LAWFUEL – Legal Announcements

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to the provisions of the Government in the Sunshine Act, Pub. L. 94-409, that the Securities and Exchange Commission will hold the following meetings during the week of November 26, 2007:

An Open Meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 28, 2007 at 10:00 a.m., in Room L-002, the Auditorium, and a Closed Meeting will be held on Thursday, November 29, 2007 at 2:00 p.m.

Commissioners, Counsel to the Commissioners, the Secretary to the Commission, and recording secretaries will attend the Closed Meeting. Certain staff members who have an interest in the matters may also be present.

The General Counsel of the Commission, or his designee, has certified that, in his opinion, one or more of the exemptions set forth in 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(5), (7), (9)(B), and (10) and 17 CFR 200.402(a)(5), (7), 9(ii) and (10), permit consideration of the scheduled matters at the Closed Meeting.

Commissioner Casey, as duty officer, voted to consider the items listed for the closed meeting in closed session.

The subject matters of the Open Meeting scheduled for Wednesday, November 28, 2007 will be:

1. The Commission will consider whether to adopt amendments to Rule 14a-8(i)(8) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, to clarify its longstanding interpretation of that rule.

2. The Commission will consider whether to adopt amendments to the proxy rules under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to facilitate the use of electronic shareholder forums.

The subject matter of the Closed Meeting scheduled for Thursday, November 29, 2007 will be:

Formal orders of investigation;
Institution and settlement of injunctive actions;
Institution and settlement of administrative proceedings of an enforcement nature;
Adjudicatory matters; and
Other matters related to enforcement actions.

At times, changes in Commission priorities require alterations in the scheduling of meeting items.

For further information and to ascertain what, if any, matters have been added, deleted or postponed, please contact:

The Office of the Secretary at (202) 551-5400.

Nancy M. Morris
Secretary

November 20, 2007

LAWFUEL – The US Legal Newswire – The U.S. Supreme Court is to hear argument on whether the District of Columbia’s ban on handgun ownership violates constitutional rights to bear arms.

It is likely that the case will be heard next February or March, which will place the final decision from the justices in the middle of the presidential election campaign.

At issue is one that has polarized judges and politicians for decades: Do the Second Amendment’s 27 words bestow gun ownership as an individual right, or do they bestow a collective one — aimed at the civic responsibilities of state militias — making it therefore subject to strict government regulation.

CNN reports that City leaders had urged the high court to intervene, saying refusal to do so could prove dire.

“The District of Columbia — a densely populated urban locality where the violence caused by handguns is well documented — will be unable to enforce a law that its elected officials have sensibly concluded saves lives,” wrote attorneys for the city.

The Second Amendment says: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

How the court will construe that language is largely guesswork. The justices last considered the Second Amendment in 1939, issuing a ruling that both sides in the debate now claim as support for their position.