[JURIST] The government of Florida and a Florida judge engaged in a last-minute legal tussle late Wednesday as the state made what could be its final bid to restore Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. At a press conference held while the Florida Senate was still debating legislation that might have authorized tube reconnection [JURIST report], Governor Jeb Bush said that new evidence from neurologist Dr. William Cheshire [Mayo Clinic profile] suggested that Schiavo was minimally conscious and therefore that the current diagnosis of her being in a persistent vegetative state might not be correct [NBC WFLA-8 TV Tampa video]. The Florida Department of Children and Familes [official website] meanwhile petitioned [PDF] Pinellas County circuit judge George Greer, who has already made numerous rulings in the Schiavo case, for leave to intervene based on Cheshire's affidavit [PDF] and allegations of abuse and endangerment of Schiavo that video report with clips from court arguments before Greer; Knight Ridder has more. Greer is expected to make a formal ruling on the DCF petition by Noon Thursday.

[JURIST] France and the United States locked diplomatic horns behind closed doors in the UN Security Council Wednesday over which court should try war criminals from the long-troubled Darfur region of Sudan. France, along with eight of the other 15 Security Council members, favors the new International Criminal Court in The Hague; the US, which has opposed the jurisdiction of that court and tried to exempt itself from it at every turn, favors the creation of a special tribunal based in Tanzania. Recognizing the split but trying to encourage Security Council action on the Sudan issue, the US had on Tuesday separated less controversial peacekeeping and sanctions issues and urged that they be voted on first, but France countered by introducing its own omnibus Sudan resolution with the ICC jurisdiction intact, a move that could force the US to either abstain from a vote or exercise a politically-problematic veto. Som eimmediate action on Sudan would seem to be required as the UN faces a Thursday deadline for authorization of a new UN peacekeeping mission to Sudan or extension of the present one. AFP has more.

[JURIST] French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) [corporate website] has filed a legal complaint [PDF] against Google News, the most popular online news aggregator. The AFP complaint says Google News infringed its intellectual property rights by pulling and displaying photos, headlines and leads of news stories from the websites of AFP subscribers. The outcome of the lawsuit will likely depend on whether a court concludes that Google's automated service using only small portions of stories that are posted only a limited-time basis constitutes “fair use” of the copyrighted material. Google spokesman Steve Langdon said most websites “want to be included in Google News because they believe it is a benefit to them and their readers.” Google has begun removing AFP content from its news service [eNews report], but AFP says that damage to it had already been done; AFP says Google ignored previous cease and desist letters requesting it not to include AFP material. Yahoo! uses AFP material in its Yahoo News! news aggregator service, but pays AFP a fee. AP has the full story.

[JURIST] As expected [JURIST report], former Bosnian Serb general Vinko Pandurevic [ICTY case backgrounder] surrendered to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [official website] Wednesday. Pandurevic is alleged to have been one of the commanders in charge of the forces that expelled or killed most of the Muslim members of the UN-protected Srebrenica enclave in 1995. Pandurevic has been charged with genocide [ICTY press release], crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war. AP has more.

In a related story, Paddy Ashdown [official profile], High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, told the UN Security Council Wednesday that Bosnian Serbs are changing their attitude towards the ICTY. During the Security Council briefing [meeting summary; recorded video], Ashdown said that recent actions by Serb authorities to turn over ICTY indictees to the UN war crimes tribunal reflect a change in attitude and "an acceptance that the way to Brussels and the European Union (EU) and to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), lies through The Hague." However, Ashdown said that there is not yet full cooperation and called for the surrender of Serbian wartime commander Ratko Mladic and Serb wartime president Radovan Karadzic. The UN News Service has more.

[JURIST] The Florida Senate has just voted against SB 804 [bill summary] that would have prohibited the suspension of sustenance or hydration of a person in persistent vegetative state when family members disagree on the course of action based on alleged prior oral statements of the person and where that person left no prior written directive. The bill might have allowed Terri Schiavo's feeding tube to be reconnected, although some legislators denied that possibility given the restrictive way the bill was drafted (probihiting removal, whereas Schiavo's feeding tube has already been removed). JURIST has coverage of the Florida Senate debate [JURIST report] and an extensive news archive on the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case.

