Via the always informative Resource Shelf, an excellent way for the interested layman to keep track of "legal news worth reading about," The Paper Chase. Researched and reported by Professor Bernard Hibbitts and law students at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, here is a glimpse of what's up right now:

Second Zimbabwe high court judge resigns
Bernard Hibbitts at 9:10 AM

Zimbabwean High Court judge Moses Chinhengo resigned for "entirely personal" reasons Friday, becoming the second High Court Justice to leave office in the past month as Zimbabwe's judiciary comes under increasing pressure from the government of President Robert Mugabe (a third High Court Justice, Sandra Mungwira, was said to have fled to the United Kingdom earlier this month, but she appears to have left for extended medical treatment and the Zimbabwean Media and Information Commission has filed a police complaint saying that the original report was criminally defamatory). A colleague, Michael Majuru, left the bench for purportedly medical reasons last month (faxing his resignation from South Africa) after becoming involved in controversy surrounding the government's closure of the Daily Nation independent newspaper. Eight High Court and Supreme Court judges have left office since 2001; in March 2001, Supreme Court Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay was forced to retire after ruling against forcible seizures of white-owned land by pro-Mugabe "war veterans." South Africa's Mail & Guardian has more.
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New Jersey Supreme Court says uninsured drivers can't sue
Bernard Hibbitts at 8:52 AM

The New Jersey Supreme Court overturned lower court rulings Thursday in holding that a 1997 state law barring suits by uninsured drivers against tortfeasors in auto accidents was in fact constitutional. Justice Barry Albin wrote, "The uninsured driver forfeits the right to sue by failing to comply with a necessary precondition to filing suit: maintaining insurance coverage." One of the lawyers for the uninsured party challenging the state law said that the decision makes New Jersey law the nation's most severe in this respect. Read the opinion here [PDF]. The Property Casualty Insurers of America praised the ruling as providing an incentive for drivers to obtain coverage; read their press release here. AP has more.
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Muhammad lawyers seek new trial
Bernard Hibbitts at 8:24 AM

Lawyers for convicted DC sniper John Allen Muhammad sought a new trail for their client Thursday, saying that letters that his associate Lee Boyd Malvo sent to another inmate in prison were improperly excluded as evidence. The letters allegedly show that Malvo was not under Muhammad's direction or control, material elements of the law under which Muhammad was convicted of capital murder. The Prince William County Circuit Court Clerk's Office offers images of all documents filed in the Muhammad case. The Washington Post has more, and provides additional background on the DC sniper shootings of 2002.
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SF gay marriages in court again as city sues California
Bernard Hibbitts at 8:11 AM

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