In Thursday's environmental law news, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has announced an interim special rule [PDF] that will allow trade in products derived from Beluga Sturgeon (Huso huso) consistent with regulatory requirements already in force under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The FWS press release is here.... In other news, Rebecca Watson, the assistant secretary of Land and Minerals Management in the Department of the Interior, has announced the Solar Energy Development Policy [PDF], a land-management policy designed to encourage solar energy resources on public lands. The policy is made in accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. The DOI press release is here.... The EPA has cited the Sheetz Corporation for violating federal and state regulations designed to prevent fuel leaks from underground storage tanks at two gas and convenience stores in Winchester VA. The EPA press release is here. More on EPA's underground storage tank program is here.... The Fish and Wildlife Service seeks comments on a proposed rule that would reintroduce two fish, the Boulder Darter (Etheostoma wapiti) and the Spotfin Chub (Cyprinella monacha), into their historical habitat in the Shoal Creek in Alabama and Tennessee. The action is proposed in accordance with the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (as amended). The Boulder Darter is an endangered species, and the Spotfin Chub is listed as a threatened species. Comments can be made until December 20 here.

In response to lawsuits filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union, the city of New York has agreed to destroy fingerprints taken, in an apparent violation of state law, from hundreds of protesters arrested at last month's Republican National Convention. One suit noted that under section 160.10(2) of the York Criminal Procedure Code, police may take fingerprints of those charged with minor violations such as disorderly conduct only if they cannot ascertain a person's identity, suspect the identification given by the person is inaccurate, or reasonably believe the person is being sought for another crime. Both suits also challenge the mass arrests of peaceful protesters and, in an effort to prevent indiscriminate arrests and fingerprinting during future political demonstrations in the city, seek court orders that such practices are unlawful. AP has more. In related news, DA Robert Morgenthau has agreed to an NYCLU request that charges be dropped against 227 protesters whose arrests were captured on videotape.

The National Wildlife Federation has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a decision by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to allow grazing and haying on millions of acres of land enrolled in the federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) during primary nesting season, when ground-nesting birds are rearing their broods. The suit charges that the FSA decision violates the conservation mandate of the CRP, which, as the country's largest private lands conservation program, pays farmers to retire environmentally sensitive croplands for a period of 10 to 15 years. The Miami Herald has more.

The Houston Chronicle reports that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was subpoenaed yesterday over his role in tracking down 53 Texas Democratic legislators who fled the state last year to block a vote on a bitterly contested congressional redistricting bill engineered by state Republicans. Texas Democratic legislator Lon Burnam sued the state's Department of Public Safety in 2003, alleging that the DPS improperly destroyed documents relating to its search for the runaway Democrats; the suit also claims that DeLay improperly used federal agencies in an effort to bring the missing lawmakers back to Texas before the deadline for voting on the bill expired. The Legislative Reference Library of Texas has a chronology of the redistricting controversy.

US District Judge Reggie Walton Thursday granted bioterror expert Dr. Stephen Hatfill's request to question journalists who published stories based on government leaks about the late-2001 anthrax attacks. As previously reported in JURIST Paper Chase, Hatfill filed a defamation suit against Attorney General Ashcroft and other government authorities who publicly named him as a "person of interest" in the attacks, claiming that they did so in order to divert attention from their inability to close the case and that his reputation was ruined as a result. Hatfill has never been charged in connection with the attacks, but media coverage of him has been extensive. Judge Walton, who earlier this month admonished government attorneys for repeatedly leaking information about Hatfill to the media, said "I am not prepared to leave this at a status quo... I believe Dr. Hatfill has a right to his day in court." AP has more.

In Thursday's corporations and securities law news, American International Group Inc. (AIG) announced a federal grand jury in Indiana is investigating the company's contract with cell phone distributor Brightpoint Inc. The probe centers on products that AIG sold that companies, including Brightpoint, might have used to make their earnings look better. AIG has already paid $10 million to settle charges with the SEC related to this conduct. AIG still faces SEC and US Justice Department investigations into charges that it helped PNC Financial Services Group Inc. inflate profits by moving bad loans off its books. Read the AIG press release pertaining to the grand jury investigation here. Reuters has more.