5:08 PM ET - The bill was defeated 21-18. AP now has more.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that the US Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has denied a request from the parents of Terri Schiavo [JURIST news archive] for an expedited rehearing en banc of their case, which a three-judge panel turned back early this morning. The only legal recourse left for the Schindlers at this stage now appears to be an appeal to the United State Supreme Court via Justice Kennedy, the Justice responsible for emergency appeals from the Eleventh Circuit.

3:36 PM ET - The appeals court has now posted its ruling [text]. Two circuit judges dissented from the refusal - Judge Wilson, who was the lone dissenter on original three-judge panel, and Judge Tjoflat, who did not take take a stand on the Schiavo situation as such, but rather argued that the appeals court had jurisdiction in the case under the All Writs Act and would lose it if an injunction were not issued.

8:07 PM ET - House Republican leaders Wednesday filed a motion for leave to file as an interested party in the en banc proceedings; their motion brief [PDF] is now available online from the House Judiciary Committee.

[JURIST] A New York appeals court has ruled that Federal Insurance, the company that insured Tyco International [corporate website; JURIST news archive] executives, must pay the legal bills for former CEO Dennis Kozlowski, who is currently on trial on charges [amended indictment, PDF] of grand larceny, falsifying business records and violating state business laws. The unanimous state Supreme Court Appellate Division [official website] did leave open the possibility that Federal could later recover some of the costs from Kozlowski. Federal's lawyers had argued that the insurance policy's "personal profit exclusion" applies because Kozlowski has been accused of enriching himself by some of his crimes, but the appeals court rejected this argument. AP has more.

[JURIST] Speaking after earlier brief comments on the Schiavo case Wednesday by President Bush [JURIST report], White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Wednesday afternoon that at this stage there was nothing more the President could do. "There really are not other legal options available to us...We have explored all our options previously." AP has more.

[JURIST] The Italian Senate [official website] Wednesday approved a broad constitutional reform bill [Senate bill information] that will increase the prime minister's executive authority, minimize the risk that governments will collapse mid-term, redistribute power between the houses of parliament, and increase the self-rule of Italy's 20 regions. The changes to the Italian constitution [text, in Italian] must be approved by popular referendum, which will likely be held following parliamentary elections next year. Critics of the reforms say the legislation poses a threat to democracy and national unity, and one senator called the bill "a veritable rape of the constitution." Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi characterize the reform as an essential modernization of Italy's system of government, which has been characterized by weak prime ministers. The Financial Times has more.

[JURIST] UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Jack Straw [official profile] has announced reforms to the way Britain uses its secret intelligence. Straw announced the reforms Wednesday as part of a written statement [text] to Parliament on the government's implementation of the recommendations in the Butler report [text; JURIST report], which concluded that there were "serious flaws" in the intelligence used to justify war with Iraq. Straw said that the government has "reviewed and tightened up" the working methods of the Joint Intelligence Committee, the body that advises the government on intelligence findings. Prime Minister Tony Blair has also agreed to change his informal style of decision making, reducing "the scope for informed collective political judgments." In the future, groups "brought together to work on operational military planning and developing diplomatic strategy ... will operate formally as an ad hoc Cabinet Committee." BBC News has more.

[JURIST] President Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, and Mexican President Vicente Fox Wednesday unveiled the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America [White House press release], a pact which seeks to broaden cooperation on security and economic issues. Included among the goals of the pact's security agenda [White House press release] is the development and implementation of a "comprehensive North American strategy for combating transnational threats to the United States, Canada, and Mexico, including terrorism, organized crime, illegal drugs, migrant and contraband smuggling and trafficking." The partnership's prosperity agenda [White House press release] includes regulatory cooperation in order to generate growth and improve productivity and the lowering of "the transaction costs of trade in goods by liberalizing the requirements for obtaining duty-free treatment under NAFTA." AP has more. CBC News provides Canadian coverage of the summit and El Universal has Mexican coverage (in Spanish).

