Seeking to prevent the Justice Department from obtaining records of telephone calls between two journalists and their confidential sources, the New York Times has filed a lawsuit against US Attorney General John Ashcroft. The Times alleges that as part of a probe seeking to identify government officials who may have leaked information to the newspaper, the DOJ seeking to acquire from third parties the phone records of two veteran Times reporters from the months immediately following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Attorneys for the Times expressed concern over scope of the government's demands, claiming that the identities of dozens of confidential sources would be compromised, and that the intrusion into the journalist-source relationship constitutes a threat to First Amendment freedoms. AP has the full story.

In Tuesday's environmental law news, the San Francisco mayor's office has issued a new action plan (not yet available online) aimed at reducing the city's greenhouse emissions by the year 2012 by 20% of 1990's emission levels. The plan emphasizes rewarding recycling efforts, the conversion of city buildings and vehicles to "green power" and the utilization of public bus transportation and bicycles. The official press release is here. The plan is here [PDF]. The San Francisco Chronicle has more.

In other environmental law news...

• Mirant Corporation has filed a consent decree with the US District Court in Alexandria to avoid a lawsuit for exceeding Virginia limits on nitrogen oxide emissions by more than 100% in the summer of 2003 at its coal-burning plant in Alexandria. The company agreed to pay a $500,000 fine and install modern pollution control equipment on its 4 power plants in the area- expecting to cost the company more than $100 million. The Baltimore Sun has the full story.
  
  
• US-based Monsanto Co. has been "prodding" Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay to pay the company for the use of its bio-engineered Roundup-Ready soy plants. Seeds from the plants are widely available on the black market in those countries and Monsanto and US farmers argue that it gives growers in those countries a competitive edge. Monsanto is working with the domestic legislatures to develop a royalty payment plan for the crops. Reuters has the full story.

The Federal Election Commission announced Tuesday that it will appeal a ruling by US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly that recently struck down more than a dozen of the government's current rules on political fund-raising, ordering the government to write new rules.

In a press release, the FEC said that it has not decided if it will ask the appeals court to review all or only some of the rules struck down by the US District Court for the District of Columbia. The FEC also has made available documents related to the campaign finance litigation. See this earlier report in JURIST's Paper Chase. The district court ruling [PDF] is also available.

A panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on Tuesday that California's tough anti-smoking advertisements do not violate the First Amendment rights of tobacco companies. Attorneys for tobacco companies RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Lorillard Tobacco Co. argued that because the tobacco giants were being forced through excise taxes to pay for the ads in part, their right to not be compelled to finance speech was violated by the ads, which they claim unfairly tarnish their reputation by vilifying the tobacco industry.

The court denied the appeal, ruling that the tobacco companies' position is a fundamental misunderstanding of taxation principles. Read the opinion [PDF]. AP has more.

In Tuesday's corporations and securities law news, Roger Barnes, the Fannie Mae whistleblower who raised the company's accounting problems, will testify before a House Financial Services subcommittee on October 6. Meanwhile, the mortgage financier announced it has discussed with regulators the possibility of an earnings restatement. Reuters has more.

In other news...

• As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, Amazon.com and Microsoft announced that they have jointly filed a federal lawsuit against Ontario-based Gold Disk Canada, accusing the company of misusing Microsoft's Hotmail services and forging Amazon's domain name when sending millions of spam e-mails. Read press releases from Amazon and Microsoft. Amazon also has catalogued complaints filed by the company in 2003, where Amazon seeks to stop e-mail address spoofing. AFP has more.
  
  
• As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, The European Union's Court of First Instance has annulled the European Commission decision prohibiting a merger between WorldCom and Sprint, ruling that the Commission no longer had the power to adopt the decision after it had been notified that the merger had been abandoned. Read the court's judgment and a press release [PDF] summarizing the decision. Read the MCI press release reacting to the decision here. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the case. Reuters has more.
  
  
• A federal court jury in Tennessee has ordered the world's largest maker of spinal implants, Medtronic Inc., to pay at least $109 million to an inventor for violating contracts and infringing his patents. Bloomberg has more.
  
  
• Euro Disney has agreed with its lenders to extend a debt plan designed to keep the park operator from declaring bankruptcy. Read the Euro Disney press release here [PDF]. AP has more.
  
