[JURIST] A panel of the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled [opinion] Monday that portion of a California law giving consumers the right to block banks from selling their personal information to other institutions is preempted by federal law. The court considered whether the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) [text] trumps the California Financial Information Privacy Act (CFIPA) [text] in the exchange of information among financial institutes, and reversed a lower court ruling [American Bankers Ass’n v. Lockyer, PDF] that it does not. The court reasoned that the FCRA, which has less stringent "information swapping” provisions, preempts portions of the CFIPA, and remanded the case to the district court to decide if any consumer information can be shielded from affiliated companies under the state law. AP has more.

[JURIST] The controversial confirmation of UN ambassador nominee John Bolton. [JURIST news archive] stalled in the Senate again late Monday after Republicans failed, in a 54-38 vote, to gain the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture and commence a roll call. Earlier today, President Bush called on Senators [JURIST report] to vote on Bolton’s nomination, and rebuked requests for more information about Bolton's prewar assessments of Iraq. Read Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's press release on the matter here. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Monday's corporations and securities law news, General Electric Company [corporate website] has been subpoenaed by the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. In a press release issued Monday, GE said that the subpoena is part of an on-going government probe into the reinsurance and finite risk industry. AP has more.

In other corporatiions and securities law news...

• Roger Blackwell [faculty profile], a professor at Ohio State University’s Fisher business school [official website], has been convicted of insider trading. Blackwell told friends about Kellogg Co.’s [corporate website] impending purchase of Worthington Foods Inc. while he was on the board of directors for Worthington. Blackwell faces up to 10 years in prison. AP has more.
  
  
• As reported earlier on JURIST's Paper Chase, Adelphia [corporate website] founder John Rigas [Wikipedia profile] and his son Timothy have been sentenced for corporate fraud. The elder Rigas, 80 and stricken with cancer and heart problems, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The younger Rigas, 49 and the ex-CFO of Adelphia, was given a 20 year sentence for his part in conspiracy, bank fraud and securities fraud. Bloomberg has more.

[JURIST] In a closed door meeting Monday, US District Judge Gladys Kessler [profile] urged the government and tobacco company executives to settle the multibillion dollar racketeering lawsuit filed by the Justice Department 5 years ago. In the suit, the government alleges that tobacco manufactures violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) [text] by conspiring to downplay the dangers of smoking. Closing arguments [JURIST report] ended June 9, after the government reduced the proposed penalty [JURIST report] against major tobacco companies from $130 billion to $10 billion. Judge Kessler also issued an order denying a Washington Post request to attend the meeting and have access to related documents. Also on Monday, Harvard University business professor Max H. Bazerman [profile], an expert witness for the government, told reporters [Washington Post report] that federal prosecutors threatened to remove him from the witness list if he did not "water down" his recommended penalties for the tobacco industry. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Leading Monday's states brief, the Supreme Court of New Jersey [official website] ordered its criminal practice committee to assess whether financial records should be given more protection as a matter of public policy. In upholding the conviction of a woman whose bank records were subpoenaed and shown to a jury, the Supreme Court found that privacy protections are sufficiently protected by existing subpoena procedures where no notice to the bank account holder is required when the bank is ordered to turn over its records. In the court's opinion [PDF text], the court said that "although notice to account holders is not constitutionally required, additional protections may be desirable as a matter of policy." The committee is to recommend whether the court should consider "additional safeguards for account holders." AP has more.

In other states news ...

• A Kentucky law setting new requirements for the purchase and dispensing of cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in methamphetamines, took effect Monday. The law [bill summary] requires that all cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine be kept behind pharmacy counters and only be dispensed by pharmacists or pharmacy technicians. The measure signed by Governor Ernie Fletcher [press release] earlier this year also requires anyone purchasing such cold medicine to provide their name, address, date of birth, photo identification, and signature. According to the state Justice and Public Safety Cabinet [official website], police found 579 meth labs in the state last year. AP has more.
  