In other news, telecommunications company Qwest Communications International Inc. agreed Thursday to pay a $250 million fine to the SEC to settle a claim that the company engaged in fraud by improperly booking $3.8 billion in revenue and misleading investors about it. Read the SEC press release here. Read the SEC litigation release summarizing the charges here. Read the Qwest press release announcing the settlement here. AP has more.... Ford chairman Bill Ford says the auto giant will cooperate with the SEC over its accounting practices related to pension costs. AP has more. In a related story, Northwest Airlines defended its accounting practices for its pension and post-retirement benefit plans in the face of the same SEC inquiry. AP has more.... The chairman of Lazard LLC, the world's largest privately held investment bank, approved a plan to sell shares in bank on the condition that Bruce Wasserstein, who runs the firm, resign if the IPO fails. Bloomberg has more.... A leading employment law professor, acting as an expert witness for Disney shareholders in their suit seeking a return of former Disney president Michael Ovitz's $140 million payoff, said Ovitz “seemed to have no understanding at all” of the basic responsibilities of an executive in his position. Trial proceedings can be viewed live at Courtroom Connect. The Financial Times has more.... As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, Martha Stewart's defense team has appealed her conviction on charges of lying to federal investigators to the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals, saying that several problems with the prosecution's case "tainted" her trial. JURIST's Paper Chase has ongoing coverage of the Martha Stewart case. Read Stewart's appellate brief here [PDF]. Stewart comments on her appeal on her website here. AP has more. In related news, Stewart's former broker, Peter Bacanovic, has asked the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn his conviction because he was forced to stand trial alongside Stewart. Read the indictment against Stewart and Bacanovic here. Reuters has more.... Viacom Inc. and Disney Corp. have agreed to settle allegations with the FCC that their respective children's cable networks violated federal advertising restrictions in children's programing. Reuters has more.

US District Judge S. James Otero today dismissed a lawsuit that sought to stop Los Angeles County from removing the symbol of the cross from its county seal. The county Board of Supervisors decided on the change in order to avoid a lawsuit by the ACLU, but the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) responded by filing suit on behalf of county employee Ernesto Vasquez, arguing both that the cross was not a religious symbol and that its removal sent a message of government hostility towards Christians. Judge Otero noted that the arguments were contradictory: "According to the plaintiff, the cross only represents the historic 'influence of the church and the mission of California.' Yet plaintiff maintains L.A. County is conveying a message of hostility to religious groups by removing the symbol from the seal.'' A petition drive headed by the TMLC is now underway to force a voter referendum on the issue. The transcript of the June meeting at which the Board of Supervisors discussed removing the cross is here.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), considered to the be the policing agency of the UN, launched a comprehensive program Thursday designed to limit the use of containers in the commission of crimes, including terrorism. According to the UNODC, containers that are legally used to transport bulk materials via marine transport are also often used by organized crime, terrorists, and smugglers to move drugs, weapons, money, and even humans, the last either for the slave trade or for migrant trafficking. The UNODC Container Control Programme (CCP) is designed to reinforce and complement domestic port regulations of countries that handle large portions of the world's 7 million containers - see, for instance the US Container Security Initiative. The UN CCP is also intended to serve as reinforcement on international conventions that prohibit the trafficking of drugs, hazardous waste, nuclear material, and human cargo. The program is being co-sponsored by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and will begin in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and Dakar, Senegal and is scheduled to expand to Ghana and Pakistan next year. The UN News Centre has more.

The Florida Supreme Court Thursday denied a request by Florida Governor Jeb Bush that it reconsider its decision striking down the law blocking Terri Schiavo's husband from removing the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube. The Court had ruled unanimously to strike down the law, which the Florida Legislature had passed after lower courts had ruled in favor of Schiavo's husband, saying state lawmakers had overstepped their constitutional authority. The court rejected the rehearing without comment in a one-page ruling. Governor Bush may yet appeal to the US Supreme Court. Read the Supreme Court's rehearing denial here [PDF]. Read Terri's Law here [PDF]. Read the Florida Supreme Court's opinion striking down the law here [PDF]. The Florida Supreme Court has archived briefs and other documents filed in the case. AP has more.

Three Muslim girls have been expelled from high schools in France for refusing to remove their headscarves. They join two other girls expelled on Tuesday for the same reason. The French law, which came into effect on September 2, bans conspicuous religious symbols in public schools. The ban is meant to protect France's securlarism. French Education Minister Francois Fillon has told schools to begin proceedings against the 72 students who are now breaking the law, only a few of whom have been expelled as yet. Earlier this week, three Sikh students began a court proceeding over their refusal to take off their turbans. The court is expected to reach a verdict on Friday. Meanwhile two French journalists remain hostages in Iraq after the French government refused to accept the kidnappers' demands to overturn the headscarf ban, as demanded by the kidnappers. For background on the headscarf ban, see this legislative dossier from the French Senate. BBC has more.