  
• German-American automaker DaimlerChrysler and Canadian transportation company Bombardier have settled a two-year dispute over Bombardier's purchase of DaimlerChrysler's Adtranz train-equipment business unit in 2001 by adjusting the price of the unit down by $209 million, or 28 percent. Read the Bombardier press release. AP has more.
  
  
• The SEC announced it brought civil fraud and insider trading charges against former top executives of bankrupt credit card issuer NextCard Inc. saying the company used accounting changes to mask business troubles that began in November 2000. Read the SEC litigation release announcing the charges here. Reuters has more.
  
  
• Wachovia Corp. announced the SEC may recommend an action against its brokerage unit for alleged improper mutual fund trading. AP has more.

The US Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch effort by Ralph Nader to get his name on Oregon's presidential ballot late Tuesday when they refused to block Oregon from printing ballots that lacked Nader's name. Justice Stephen Breyer, however, noted that he supported the stay application.

Just last week, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled flawed petitions left Nader more than 15,000 signatures short of what was needed to put him on the ballot. In 2000, Nader received 5% of the vote in Oregon. Read the Oregon Supreme Court ruling here [PDF]. Read a previous report on the Oregon Supreme Court ruling on JURIST's Paper Chase. AP has more.

The US Justice Department announced Tuesday that it will appeal Nebraska US District Judge Richard Kopf's ruling which three weeks ago struck down the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act to the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. President Bush signed the act last year banning procedures where the fetus is partially removed from the womb and its skull is punctured or crushed.

Kopf ruled the ban was unconstitutional because it interferes with the right to an abortion and fails to allow exceptions when a woman's health is in danger. His ruling followed similar decisions by federal judges in New York and San Francisco. Read the Partial-Birth Abortion Act here [PDF]. Read Kopf's full opinion here. Read a previous story on the decision on JURIST's Paper Chase. AP has more.

The US Army announced Tuesday that thirty percent of former US soldiers who have recently been involuntarily called back to duty - many in connection with missions in Iraq and Afghanistan - have failed to report on time, and eight have actualy been declared AWOL. The Army is using the Individual Ready Reserve, which is made up of people who have already completed their voluntary Army service commitments but remain eligible to be mobilized in case of a national emergency, to maintain troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The eight soldiers listed as AWOL could face military criminal charges as deserters and their names will be entered into a national criminal investigation database, which means they could be arrested if they are stopped on a routine traffic stop. All eight had been notified of their status but still refused to report. Read an Army report on AWOL and desertion here [PDF]. Reuters has more.

Zacarias Moussaoui's lawyers have asked the full US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to rehear issues adjudicated by a three-judge panel earlier this month. The rehearing would focus on whether Moussaoui can have direct access to al-Qaida witnesses and whether the government can seek the death penalty.

Earlier this month, the three-judge panel ruled Moussaoui could have access to statements made by three high-level al-Qaida prisoners and submit written questions to these witnesses. The panel also ruled that the government could seek the death penalty. A rehearing would further delay a case which will be three years old in December. Read the 4th Circuit opinion here [PDF]. Review materials on US v. Zacarias Moussaoui from the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. AP has more.

John Walker Lindh, the so-called "American Taliban", asked President Bush Tuesday to commute his 20-year prison sentence for aiding the Taliban. Lindh's lawyer, James Brosnahan, said Lindh was just a young man in the wrong place at the wrong time and that his sentence should be reduced in light of the sanction imposed on Yaser Esam Hamdi, another American citizen captured in Afghanistan and held for aiding the Taliban.

Hamdi is being released today after almost three years in detention as an "enemy combatant". Brosnahan said the negotiated 20-year sentence against Lindh was made when juries felt the "highest state of fear." Read the plea agreement between Lindh and the US government here [PDF]. Review case materials on US v. John Walker Lindh from the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. AP has more.

Russian police have arrested two men suspected in the murder of US journalist Paul Klebnikov, authorities said Tuesday. Police seized three guns during the arrests, one of which may have been the murder weapon. Klebnikov, who served as the editor of Forbes magazine's Russian edition, was killed July 9 outside the publication's office in Moscow.

The Moscow police chief said today that the murder had been solved, but the head of a journalist group said he doubted the two Chechen men arrested were linked to the killing. Mosnews.com has more on the killing of Klebnikov. AP has more.