  
• For the first time, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals [official website] has recognized a gay or lesbian parent's standing to seek recognition as the parent of a child in a custody case. In its decision [text], the Supreme Court found that the child's biological mother's partner did have standing as the child's psychological parent and awarded her custody. The decision stated that a "psychological parent may be biological, adoptive, or foster parent, or any other person" as long as the parental relationship began with the consent of the legal parent or guardian. The child's biological mother died in 2002 and her family sought custody of the child. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Monday's international brief, Kenyan Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Chirau Mwakwere [Wikipedia profile] has announced that Kenya [government website] would actively be seeking to obtain one of the two permanent regional seats for Africa under the current proposed reform plans [JURIST report] for the UN Security Council [official website]. The reform plan calls for the addition of 10 Security Council seats, 6 of which would be permanent, four going to the 'G4 Nations' of India, Japan, Germany, and Brazil, and two more permanent membership slots designated according to regional representation. Mwakwere said that Kenya was uniquely positioned to fill one of these spots as it had taken leadership positions in the peace process in both Sudan and Somalia. Kenya would face off against regional giants such as South Africa and Nigeria for a permanent Security Council seat from the African region. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of the United Nations [JURIST news archive]. Kenya's Daily Nation has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• Zimbabwean Minister of Intelligence & National Security Didymus Mutasa [Africa database profile], the senior government official in charge of Zimbabwe's massive eviction program, told a ZimOnline [media website] reporter Monday that the operation currently responsible for arresting over 20,000 illegal street vendors and evicting what human rights groups have estimated at several hundred thousand individuals from their illegal homes will move to the rural areas starting Tuesday. Mutasa confirmed that the goverment was planning to head to the rural regions and farms and would be evicting anyone that could not produce documentation that showed that government officials had granted them the right to live on the land. The farms were left empty following the Zimbabwe government's forced eviction of the white farmers from the land, and black families were encouraged to take up residence there and begin farming while waiting for official paperwork to be processed. The evictions, condemned by the UN [JURIST report], the EU, and a multitude of human rights and religious groups, took a bizarre turn over the weekend as police bulldozed outhouses in Chitungwiza, the third largest city in Zimbabwe, under the mistaken belief that the structures were illegal dwellings. City officials quickly stopped the destruction, but not before thousands of gallons of raw sewage were released into the city streets. Several human rights groups are fighting legal battles [JURIST report] to force the government to stop the evictions, but no injunction has yet been ordered, and the government continues to push its program into more cities. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Zimbabwe [JURIST news archive]. ZimOnline has local coverage.
  
  
• A Pretorian police spokesman announced Monday that South African police have arrested over 1,000 individuals in a massive anti-crime effort in the past week for offenses ranging from theft, burglary, and illegally entering the country to rape and murder in Tshwane (the newly adopted name for Pretoria) [official website]. The arrests came out of a coordinated effort between Pretorian police officials, the National Defense Force, and the Tshwane Metro Police. Over 200 illegal immigrants have been detained as well, but officials have not released word on whether they will be arrested and charged or deported. South Africa's close neighbor, Zimbabwe [JURIST news archive], is still in the middle of a massive, nation-wide operation to 'clean up' its cities by arresting illegal street vendors and evicting hundreds of thousands of illegal squatters [JURIST report]. Human rights bodies have expressed concern that the announcement in Pretoria could herald a similar program in South Africa. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of South Africa [JURIST news archive]. South Africa's News24 has local coverage.
  
  
• Two candidates in the first parliamentary elections in Burundi [government website in French] in decades were killed over the weekend in a grenade attack, only three days into the official campaign term. Both candidates, killed Saturday in the capital city of Bujumbura, were members of the FRODEBU ruling party of Burundi President Domitien Ndayizeye [Wikipedia profile]. FRODEBU Secretary-General Léonce Ngendakumana said that he has repeatedly told police that his party members have reported receiving threatening phone calls and letters that range from insults to promises of death if they continue to campaign. Brigadier-General Alain Guillaume Bunyoni of the national police announced on Monday that an investigation was being opened and urged all political parties to refrain from public comment concerning the killings and election-related violence, saying that public outcries would only lead to more violence. Current campaigns are for the 4 July elections for National Assembly members. Those elected on 4 July and the 29 July Senate elections will elect a new Burundi President on 19 August. AllAfrica.com has local coverage.

[JURIST] Adelphia Communications Corp. [corporate website] founder John Rigas has been sentenced to 15 years for bank fraud, securities fraud, and conspiracy.

5:02 PM ET - AP is reporting that former Adelphia chief financial officer Timothy Rigas has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Bloomberg has more.