[JURIST] The Florida Senate has begun debate on Terri Schiavo legislation. An amended version of SB 804 [bill summary] would prohibit suspension of sustenance or hydration of a person in persistent vegatative state when family members disagree on the course of action based on alleged prior oral statements of the person and where that person left no prior written directive. Leading the debate, Republican state Senator and chair of the state Senate Judiciary Committee Daniel Webster [official profile] said that where the state becomes the referee in such circumstances the state should "err on the side of life". Watch the debate live via the Florida Channel.

1:55 PM ET - A number of Senators have raised questions on the floor about the bill, with state Senate Democratic leader Walter Campbell saying that is it legally invalid and unconstitutional. Campbell said it had been drafted in committee in about 10 minutes and was not appropriately framed.

2:18 PM ET - Several Senators have argued that the bill is in practice overbroad, allowing too many challenges by too many people. Webster said that in the Schiavo case, if the bill were passed, someone would petition the state court, the court would go back and look for evidence of conflict in family allegations regarding a person's wishes, and then if a conflict were identified withdrawal of sustenance would be prohibited. Webster has also insisted that any problems with the draft of the bill could be resolved at later stages after the bill came back to the Senate from the House after initial Senate passage.

2:28 PM ET - Webster says that does not believe his Senate bill, even if approved by the Senate, would be taken up by the state House and passed, but "I have to try." The comment reflects the political reality that a Florida Senate action may be too late to save Terri Schaivo.

2:36 PM ET - In debate, state Senator Frederica Wilson said she had received telephone death threats because of her vote against an earlier version of the legislation, and in an emotional appeal pleaded for the calls to stop. She said she didn't appreciate being threatened with death by people supposedly concerned with the sanctity of life.

2:54 PM ET - Senator Dave Aronberg has criticized the bill for not defining what a "conflict" is, for not providing for oral declarations, and also emphasized that because of the way it is drafted, with reference only to removal of sustenance that has not already been removed, the bill cannot apply to Terri Schiavo.

[JURIST] US District Judge Henry H. Kennedy, Jr. [official profile] has extended a temporary restraining order barring the US from transferring Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees to the custody of foreign countries. Judge Kennedy extended the restraining order for another 10 days Tuesday, saying he needs additional time to decide whether the court has authority over the decision to release a detainee to a foreign country, and if it does, whether the detainees' lawyers are entitled to advance notice of the proposed transfer so that the transfer may be contested. When Kennedy makes his decision, this will mark the first time a judge has ruled on whether US courts have jurisdiction to oversee decisions about where to move Gitmo detainees. During yesterday's hearing, Judge Kennedy acknowledged that once a transfer to a foreign country is completed, "the court will not have jurisdiction to provide the relief sought by petitioners." Lawyers for the detainees argued that "the government can't transfer people to defeat a case on appeal," but the government lawyer argued that allowing a court to second-guess the decision to transfer "would in essence be ordering people to continue to be detained when the government says it no longer has an interest in detaining them." Earlier this month, US District Judge Rosemary Collyer blocked out-of-country transfers for 13 Yemeni detainees [JURIST report] pending a hearing on their lawyers' request for 30-days notice to allow investigation of whether they might face torture or indefinite detention in their home countries. Wednesday's Washington Post has more.

[JURIST] The European Commission [official website] said Wednesday that it has rejected part of Microsoft's [corporate website] plan to comply with sanctions that were imposed last year after the Commission found that Microsoft violated European antitrust laws [decision text, PDF; archived Commission press release]. In addition to imposing a record $654 million fine, the Commission also ordered Microsoft to choose a non-partisan individual to monitor the company's compliance with the EU sanctions. A Commission spokesman said Wednesday that "We have officially informed Microsoft that their proposal on the monitoring trustee is not acceptable. Essentially they wished to have a veto on what issues the monitoring trustee could examine." Microsoft now has 10 days to respond, and if the Commission finds Microsoft's response unsatisfactory, it can impose its own monitoring process. Microsoft says that it is "fully committed to complying with the Commission's decision," and that the Commission's interpretation of the company's actions was wrong. Microsoft provides detail on its implementation of the Commission decision [Microsoft backgrounder]. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that the parents of Terri Schiavo [JURIST news archive] have opted to seek an expedited rehearing of their case by the full US Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals en banc [full court roster] instead of pursuing an immediate appeal to the US Supreme Court, the course that their lawyer had appeared to indicate earlier Wednesday. The move could reflect a strategic judgment about which body is more likely to offer relief, and provides an additional chance for the Schindlers before their case reaches the high court. Eleventh Circuit rules required papers for the rehearing to be filed by 10 AM this morning.