The General Accountability Office, Congress' investigative branch, has reported that the Bush administration illegally allowed private health plans in a Medicare trial to limit some participants' choice of health-care providers. The trial of private plans utilized preferred provider organizations (PPOs), a form of health insurance popular among senior citizens.

The GAO reported Monday that in some cases Medicare participants' costs were not covered by the PPOs if the beneficiary used a health-care provider other than that selected by the PPO. The GAO concluded that the Bush administration granted exceptions to PPOs, despite a requirement that the plans cover the costs of any health-care services in a recipient's package. The American Association of Preferred Provider Organizations has more on PPOs. The New York Times has more.

The US Supreme Court granted certiorari Tuesday in eight cases. In Clingman v. Beaver, the Court will consider whether political parties may open primaries to all voters, rather than limiting them to members and independents. AP has more.

In Kelo v. City of New London, the Court will decide when governments may seize homes and businesses for economic development projects. AP has more.

In Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Line, the Court will consider whether foreign cruise lines sailing in US waters must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act by providing better access to passengers in wheelchairs. AP has more.

The Court also agreed Tuesday to hear Tory v. Cochran, where it will decide whether a former client of defense lawyer Johnnie Cochran had a First Amendment right to picket outside Cochran's office. Again, AP has more. Read the Court's full Order List [PDF].

Amazon.com and Microsoft announced Tuesday that they have jointly filed a federal lawsuit against Ontario-based Gold Disk Canada, accusing the company of misusing Microsoft's Hotmail services and forging Amazon's domain name when sending millions of spam e-mails. Amazon also filed three individual suits against defendants allegedly involved in phishing schemes designed to defraud Amazon customers.

Amazon and Microsoft say, by working together, they hope to eliminate internet fraud scams, including spamming, phishing and e-mail address spoofing, and test technological barriers to prevent future criminal activity. CNET News has more. Read press releases from Amazon (here) and Microsoft (here). Amazon also has catalogued complaints filed by the company in 2003, where Amazon seeks to stop e-mail address spoofing.

• A German court Tuesday sentenced convicted terrorist Andrea Klump to a further 12 years in jail for her participation in the 1991 bombing of Soviet Jews in Budapest. The 47-year-old was convicted on 32 counts of accessory to attempted murder. Klump is already serving a 9-year sentence for the 1998 failed attempt to bomb a Spanish disco frequented by US soldiers. Klump has long been suspected of having ties to the ultra-left German group Red Army Faction (read a DOD profile here). The Jerusalem Post has more.
  
  
• Slovenia has again threatened legal action against neighboring Croatia (official site in Croatian) over the latest incident in an ongoing border dispute. A Slovenian official said that the government planned to raise the 'Croatian issue' at their scheduled meeting with the EU this week. The complaint arises following the arrest of 12 Slovenian diplomats in the disputed region for failing to show identification. Slovenia has threatened to remove its support for Croatia's bid for accession to the EU in light of the arrests. The EU has stated that the latest incident has not changed its mind on Croatian accession, but that it would be watching the situation closely. Croatia has protested that EU membership should not be used as a bludgeon to force nations to behave the way others want. The International Herald Tribune has more.
  
  
• The newly formed Brunei Parliament has approved a constitutional amendment that will allow for the first direct elections in the country in 42 years. The last elections were held in 1962 by the current Sultan's father and ended in bloody revolt when demands for joining Malaysia were rejected. The amendment would allow up to one-third of the country's members of parliament to be elected by the populace, with the remainder appointed by the Sultan. The Arab Times has more.

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said Tuesday that it has filed an appeal with Beijing's First Intermediate People's Court against China's State Intellectual Property Office decision to reject the company's Chinese patent for Viagra.

Pfizer's efforts to obtain a patent for Viagra are seen as a test of China's willingness to protect the intellectual property rights of foreign companies, following the tightening of patent protections made in order to qualify for membership in the WTO. AP has more.

A Chilean judge has ordered former dictator Augusto Pinochet (profile from BBC News) to undergo psychiatric and neurological tests to determine whether he should stand trial on human rights charges.

Three doctors, picked by the judge, defense lawyers and lawyers for the victims' relatives, will examine Pinochet Thursday. As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, Judge Juan Guzman questioned Pinochet Saturday about the disappearances of 24 dissidents while Pinochet was in power. AP has more.