[JURIST] Having last week reached a deal [JURIST report] on Sunni representation on the parliamentary committee to draft the Iraqi constitution [JURIST news archive], Iraqi politicians are now debating over who exactly should be named to the new seats. Sunni leaders have submitted a list of 15 candidates for the positions with full voting rights, but without getting support for the 15 from a larger group of Sunnis, as the committee had wanted. A spokesman for the committee that submitted the list of 15 said there's "no need" for such wide approval and doing so would only "complicate things". A new consitution must be finished by August 15, a deadline which some say should be postponed [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] A new report [PDF] released by the World Health Organization [official website] on Monday urges countries to pass laws protecting the mentally ill, a group categorized by a WHO press release as "among the most vulnerable and the least legally protected". The report says almost a quarter of all countries have no mental health law, and many more have laws that do not adequately protect mental health patients or are outdated. In addition to releasing the new report, the WHO has created a network of experts to help countries modernize their law. AP has more.

[JURIST] President Bush on Monday demanded a vote in the Senate on his nomination of John Bolton [JURIST report] as the US Ambassador to the United Nations, and White House officials would not rule out the possibility of a recess appointment [CRS backgrounder, PDF] to sidestep the Senate if necesary. Senate Democrats last week rejected a new Republican compromise offer [JURIST report] on his nomination, requesting more information about his pre-war assessments of Iraq. They have also objected to his outspoken criticism of the UN and have made other claims of wrongdoing [JURIST report]. Bush says Bolton is the right choice to help push for UN reform. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Presbyterian Church (USA) [official website] has formally adopted 11 changes [press release, summary of amendments] to its constitution in an effort to prevent and deal more harshly with sexual abuse by members of the clergy. The changes, to be incorporated into the church's Book of Order [PDF text] on July 3, allow victims more involvement in the offender's punishment as well as stricter requirements for reporting sexual abuse to civil authorities. The amendments, announced last week, come three years after a report [PDF text] on sexual abuse by clergy of the children of missionaries in the Congo. AP has more.

[JURIST] The British Department of Health [official web site] Monday began an 11-week program [official site] to survey the public on a proposed smoking ban [BBC backgrounder] that would prohibit smoking in restaurants, bars that serve food, and enclosed public places in England. The DoH is asking citizens what exemptions they think should apply, and if the ban should eventually include more areas. The proposal has gotten complaints from both sides; those for it say the exemptions will make the ban ineffective, and those against it say it's unnecessary. In the US, state and local governments are responsible for most of the anti-smoking laws [Wikipedia profile, JURIST news archive], creating a wide variety of places where people can and cannot smoke. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Prosecutors on Monday summoned former Romanian President Ion Iliescu [Wikipedia profile] to testify in a criminal investigation into deadly riots by coal miners [Wikipedia backgrounder] in the 1990s. Iliescu refused to appear personally and instead sent his lawyers, who asked for a continuance to review evidence. No charges have been filed against him yet, but prosecutors are looking to charge Iliescu with undermining state authority or even crimes against humanity. The investigation stems from accusations that Iliescu asked coal miners to come to Bucharest and quell protests against his ruling party. He denies encouraging or asking for the miners. Reuters has more. Last week a Romanian court freed the militant leader of a 1991 miners strike [JURIST report].

[JURIST] An Afghan government official said Monday that Afghan security forces have arrested three young Pakistani men on charges of planning to assassinate US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad [Wikipedia profile]. The men were arrested Saturday in the province of Laghman, a day before a scheduled trip by Khalilzad to the area. A spokesman for the US Embassy in Kabul [official website] expressed US gratitude for the Afghan help in protecting its diplomats but would not comment further. Khalilzad has been a vocal opponent of Pakistan's alleged status as a safe-haven for Islamic militants in recent days, a position which may have led to the assassination plot. Last week Khalilzad was also confirmed by the US Senate as the next US ambassador to Iraq [AFP report], taking over from John Negroponte, who has been named the new US Director of Intelligence. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court Monday declined to consider whether hundreds of criminals sentenced prior to US v. Booker [JURIST report; opinion] - a landmark ruling on federal sentencing guidelines - should receive reduced prison sentences, despite Justice Department urging that the dispute be heard. AP has more. The Court also took no action to resolve a dispute over the meaning of a 2003 decision involving the use of a federal RICO anti-racketeering law to stop blockades seeking to obstruct the operation of abortion clinics.

The Court granted certiorari in two cases to be heard next term: Illinois Tool Works v. Independent Ink, regarding patented and unpatented products and restraints employing antitrust law; and Buckeye Check Cashing v. Cardegna, a dispute over whether arbitration can be avoided by filing a second case claiming a contract is illegal. Monday's full Order List is here [PDF].

