Prosecutors are forced to ignore misdemeanor violations to pursue more serious crimes. Judges are delaying trials to cope with layoffs and strained staffing levels. And in some cases, those charged with violent crimes, even murder, are set free because caseloads are too heavy to ensure they receive a speedy trial.

Deep budget cuts to courts, public defenders, district attorney's and attorney general offices are testing the criminal justice system across the country. In the most extreme cases, public defenders are questioning whether their clients are getting a fair shake.

Exact figures on the extent of the cuts are hard to come by, but an American Bar Association report in August found that most states cut court funding 10 percent to 15 percent within the past three years. At least 26 states delayed filling open judgeships, while courts in 14 states were forced to lay off staff, said the report.

The National District Attorneys Association estimates that hundreds of millions of dollars in criminal justice funding and scores of positions have been cut amid the economic downturn, hampering the ability of authorities to investigate and prosecute cases.

The law firm of Izard Nobel LLP, which has significant experience representing investors in prosecuting claims of securities fraud, announces that a lawsuit seeking class action status has been filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee on behalf of purchasers of the securities of AgFeed Industries, Inc. between March 16, 2009 and August 2, 2011 (the "Class Period").

The Complaint charges that AgFeed and certain of its officers and directors violated federal securities laws. Specifically, the Complaint alleges that defendants failed to disclose the following: (i) AgFeed's collection efforts and credit dealings with its animal nutrition customers were not working because the "formula based analysis" AgFeed relied on in determining accounts receivable and reserves for doubtful accounts was flawed; (ii) allowances for doubtful accounts were undervalued; (iii) accounts were overvalued and bad debts were undervalued, causing reported asset values to be overstated and expenses to be understated; and (iv) as a result, AgFeed exaggerated its market edge creating an illusion of heightened profitability.

On August 2, 2011, AgFeed announced preliminary financial results for the second quarter of 2011 that were well below expectations and that it expected to post a loss of $17 million, as it added $5 million in allowances for its bad debt expenses. Additionally, on August 9, 2011, AgFeed disclosed to the SEC that it would withdraw the Registration Statement for its animal nutrition business.

If you are a member of the class, you may, no later than December 19, 2011, request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff of the class. A lead plaintiff is a class member that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Although your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision whether or not to seek appointment as a lead plaintiff, lead plaintiffs make important decisions which could affect the overall recovery for class members.

While Izard Nobel LLP has not filed a lawsuit against the defendants, to view a copy of the Complaint initiating the class action or for more information about the case, and your rights, visit: www.izardnobel.com/agfeed/, or contact Izard Nobel LLP toll-free: (800)797-5499, or by e-mail: firm@izardnobel.com. For more information about class action cases in general, please visit our website: www.izardnobel.com.

Armando Cardenas says he has thought about leaving Alabama because of the possibility of being arrested as an illegal immigrant and the hostility he feels from residents.

But now that a federal appeals court has sided with the Obama administration and dealt a blow to the state's toughest-in-the-nation immigration law, Cardenas said he will stay for at least a while longer.

"It's not easy to leave everything you have worked so hard for," Cardenas said after the appeals court blocked public schools from checking the immigration status of students.

The decision from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also said police can't charge immigrants who are unable to prove their citizenship, but it let some parts of the law stand, giving supporters a partial victory. The decision was only temporary and a final ruling isn't expected for months, after judges can review more arguments.

Unlike in other states where immigration crackdowns have been challenged in the courts, Alabama's law was left largely in effect for about three weeks, long enough to frighten Hispanics and drive them away from the state. Construction businesses said Hispanic workers had quit showing up for jobs and schools reported that Latino students stopped coming to classes.

A young Nigerian allegedly on a terrorist mission for al-Qaida prayed, washed and put on perfume moments before trying to detonate a bomb in his underwear to bring down an international jetliner on Christmas 2009, a prosecutor told jurors as the man's trial opened Tuesday.

Virtually everyone aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 had holiday plans, but Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab believed his calling was martyrdom, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Tukel said.

In the plane's bathroom, "he was engaging in rituals. He was preparing to die and enter heaven," Tukel said. "He purified himself. He washed. He brushed his teeth. He put on perfume. He was praying and perfuming himself to get ready to die."

After returning to his seat, Abdulmutallab pushed a small plunger on the chemical bomb in his underwear, an action that produced a "pop," the prosecutor told jurors.

The bomb didn't work as planned but Abdulmutallab was engulfed in flames, said Tukel, who displayed the flight's seating chart on a screen to show jurors where things happened on the plane.

Opening statements began after an unexplained 70-minute recess requested by Abdulmutallab and his attorney, Anthony Chambers, shortly after they entered the courtroom.

Mortgage giant Fannie Mae knew about allegations of improper foreclosure practices by law firms in 2003 but did not act to stop them, a government watchdog says.

Similar allegations are the subject of a probe by state attorneys general into how lenders and law firms ignored proper procedures to handle a crush of foreclosure paperwork.

An unnamed shareholder warned Fannie Mae of alleged foreclosure abuses in 2003, the inspector general for the agency that regulates Fannie says in a report being released Tuesday.

Fannie Mae responded by hiring a law firm to investigate the claims in 2005. The law firm reported in 2006 that it had found foreclosure attorneys in Florida "routinely filing false pleadings and affidavits."

Fannie officials said they told a government official about the law firm's findings in 2006. That unnamed official, who now works for Fannie's regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said he couldn't recall the conversation, the report says.

Fannie began using a network of attorneys in 1997 to help handle foreclosures, evictions and bankruptcies. In 2008, the network grew to 140 law firms. And the number of foreclosures in Fannie's portfolio reached historic highs. Foreclosures more than doubled from 2007 to 2008. They grew 50% in 2009.

An alleged rogue trader accused of losing Swiss banking giant UBS about $2.3 billion is "sorry beyond words," his lawyer said Thursday, as a judge ordered him to be held in jail until a hearing next month.

Kweku Adoboli, 31, is charged with four offenses of fraud and false accounting dating back to 2008 and accused of racking up losses in authorized trades. His arrest a week ago has heaped pressure on UBS Chief Executive Oswald Gruebel and stoked speculation that the bank could get rid of its investment banking operations.

At a court hearing in London, prosecuting lawyer David Levy added a new fraud offense to the three previous charges laid against Adoboli, and confirmed that authorities had revised upward the amount allegedly gambled away by the trader to around $2.3 billion. A previous hearing was told the trader was accused of losing $2 billion.

Patrick Gibbs, defending Adoboli, said his client ? who wore a gray suit, white shirt and dark blue tie ? was truly sorry for his actions.

"He is sorry beyond words for what has happened here, he went to UBS and told them what he had done, and stands now appalled at the scale of the consequences of his disastrous miscalculations," Gibbs said.

Adoboli, who appeared confident and nodded in acknowledgment to a handful of supporters attending the hearing, spoke only to confirm his name, birth date and address. He did not enter any pleas to the charges.