South Korea's Constitutional Court Thursday ruled that a government plan to relocate the nation's capital is unconstitutional. The ruling, which is seen as a major blow to President Roh Moo-hyun, was supported by eight of the nine judges and required the government to first put the subject to a referendum. The new location of the government was chosen to alleviate population growth in Seoul and to move away from the tense border with North Korea. Opponents of the plan cite the significant costs as well as a reconsideration of the issue if North and South Korea are unified. The planned move and construction is estimated to cost $45 billion. Read background on the new capital here. South Korea's JoongAng Daily has local coverage. BBC has more.

Incoming European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Thursday that he would stand by Rocco Buttiglione, his controversial nominee for EU Justice Commissioner. Some members of the European Parliament have called for Buttiglione to be reassigned or removed from the slate of proposed Commissioners after Buttiglione called homosexuality a sin during a hearing by an EU parliamentary review panel. The European Parliament cannot endorse or reject individual commissioners, and will vote next Wednesday on the entire commission. The Commission must receive approval from Parliament before it can take office on November 1. More information on the Parliament's review hearings is available here. AFP has more. BBC News has more on Barroso's efforts to appease the European Parliament.

Previously on JURIST's Paper Chase...

• EU Justice Commissioner may "renounce" new job
• EU committee opposes Justice Commissioner nominee
• EU chief defends Justice nominee nixed by review panel after saying homosexuality sin

The UN General Assembly's Legal Committee (the Sixth Committee) begins debate Thursday on an international anti-cloning treaty. The committee will focus on two versions of the proposed treaty - Costa Rica's draft [PDF] calls for treaty banning all cloning; Belgium's draft would ban the cloning of babies, but allow countries to decide on the use of embryos for research. The Sixth Committee offers a summary of its work on the proposed convention against the reproductive cloning of human beings. An ad hoc committee established to consider the proposed convention has additional background. The UN offers a webcast of the debate. AP has more.

Lawyer Ziad Khasawneh, spokesman for the Jordanian Committee for Defending Saddam, claimed Thursday that the government of Iraq was planning to rush the trial of former dictator Saddam Hussein forward so that the US elections would draw attention away from the lack of fairness in the proceedings. Khasawneh accused Iyad Allawi, Iraq's Interim Prime Minister, of appointing Jamal Mustafa to head a special court that would railroad Saddam without allowing for a fair hearing of all the evidence. Khasawneh also accused the interim Iraqi government of bribing the appointed defense counsel assigned to Saddam in order to ensure their complicity with the phony trial. Khasawneh again insisted that Saddam's family should be the ones to pick his defense counsel. Aljazeera.com has more.... China has declared its endorsement of India's candidacy for the UN Security Council. Tang Jiaxuan, state councillor to China, said that China looked forward to India "playing a greater and more constructive role in the UN Security Council." Tang left it unclear whether this endorsement was solely for a normal role on the Security Council, or if this was a favorable remark concerning the proposed reforms to the Security Council which would see the addition of the G-4 nations (made up of India, Germany, Brazil, and Japan) as permanent members. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the G-4 proposals here. The Times of India has more on Tang's statement here.... Four Ethiopian men received sentences Wednesday on charges of torture and murder; three were sentenced to death, one received 20 years imprisonment. The men were alleged members of the Oromo Liberation Front, a rebel faction fighting for the independence of the southern Oromo region of Ethiopia. The acts committed by the men occurred more than 10 years ago, and involved the alleged genocide of individual's from the Amhara ethnic group, which the OLF accused of being spies for the government in power at that time. Ethiopian President Girma Wolde Giorgis still has to approve the death sentences under Ethiopian law. South Africa's News 24 has more.

As anticipated on JURIST's Paper Chase, Martha Stewart's defense team has appealed her conviction on charges of lying to federal investigators to the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals, saying that several problems with the prosecution's case "tainted" her trial. Stewart's attorneys argue that the prosecution improperly suggested that Stewart had engaged in insider trading and that the use of co-defendant Peter Baconovic's testimonial statements violated the confrontation clause. Stewart's attorneys also point to the perjured testimony of ink expert Larry Stewart and allegations of juror misconduct as grounds for overturning her conviction. Read Stewart's appellate brief [PDF]. In an open letter to supporters on her defense website, Stewart said "I remain hopeful that I will be exonerated. However, a decision from the Court of Appeals is not likely to come until after I have completed serving my prison sentence in March." AP has more. JURIST's Paper Chase has ongoing coverage of the Martha Stewart case.