Previously on JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Pinochet questioned about kidnappings
• Chilean judge to question Pinochet next week
• BREAKING NEWS ~ Pinochet stripped of immunity by Chilean Supreme Court
• Former Chilean dictator Pinochet says he regrets nothing, denies killings

The European Union's Court of First Instance Tuesday annulled the European Commission decision prohibiting a merger between WorldCom and Sprint, ruling that the Commission no longer had the power to adopt the decision after it had been notified that the merger had been abandoned.

In 2000, the Commission blocked the proposed merger on antitrust grounds, after the two companies informed the Commission they were abandoning the deal. WorldCom, now MCI, appealed the decision to avoid a bad precedent in future transactions. Read the court's judgment and a press release [PDF] summarizing the decision. MCI has this press release reacting to the decision. Reuters has more. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the case.

Zuhair Maliky, chief judge of Iraq's Central Criminal Court, has said that the counterfeiting case against Iraqi politician and former Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi (profile from BBC News) has been "temporarily dismissed" due to insufficient evidence. An arrest warrant had been issued for Chalabi after police found counterfeit Iraqi dinars in a house where Chalabi was living, but Maliky said that there was not sufficient proof that Chalabi owned the house. Tuesday's Washington Post has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Ahmed Chalabi says charges against him have been dropped
• Ahmed Chalabi sues Jordan, seeks to clear name
• Ahmed Chalabi returns to Iraq to face charges

The four remaining British Guantanamo Bay detainees will face US military Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRT), despite a US agreement with UK Attorney General Lord Goldsmith that the detainees would not face military commissions. Lawyers for the detainees are calling some of the tribunal's features worse than those of the military commissions, saying the CSRT is really a "backdoor trial." According to US military papers seen by the British Guardian newspaper, the detainees will be presumed to be enemy combatants, have limited rights to call witnesses, have no lawyer, and have hearsay evidence used against them.

A Pentagon spokesperson has said that the CSRT "is not a backdoor trial. The CSRT is modeled and built on army regulations, it is very fair. It is a non-adversarial administrative process, established to allow each detainee an opportunity to contest their designation as an enemy combatant." Tuesday's Guardian has more. The US Defense Department has a fact sheet [PDF] and a memorandum [PDF] outlining CSRT procedure.

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Tuesday, September 28.

Yaser Esam Hamdi, the subject of a June US Supreme Court decision limiting presidential authority to hold enemy combatants indefinitely, will be released today and flown to Saudi Arabia. JURIST's Paper Chase has background and AP has more.

On Capitol Hill, the US Senate will meet at 9:45 AM ET and will consider the Intelligence Reform Bill (S 2845). Watch a live webcast (via C-SPAN).... The US House will meet at 2 PM ET for legislative business and will consider several bills including the Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2004 (HR 4077). Watch a live webcast (via C-SPAN).... The US House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution will hold a 4 PM ET oversight hearing on the status of the implementation of the Pigford v. Glickman settlement. The US Department of Agriculture has background on the case. Watch a live webcast of the subcommittee meeting.... The US House Rules Committee will meet at 5 PM ET to consider the District of Columbia Personal Protection Act (HR 3193) and a House resolution on proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage (HJ Res 106). Watch a live webcast (via C-SPAN).

At the United Nations, the 59th session of the General Assembly reconvenes at 10 AM ET with remarks by multiple heads of state and other high-level ministers, which will continue into the Assembly's 3 PM ET afternoon session. Read the schedule of speakers and watch a live webcast of both sessions.... The Security Council will meet at 10 AM ET to consider the draft report of the Security Council to the General Assembly and the situation in Afghanistan. Watch a live webcast.

In Tuesday's US law and business press, the Legal Times reports that more than 90 prominent lawyers are criticizing law clerks who gave behind-the-scenes details about Bush v. Gore to Vanity Fair.... The ABA Journal reports on a CT appeals court ruling that a law firm's promissory note for payment of legal fees delivered to a client the day after his trial began was signed under duress and unenforceable.... The New York Law Journal reports that a NY federal judge has ruled that a federal law prohibiting the unauthorized recordings of live concerts is unconstitutional.... The Legal Intelligencer reports that a class has again been certified to include approximately 10,000 Pennsylvanians who complain that their Kia Sephia cars were fitted with defective braking systems.... FindLaw's Writ features University of Washington law professor Anita Ramasastry's argument that Congress should require a paper trail for electronic votes.

Click for the previous US law and business press review