to overturn Act 1, which was approved by voters in last month's general election.

"Act 1 violates the state's legal duty to place the best interest of children above all else," said Marie-Bernarde Miller, a Little Rock attorney in the lawsuit.

The group filed the lawsuit on behalf of 29 adults and children from more than a dozen families, including a grandmother who lives with her same-sex partner of nine years and is the only relative able and willing to adopt her grandchild, who is now in Arkansas state care.

The plaintiffs also include Stephanie Huffman and Wendy Rickman, a lesbian couple raising two sons together who want to adopt a foster child from the state.

The most dramatic pullback in consumer spending in decades could transform the retail landscape, as thousands of stores and whole malls close down. And analysts expect prolonged woes in the industry as the dramatic changes in shopping behavior could linger for another two or three years amid worries about the deteriorating economy and rising layoffs.

"You are going to see a substantial retrenchment in the retail industry," said Rick Chesley, partner in the global bankruptcy and restructuring group at international law firm Paul Hastings. "The downturn has been catastrophic."

A number of stores couldn't even make it to Christmas. Circuit City Stores Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection last month. It plans to keep operating, but toy seller KB Toys, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, is liquidating its stores and will shut down.

Julian said the man glared before "maliciously expelling a large amount of saliva" onto a carpet in the courthouse hallway. Earlier in the day, the judge found Malone guilty of failing to obey a stop sign in September. He was ordered to pay a $75 fine.

Malone said he is innocent of the traffic violation and suggested the judge should show mercy because it was Christmas Eve. Julian told Malone there was no excuse for his behavior. Malone was released from jail on Friday.

Lawyers ended a testy public negotiation session convened by the secretary of state's office without agreement on which ballots to open or how many should be under consideration.

That leaves the heavy lifting to a series of regional meetings that begin Tuesday. The ballots that make the cut at those meetings will be opened in St. Paul by Monday.

Those ballots are important because Franken leads Coleman by just 47 votes after the manual review of more than 2.9 million ballots.

The absentee ballots in question were incorrectly rejected by poll judges on or before Election Day, mostly because of clerical errors outside the four legal reasons for rejection.

The state board overseeing the recount ordered that the ballots be counted, and the state Supreme Court agreed — although justices added a few wrinkles. A majority ruled that either campaign can keep any ballot out of the mix with a written objection, leaving spurned voters the option of going to court to reinstate their ballot.

Local officials identified some 1,350 rejected ballots they now say should count, but Coleman's campaign suggested there are an additional 650 that should be added.

Seven lawsuits have been filed in connection with the deadly Metrolink commuter train crash in Los Angeles.

The lawsuits were filed Tuesday and Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, on behalf of the victims of the Sept. 12 collision.

Two of the lawsuits allege negligence and wrongful death and seek unspecified amounts in damages. They name the regional rail authority that operates Metrolink, several contract companies and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority as defendants.

The other five negligence lawsuits name Connex Railroad, a contractor that provides engineers who run the Metrolink trains, its parent company Veolia Transportation and the estate of the train's engineer as defendants. Those lawsuits seek a jury trial and general damages.

http://www.rkallp.com/metrolink-disaster-lawyers.html

A judge is scheduled Jan. 9 to sentence 31-year-old Charles McArthur Emmanuel, also known as Chuckie Taylor.

Emmanuel was convicted in October of committing torture and other abuses as head of a paramilitary force in his father's government. It was the first use of a 1994 U.S. law allowing prosecution for torture overseas.

Prosecutors say the lengthy sentence would send a worldwide message against torture. Emmanuel's court-appointed lawyer didn't immediately comment Monday.

Charles Taylor is on trial before a United Nations tribunal for alleged war crimes in Sierra Leone.