[JURIST] In two related cases, the US Supreme Court ruled Monday that states are permitted to impose registration fees on trucks and other commercial vehicles that travel at least part of the time on a state's roadways. Read the Court's opinion [PDF text] in American Trucking v. Michigan Public Service Commission [Duke Law backgrounder] and the opinion [PDF text] in Mid-Con Freight Systems v. Michigan Public Service Commission.

Also Monday, the Court issued two rulings to clarify deadlines for filing. In Graham County Water District v. US [Duke Law backgrounder; PDF opinion] the Court ruled that the 6-year statute of limitations in the False Claims Act does not govern FCA civil actions for retaliation and in Dodd v. US [Duke law backgrounder; PDF opinion] the court held that the statute of limitations for filing a petition of habeas corpus begins to run on the date that the Supreme Court first recognizes a new right.

Finally, the Supreme Court Monday affirmed a lower court decision holding that a Fifth Amendment Takings claim was barred by issue preclusion of being relitigated in federal court after having been decided in state court. Read the Court's opinion [PDF text] in San Remo Hotel v. San Francisco [Duke Law backgrounder].

[JURIST] In an article [excerpt] published Monday in GQ magazine, young US soldiers given the job of guarding former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein say they found him to be friendly, talkative, and a "clean freak." Three soldiers from the Pennsylvania National Guard [official website] provided details such as what snacks and breakfast cereals the incarcerated former Iraqi leader prefers as well as his preoccupation with cleanliness. Though the soldiers reported that Saddam's anger towards both the current US president and his father Bush Sr. eased over time, his belief that he would be restored to power in Iraq never wavered and he even invited the guards to stay at his palace. Hussein is expected to be tried before the Iraqi Special Tribunal [official website] for crimes against humanity in what senior Iraqi officials describe as a "matter of months". AP has more.

[JURIST] A partial recount of votes in last Friday's Iran presidential election was ordered by Iranian electoral authorities Monday after reformist candidates accused military organizations of rigging the first round of voting [JURIST report]. The close first election resulted in a run-off election planned for June 24 between former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani [Wikipedia profile], and his surprise rival and a close second, conservative Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [Wikipedia profile]. Iran's Guardian Council [BBC backgrounder] called for a recount in four provinces, including Tehran. The Guardian Council is expected to release the recount's results no later than Monday night and the two candidates will be able to begin their campaigning Tuesday [IRIB report]. Reuters has more; IRIB has local coverage.

[JURIST] A spokesman for South Africa's National Prosecution Authority [official website] announced Monday that former South African deputy president Jacob Zuma [ANC profile] will be charged with two counts of corruption. After one of Zuma's advisors, South African businessman Schabir Shaik [Wikipedia profile] was found guilty [JURIST report] on charges of corruption and fraud, President Thabo Mbeki [BBC profile] fired Zuma from his post last week [JURIST report]. Zuma, once believed to be a viable presidential candidate, was found to have had a "generally corrupt" relationship with Mr. Shaik according to the judge who convicted the businessman. AFP has more. From Johannesburg, South Africa's Mail & Guardian provides local coverage.

[JURIST] Human rights watchdog group Amnesty International [advocacy website] released a new report Monday detailing and assailing the UK's detention of asylum seekers, which it said is "inappropriate, unnecessary, disproportionate and, therefore, unlawful" and has led to mental illness and even suicide attempts. The report concludes that in 2003 the UK detained 27,000 potential refugees in jail-like conditions. The report examines "the ability of detainees to challenge their detention. . . the difficulties that those who have sought asylum face in accessing justice while in detention have been compounded by the recent restrictions to publicly funded immigration and asylum work. . . and the human cost of the increased use of detention in the UK." Amnesty International also released related information on the detaintion of asylum seekers in Europe [press release] and, specifically, in Italy [press release]. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court ruled Monday in a 5-4 decision that public defenders had wrongfully failed to review records showing evidence of mental retardation and a troubled childhood in the case of Pennsylvania death row inmate Ronald Rompilla. In the second death row sentence overturned [JURIST report] in as many weeks, the Court found that a defendant's lawyer must make reasonable efforts to seek out evidence of mitigating factors in a defendant's case. Duke Law provides a case backgrounder. Read the opinion [Cornell LII]. AP has more.

