Retired state judge Thomas F. Nuss ruled Wednesday that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles cannot claim communications between priests and bishops are confidential to withhold evidence of clergy sex abuse. The ruling allows the Los Angeles DA access to previously concealed documents regarding retired priests. The DA calls the ruling a "major legal victory" for victims of clergy sex abuse in a press release available here. AP has more. The LA Archdiocese's own report on local clergy sexual abuse between 1930 and 2003 is here [PDF].

US District Judge Richard Owen sentenced former banker Frank Quattrone Wednesday to 18 months in prison, two years probation and a fine of $90,000. AP has more. View the original indictment here [PDF], and other documents relating to the case against Quattrone here.

Prosecutors filed a motion Wednesday afternoon to recuse Jonathan Thacher from John Allen Muhammad's second death-penalty case. Read the motion here [PDF]. The motion seeks to remove the judge on grounds that he improperly conducted his own investigation by interviewing witnesses and visiting the detention center where Muhammad is being kept. AP has more. JURIST's Paper Chase reported earlier today on other developments in the sniper case.

Navy Secretary Gordon England said Wednesday that a US Guantanamo Bay military panel had determined that one prisoner at the military detention facilty for terror suspects was incorrectly named an 'enemy combatant,' and that the individual will be allowed to return to his home country. Secretary England did not release any biographical information about the detainee and denied any pending financial compensation, saying only that the man is being moved to a 'transition facility' awaiting travel arrangements. A Pentagon spokeswoman said later that the prisoner had been captured in Afghanistan in August 2002. A transcript of Secretary England's press briefing in now available from the Defense Department here. AP has more. The Defense Department provides additional information about procedures and policies for Combatant Status Review Tribunals.

The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals agreed Wednesday to reconsider its December 2003 ruling against a 1996 federal law that allowed a wide avenue for arrest and prosecution of suspected terrorists. As previously reported in JURIST's Paper Chase, a three-judge panel held that the law could not be used to punish people - sometimes with as much as a life sentence - for simply providing 'training' or 'personnel' to a terror group; the court said the government had to prove that defendants knew they were willingly contributing to a terrorist act. The case, involving assistance provided to by the Humanitarian Law Project to a Kurdish group in Turkey on a US terrorism watchlist, will now be heard by the full court of 11 members. AP has more.

The US circulated a UN Security Council draft resolution on Wednesday calling for an increased monitoring force in the Darfur region of Sudan and harsh punitive actions involving the country's oil exports if the Sudanese government doesn't act quickly to increase security and end militia attacks. The resolution reasoned that the Sudanese government "has failed fully to comply with its commitments" to the UN, and that "the situation in Sudan constitutes a threat to international peace and security and to stability in the region." AP has more. The US State Department provides background on US policy towards Sudan and the Darfur crisis.

US District Judge Garret E. Brown Jr. announced Wednesday that he plans to rule on whether New Jersey voters deserve a special election to replace Governor McGreevey by Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. The court heard arguments today in the suit filed by Princeton lawyers Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer, who contend that McGreevey officially vacated the office of governor on August 12, when he announced his homosexuality, his affair with a state employee, and his plan to resign November 15. Under New Jersey law, had McGreevey left office before Septemeber 3, the state would have held a special election on November 2. Afran and Mayer argue that, by staying in office beyond that deadline, McGreevey is denying voters their constitutional right to vote, but the state, which believes the case should be handled in state court, notes that McGreevey has not officially resigned by submitting a letter of resignation. Now that the deadline has passed, once McGreevey does resign, Senate President Richard J. Codey will serve as governor until the term ends in 2006. AP has more. Click here for background and news surrounding Governor McGreevey's resignation in JURIST's Paper Chase.

In Wednesday's corporations and securities law news, the US Chamber of Commerce, representing 3 million businesses, has filed suit in US District Court for the District of Columbia and the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit against the SEC to stop a requirement that mutual fund boards have independent chairmen and majorities of independent directors. The SEC's general counsel, Giovanni P. Prezioso, indicated that the agency will fight the lawsuit. Accountingweb.com has more.

In other news, the US unit of Dutch financial services group ING Group NV announced isolated incidents of impropriety after its review of improper trading in its mutual funds. Read the ING press release here. Reuters has more.... Frank Quattrone, the investment banker convicted of obstructing a government probe, will learn his sentence today. He faces a sentence of 10 to 16 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. Quattrone faced 10 to 16 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. Read the indictment against Quattrone here[PDF]. AP has more.... British Airways has announced plans to sell its 425 million pound stake in Australia?s Qantas Airways to reduce debt and cut costs. Read the British Airways press release announcing the deal here. Read the Qantas press release here. BBC has more.... A WTO panel has ordered the US to withdraw some of its support programs for producers of cotton and other commodities. AP has more.... Canadian brewer Molson Inc.'s CEO Dan O'Neill indicated there may be a lack of shareholder support for the company's proposed merger with Adolph Coors Co. because there may be another offer to consider soon. Read the press release announcing the merger between Molson and Coors here. AP has more.

An Article 32 hearing continues Wednesday for US Army Capt. Rogelio Maynulet, who is charged with murdering an Iraqi follower of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Maynulet was charged following an incident in May in which US troops allegedly fired on a civilian vehicle suspected of carrying militants. The hearing was delayed earlier in the summer, and is now expected to conclude Friday. Nine witnesses were due to appear at the hearing today. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the charges. AFP has more.

A federal judge Wednesday struck down the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act as unconstitutional because it did not have an exception for women whose health is in danger. District Judge Richard Kopf of the US District Court for Nebraska was the third US judge to rule against the act, after a judge in California and a judge in New York ruled against the law earlier this summer (see this and this Paper Chase report for background). The act was signed into law by President Bush in 2003, but enforcement was delayed pending the three challenges against it. In the opinion, Judge Kopf wrote:

After giving Congress the respectful consideration it is always due, I find and conclude that the ban is unreasonable and not supported by substantial evidence. In truth, "partial-birth abortions," which are medically known as "intact D&E" or "D&X" procedures, are sometimes necessary to preserve the health of a woman seeking an abortion. While the procedure is infrequently used as a relative matter, when it is needed, the health of women frequently hangs in the balance.

New York-based monitoring group Human Rights Watch published a report Wednesday warning that the Special Court for Sierra Leone needs more funding to ensure that the Court is able to provide fair and effective justice.... The Korea Times reports that the third South Korean judge to sit on an international criminal court or tribunal will be leaving Korea Friday for Rwanda to take his position on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Park Seon-ki served as a judge advocate in the Korean military and as legal advisor to US Forces in Korea.... Russia has offered a $10 million bounty for information leading to the arrest of Chechen rebel leaders Shamil Basayev and Aslan Maskhadov. The offer comes after Beslan residents buried over 330 people killed during the recent hostage crisis at a local school. BBC News has more.