12:48 AM ET - AP now has this story on the request for expedited rehearing. In the latest court papers the Schindlers say Schiavo's condition is "deteriorating rapidly" and they ask that the appeals court direct her hospice to have her transported to a hospital. In brief comments, President Bush has said he is watching how the federal courts handle the case and defended the recent Congressional legislation authorizing federal court review. AP has more on the Bush's remarks.

[JURIST]Leading Wednesday's corporations and securities law news, a US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] upheld a district court's ruling which froze $37.6 million in termination pay and bonuses to two Gemstar TV Guide International [corporate website] officials. The SEC had settled with the two executives, former CEO Henry Yuen and former CFO Elsie Leung over their roles in the company overstating revenue by $223 million in January. The ruling is important in that strengthened the SEC's power in curbing payments to executives who are being investigated for fraud. This is a major provision of Sarbanes-Oxley Act [text, PDF] which is meant to keep the money in escrow to keep the money available for fines or repayment if the fraud is proved. Read the opinion [PDF]. The San Francisco Chronicle has more.

In other news...

• TXU Corp. [corporate website], the largest Texas power producer, said in a regulatory filing that the SEC has subpoenaed the company related to an investigation into possible violations of federal securities laws arising from the collapse of the company's European unit in 2002. The subpoena asks for information related to the losses at TXU's European unit which led to its bankruptcy in 2002. The bankruptcy led to various shareholder lawsuits. TXU said it would cooperate with the probe. Bloomberg has more.
  
  
• As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, federal prosecutors in Chicago confirmed they are conducting a criminal investigation of newspaper tycoon Conrad Black [Wikipedia profile], his former top deputy David Radler and Hollinger, Inc [corporate website]. Prosecutors filed court papers where it asked to intervene in the SEC lawsuit against Black, Radler, and Hollinger, Inc. The SEC, in its complaint [PDF], allege Black and Radler engaged in fraud by taking cash and other assets from Hollinger and concealing it from investors. AP has more. In related news, SEC has sent former Pentagon adviser Richard Perle [Wikipedia profile] a Wells Notice, a formal warning that the agency has determined that evidence of wrongdoing is sufficient to bring a civil lawsuit. The notice says the agency may sue Perle for his role in the alleged looting of Hollinger International Inc. Perle said he did not recall any specific allegation made by the SEC. Bloomberg has more.
  
  
• The SEC [official website] announced Citigroup [corporate website] will pay $20 million to settle charges it did not give customers adequate information about mutual fund shares. The settlement involves two disclosure failures at the company. Citigroup will not admit or deny any wrongdoing. Read the SEC press release and administrative proceeding [PDF]. Also today, the NASD [official website] announced it has fined units of American Express Inc., Citigroup Inc. and JP Morgan Chase & Co. [corporate website] a total of $21.25 million for selling customers "Class B" or "Class C" fund shares, or shares of both classes, without disclosing that "Class A" shares would have provided higher overall returns. Read the NASD press release. Reuters has more.
  
  
• The SEC also announced Putnam Investment Management [corporate website] will pay $40 million to settle charges related to Putnam's failure to disclose to its Board of Trustees and shareholders the conflicts of interest that arose from "shelf space" arrangements with broker/dealers. Putnam will neither admit or deny the charges. Read the SEC press release and administrative proceeding [PDF].

