The Wall Street Journal reports today that JP Morgan Chase is dropping arbitration from its credit card agreements to settle an anti-trust suit. The super-sized bank had stopped sending cases to arbitration in July, but had not changed its credit card agreements. If the settlement is approved, JP Morgan would drop its arbitration clause for at least three-and-a-half years, starting in 2010.

John Stewart, America's most trusted newsman, points out the rampant hypocrisy of the thirty senators who voted against Senator Franken's amendment prohibiting the use of any Federal funds to any contractor that "requires that employees or independent contractors sign mandatory arbitration clauses." Check out the video, after the jump (hat tip: HuffPo)

Good news, Fair Arbitration fans! Two weeks ago, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Jamie Leigh Jones would have her day in court.  The majority opinion was written by the Honorable Rhesa Hawkins Barksdale, veteran of Vietnam and a graduate of West Point, who was appointed to the Federal bench by President George H. W. Bush.

Mandatory binding arbitration, or “forced arbitration,” is ubiquitous in many industries, according to a study released today by Public Citizen. Seventy-five percent of companies in eight industries use forced arbitration, the organization found in a study released a day before a key congressional subcommittee holds a hearing on whether mandatory binding arbitration is fair or voluntary.