New York state courts will require lawyers in residential foreclosure actions to certify they have taken “reasonable” steps to verify the accuracy of documents submitted to the court.

The new rule, released in a statement by the New York state Unified Court System, is effective immediately.

Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman introduced the requirement in response to disclosures of deficiencies in residential foreclosure filings nationwide, including notarization and “robo-signing” and affidavits that falsely state the signer has knowledge of the facts, the statement said.

“We cannot allow the courts in New York State to stand by idly and be party to what we now know is a deeply flawed process, especially when that process involves basic human needs -- such as a family home -- during this period of economic crisis,” Lippman said in the statement.

The Supreme Court will consider an appeal by former Attorney General John Ashcroft to throw out a lawsuit seeking to hold him personally responsible for improperly arresting a Muslim U.S. citizen after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The justices on Monday stepped into a dispute that, at its roots, concerns the Bush administration's aggressive moves against Muslims and Arabs in the United States following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Abdullah al-Kidd was one of at least 70 people detained under a law aimed at insuring that witnesses would be available to appear in court and testify at trial, according to a study by civil liberties groups. Like many others, al-Kidd was never called to testify before a grand jury or in open court and was not charged with a crime.

Sean Mueller, the Colorado hedge fund manager who threatened suicide just before the collapse of his alleged $20 million Ponzi scheme, will plead guilty to defrauding investors.

Mueller was charged with racketeering, securities fraud and theft last week. On Friday, he waived his right to a preliminary hearing, and his attorney said that a plea deal has been reach with prosecutors.

"We have reach an agreement that will be settled," Rick Kornfield said. The plea deal will be made public at a Nov. 1 hearing.

Mueller has been held in custody since turning himself in last week, and has not sought bail. "Mr. Mueller is very sorry and very remorseful," Kornfield said. "It is genuine."

According to prosecutors, Mueller lied to investors about the size and success of his Mueller Capital Management and its Mueller Over Under Fund. According to the state’s lawsuit against him, Mueller admitted he scammed investors in a series of e-mails and notes written prior to his suicide attempt in April, when he was talked down from a building in suburban Denver. In a note written after the suicide attempt, Mueller admitted that documents claiming his Over-Under Fund managed $122 million were falsified. He wrote that only $15 million remained of the $20.6 million he collected.

The federal judge who halted the military's ban on openly gay troops is known for working at court well past closing time, typing her own court orders and doting on two terriers who themselves are no strangers to the halls of justice.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips won praise from gays and was derided by critics as an activist judge when she issued an injunction Tuesday ending the 17-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" policy, saying it violates due process rights, freedom of speech and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances guaranteed by the First Amendment.

The fallout on the polarizing topic has surprised Phillips' friends and colleagues, who said the 53-year-old registered Democrat is much better known in her inner circle for her empathy, her love of Jane Austen novels and her annual walking tours of Europe.

Phillips is popular with her court staff and works harder than anyone to get a case right, said Stephen Larson, a former federal judge in Riverside.

In her tenure as a federal judge, Phillips has handled a wide array of cases, from criminal bank robberies and drug trafficking to civil cases involving the freedoms of religion and speech, police brutality, environmental protections and labor law.

A Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas has represented himself at a quick hearing in Detroit federal court.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (OO'-mahr fah-ROOK' ahb-DOOL'-moo-TAH'-lahb) was accompanied at Thursday's 15-minute hearing by standby counsel Anthony Chambers, who can give advice.

The participants briefly discussed schedules, and U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds set the next hearing for Jan. 12.

In September, the 24-year-old suggested he wanted to plead guilty to some charges. There was no talk of that Thursday.

He is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253, an Amsterdam-to-Detroit plane. He's accused of trying to set off explosives hidden in his underwear.

A Texas death row inmate found with the blood of murder victims on his clothing is seeking the Supreme Court's help in getting access to other evidence for DNA testing that might implicate someone else.

Hank Skinner was convicted of pummeling his girlfriend with a pickax handle and stabbing her two sons on New Year's Eve in 1993 in their Texas Panhandle home. DNA evidence at his trial showed that blood on his clothing was from at least two of the victims.

The Supreme Court is hearing argument Wednesday on whether Skinner may use a federal civil rights law to ask for tests on other evidence that were not done before his conviction.

The justices blocked Skinner's execution in March an hour before he was to go to the death chamber.