[JURIST] The parents of brain-damaged Florida woman Terri Schiavo [JURIST news archive] prepared a last-ditch appeal to the United States Supreme Court Wednesday after the US Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in the early hours of the morning refused to authorize a re-insertion of Schiavo's feeding tube [JURIST report], removed 5 days ago. The high court has declined to act in the Schiavo case on two previous occasions, although this is the first time the case has been supported by new federal legislation explicitly allowing federal court review. Bloomberg has more. An amended complaint [PDF courtesy SCOTUSblog] by the Schinders in the US Middle District of Florida filed Tuesday is also still pending [SCOTUSblog post].

In Florida, meanwhile, Governor Jeb Bush Wednesday joined the Schindlers in calling on everyone in the state legislature to "spare Terri's life". Said Bush in a statement Wednesday morning, "Time is of the essence and I hope all who have the ability and duty to act in this case will do so with a sense of urgency." AP has more. The Florida state Senate [official website] is being pressed to revisit a bill [SB 804 summary] that failed there last week that could allow reconnection of Schiavo's feeding tube, but Senate leaders still say they lack the votes to push it through. The Florida state Senate is due to reconvene Wednesday afternoon at 1 PM.

[JURIST] A federal appeals court has ruled that a controversial law requiring prisoners, parolees, and others on probation to submit DNA samples to an FBI DNA identification database [AP report] in constitutional. Judge Jane R. Roth, for the US Third Circuit Court of Appeals, wrote Monday that although such an intrusion into the lives of ordinary citizens would be constitutionally invalid, taking samples from prisoners and persons under prison supervision was justified because of the assistance it could provide in investigations and the potential for protecting the innocent. The plaintiff in the case, Paul G. Sczubelek, is a former Delaware State Police lieutenant who was convicted of bank robbery in 1994 and later released on probation. Lawyers for Sczubelek say they will appeal, citing his Fourth Amendment right to be immune from unreasonable search and seizure. Read the Third Circuit opinion [PDF}. AP has more.

[JURIST] Japan's Justice Ministry [official website in Japanese] said Wednesday that despite US requests to hand over fugitive former US chess champion Bobby Fischer, it would release him so that he could go to Iceland [government website], which Monday granted him citizenship [JURIST report]. Fischer became a hero in Iceland in 1972 when he played and defeated Russian chess champion Boris Spassky in Reykjavik at the height of the Cold War. He is currently wanted by the US government for playing a chess match in Yugoslavia in the 1990s in contravention of sanctions then in force against that country. The US has expressed disappointment at Iceland's decision to offer citizenship to Fischer, but Iceland's Foreign Minister defended it on the grounds of Fischer's "historical connection with Iceland." Fischer has become notorious in recent years for extreme anti-Semitism and anti-American remarks. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The United States Tuesday presented three draft resolutions on Sudan to the UN Security Council [official website] in an effort to obtain agreement on critical issues that to this point has been stymied by a deadlock over the locus of criminal prosecutions for war crimes committed in Sudan's Darfur region. Earlier this year a UN panel recommended that war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur be referred to the new International Criminal Court, an approach supported by nine of the fifteen council members, but the US, which has long been a staunch opponent of the new UN tribunal, prefers the establishment of a separate tribunal operating from Arusha. The new tripartite approach separates the US proposal on the war crimes venue from proposals on international peacekeeping and sanctions that have a broader base of support. The Council is expected to consider the new resolutions Wednesday and to vote on the less contentious ones Thursday. AP has more.

[JURIST] A federal lawsuit has been filed against the Associated Press [media website] by several Navy SEALs and the wife of a US special forces member claiming that the wire service published photos [AP gallery from Spain's El Mundo] of the servicemembers with Iraqi prisoners without permission and that the publication of the photos endangered the servicemembers' lives. AP ran the photos with a December 3 story [reprint] after a reporter scanning for images on Google [Google image search] discovered them on SmugMug.com, an online digital photo sharing website. He paid 29 cents each for reprints. They appear to show servicemembers sitting on hooded prisoners and bloodied prisoners, one of whom has a gun to his head. The woman who took the photos appears to have thought - incorrectly - that the photos were password-protected. The photos were never formally registered for copyright protection, but lawyers for the plaintiffs argue that under federal law no such registration is necessary, and that AP was infringing the photographer's rights in using and redistributing her photos without permission. AP has responded by saying that the distribution of the photos was in the public interest and that they were not obtained illegally. The federal court action follows a California state court proceeding launched in late December [JURIST report]. AP has more. San Diego CityBeat has a background report.