AP is reporting that US Army Staff Sgt. Ivan "Chip" Frederick has been sentenced to eight years in prison for abusing inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, Frederick pleaded guilty Wednesday to five charges of abusing detainees at the prison, including dereliction of duty and assault. Read the original charges against Frederick.

UPDATE: The official US Central Command press release on Sgt. Frederick's sentencing is now online here, detailing that "the military judge sentenced Staff Sgt. Fredrick to be reduced to a private, forfeit of all pay and allowances, to be dishonorably discharged and to be confined for 10 years. As a result of the pretrial agreement Staff Sgt. Fredrick’s confinement will be reduced to eight years."

US House and Senate conferees have begun negotiating an intelligence reform bill implementing the recommendations of the 9-11 Commission. Conference panel members have been asked to stay in Washington through the weekend in hopes of reaching an agreement on the legislation before the November election. As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, the Senate passed the National Intelligence Reform Act of 2004 in early October, which incorporates most of the 9-11 Commission's recommendations. Two days later, the House passed the 9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act (as reported on Paper Chase), which calls for a weaker intelligence director and contains controversial provisions on immigration issues. The 9-11 Commission's recommendations are available here. The White House has posted a position paper [PDF] on the legislation. US House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner made this statement at yesterday's meeting. The San Francisco Chronicle has more.

British lawyer Steven Kay, who was appointed to conduct former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's defense at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, told an ICTY appeals court Thursday that the lower court deprived Milosevic of a fundamental right when it barred him from conducting his own defense. The court imposed appointed defense counsel for Milosevic in September after determining that he was too ill to continue representing himself. Milosevic, who faces 66 war crimes charges, has refused to cooperate with his appointed defense team, prompting Kay to tell the court Thursday that there is "such a conflict that we are ineffective in this trial and we are unable to say we are acting in the interest of justice." Read the appeal against assignment of defense counsel and the prosecution response. The ICTY has background on the case. AP has more.

Previously on JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Milosevic lawyers set to argue against their appointment
• War crimes court allows Milosevic lawyers to appeal appointment
• Milosevic lawyers ask to be dismissed from case
• British lawyers appointed to defend Milosevic
• BREAKING NEWS ~ Hague court forcing Milosevic to accept defense counsel

Every day from now until November 2, and as long after that as necessary, JURIST will be starting the substantive portion of our news schedule with a daily round-up of law-related stories relating to the upcoming election. During the day we will also break in with any major election law stories that might arise. Here's what's happening as of Thursday, October 21....

In Florida, several voting rights groups have asked a US District Court for a preliminary injunction and an expedited hearing seeking the opening of eight additional early voting sites in Duval County. The plaintiffs say that Duval County's current locations for early voting are discriminatory against the African-American population. From Florida, First Coast News has more.... Also in Florida, the federal civil trial over whether an independent deputy should be appointed to oversee preparations in 15 Florida counties using electronic voting machines has wrapped up. US District Judge James Cohn is expected to issue his decision "as soon as is reasonably practicable." JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the case and Knight Ridder has more.... Finally, AP has background on pre-election litigation, including lawsuits over electronic voting and provisional ballots. JURIST's Paper Chase provides ongoing coverage of election legal issues.

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Thursday, October 21.

Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law will host a lecture on the Legacy of Election 2000, featuring Ohio Governor Bob Taft. Moritz professors Steven Huefner, Peter Shane and Daniel Tokaji will also speak. Watch a live webcast beginning at 12 Noon ET.

The ABA's 2004 Administrative Law Conference begins today in Washington DC. Read Thursday's agenda.

Court-appointed lawyers for former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic will argue against their appointment today at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at The Hague. Watch a webcast of the hearing beginning at 9:30 AM local time (3:30 AM ET); the webcast is on a 30-minute tape delay. The ICTY has background on the case.... Also today at the ICTY, the trial of Momcilo Krajisnik continues. Watch a webcast beginning at 2:45 PM local time (8:45 AM ET); for witness protection, the webcast is on a 30-minute tape delay. The ICTY has case information.

At the United Nations, the General Assembly's Sixth Committee will debate an international convention against the cloning of human beings. Watch a live webcast beginning at 10 AM ET. The Committee has background information.

Incoming European Commission President José Manuel Barroso will meet with the European Parliament's Conference of Presidents today to respond to the Parliament's assessments of nominee Commissioners. Following the meeting, Parliament president Josep Borrell and other leaders will hold press conferences on the subject. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on controversy surrounding the Justice Commissioner nominee, who has been rejected by a Parliamentary committee.