[JURIST] Federal prosecutors have asked to intervene in the Securities and Exchange Commission [official website] lawsuit against former Hollinger CEO Conrad Black [CBC profile], former company president David Radler, and Hollinger, Inc., confirming for the first time that they are conducting a criminal investigation into the newspaper tycoon and his former company. Last year, the SEC filed civil charges against Black, Radler and Hollinger [JURIST report], alleging [PDF complaint] that Black and Radler "engaged in a fraudulent and deceptive scheme to divert cash and assets from [parent company] Hollinger International" and to "conceal their self-dealing from Hollinger International's public shareholders." The SEC also alleges that Black and Radler diverted approximately $85 million in proceeds from newspaper sales to themselves and to Hollinger, Inc., a Canadian public holding company. The US Attorney's office has asked the presiding court to hold a Wednesday hearing on its request to delay the release of SEC documents to the defendants. The government says the delay is necessary "to protect the integrity of the related criminal investigation" into whether the SEC defendants and others violated federal criminal statutes, including those on conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud and interstate transportation of funds obtained by fraud. AP has more.

[JURIST] European leaders are rallying around French President Jacques Chirac and trying to avoid a negative French vote on the European constitution [official website; treaty text] by calling for revisions of European Union [official website] economic reform plans at the ongoing Council of the European Union [official website] summit. Recent opinion polls in France show that French voters could vote against the EU constitution [JURIST report] in the upcoming national referendum. At the Council meeting, which continues Wednesday in Brussels, European leaders approved loosening EU budgetary rules in the Stability and Growth Pact [EU legislation summary], which will give both France and Germany more room to work on reviving their economies. Council discussions Wednesday will turn to re-launching a streamlined version of the Lisbon Strategy [EU backgrounder], focused on boosting jobs and growth in the EU. Council members are also expected to continue discussions on the proposed Directive on services in the internal market [Commission proposal], another topic which is sensitive in France. The directive is intended to create a true single market in services, but many Europeans worry that this will result in the loss of social benefits. EU leaders have agreed that "far-reaching" reform of the directive is necessary. AFP has more.

[JURIST] In a 2-1 decision issued early Wednesday morning, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit [official website] refused to order that Terri Schiavo's [JURIST news archive] feeding tube be re-inserted. The appeals court agreed with the earlier district court decision [PDF text; JURIST report] that Schiavo's parents "failed to demonstrate a substantial case on the merits of any of their claims." In dissent, Judge Charles Wilson wrote that without an order to re-insert the feeding tube, Schiavo's "imminent" death would end the case before it could be fully considered and that he "fail[s] to see any harm in reinserting the feeding tube." Read the full 11th Circuit opinion [PDF text]. Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. AP has more.

[JURIST] Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Wednesday, March 23.

The US Senate and US House [official websites] are in recess until April 4.

The European Council [official website] session continues today, with the second working session set to begin at 9:30 AM local time [3:30 AM ET]. View the session agenda [PDF], and watch a live webcast of proceedings.

The UN Security Council [official website] will discuss the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina during its session today, including a letter from the Secretary-General. Watch a live webcast beginning at 10 AM ET.

The 61st session of the UN Commission on Human Rights [official website] continues in Geneva today. View the daily agenda [DOC].

At the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the trial of Slobodan Milosevic [ICTY case backgrounder] continues today at 9:30 AM local time [3:30 AM ET]. Also today, the trial of Fatmir Limaj and others [ICTY case backgrounder] continues at 2:45 PM local time [8:45 AM ET]. Watch a webcast of proceedings.