[JURIST] The CEO of CardSystems Solutions Inc. [corporate website], the corporation responsible for a security breach [JURIST report] that may have left up to 40 million credit card owners vulnerable to credit card fraud and identity theft, said Monday that the data stolen was improperly kept and that the records should not have been retained. The files were being saved to use for a study determining why some transactions registered as unauthorized or uncompleted. Rules established by VISA and MasterCard state that credit card processors are prohibited from retaining files after transactions are completed. The FBI advised CardSystems not to release information about the breach [JURIST report], but MasterCard [corporate website] informed its customers [JURIST report] about the stolen records in a press release [text] Friday. Mastercard customers comprise 13.9 percent of those who may be affected by the security breach. The New York Times has more.

[JURIST] Two reformist newspapers in Iran have been banned after publishing a letter from defeated opposition candidate Mehdi Karoubi claiming the first round of presidential elections was rigged [AFP report]. The Aftab Daily [official website, in Arabic] and the Eghbal Daily, the newspaper of the main reformist party, the Islamic Iran Participation Front [official website, in Arabic], are both unsure whether the ban applies narrowly to the issue on election rigging or if the ban will be long-term. The Iranian Judiciary detained a number of people Saturday for possible election fraud [JURIST report] after conservative and anti-Western Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [Wikipedia profile] finished in a close second to moderate cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani [Wikipedia profile]. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Ten men have gone to trial so far in Sudan [JURIST news archive] on charges of rape and robbery in the troubled Darfur region [BBC backgrounder], according to the head of Sudan's special court [JURIST report], which began proceedings last Saturday. The Sudanese court was formed by the national Sudanese government after the UN Security Council asked the International Criminal Court [official website] to investigate alleged war crimes in Darfur; the government refuses to have suspects tried abroad. The formation of the special court will be a substitute for the ICC, according to Sudan, as all suspects cannot be tried by the ICC. The UN appointed inquiry commission [UN report on Darfur, PDF text] does not believe that the Sudanese judiciary can handle the case, but the head of the court, Mahmoud Mohamed Saeed Abkam, announced that he will resign from the court should there be any Sudanese governmental interference. The men on trial so far are minor criminals, but the court should eventually move on to the prosecution of more senior officials. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Court of First Instance [official website] President Bo Vesterdorf is planning to move the Microsoft EU antitrust case [JURIST report] from the current panel headed by Judge Hubert Legal to a panel headed by himself. The proposed change comes after Judge Legal published an article in the French journal Concurrences [journal website] in which he referred to some of the judges' clerks as "ayatollahs of free enterprise" and expressed concern over the amount of control they had over the deliberations. Every member of the 25-judge court will meet to vote on Vesterdorf's proposal some time after this Friday. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Former President Bill Clinton said in a Financial Times interview [transcript] published Monday that the US government should "close down or clean up" Guantanamo Bay prison [FT report]. On the weekend leading GOP Senator John McCain also pressed for change if not closure, urging the United States [NJ Star-Ledger report] to try the hundreds of detainees being held at the detention center designated for terror suspects after the September 11 attacks. The Pentagon estimates the number of detainees at Guantanamo to be approximately 520 men, of which only four have been charged. These latest comments follow calls for change from former President Jimmy Carter [JURIST report], Democratic Senator Joseph Biden [JURIST report], GOP Senator Mel Martinez [JURIST report], and many human rights groups [JURIST report]. Despite increasing opposition to the detention center, President Bush [JURIST report] and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld [JURIST report] have thusfar rejected calls to close it down, citing the necessity of holding terror suspects who cannot be transferred elsewhere. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Medecins San Frontieres [NGO website] said Monday that the Sudanese government has dropped charges [MSF press release] against two aid workers accused of publishing false information in a report detailing widespread rape [PDF text] in the volatile Darfur region. The group received word Sunday that the charges were dropped when a notice was issued by the Sudanese Justice Ministry stating that no action would be taken against medical workers Paul Foreman and Vincent Hoedt. The Sudanese government continues to deny that it adopted an organized and widespread policy of rape during the conflicts among rebels, government forces, and tribesmen. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Sudan. AP has more.

[JURIST] A federal court in Burlington, Vermont is expected to hear opening statements Monday in the first death-penalty case in the state since 1957. Vermont does not have a death penalty but Donald Fell was charged under a federal capital murder law after abducting one of his victims, Terry King, in Vermont before later killing her in New York. In 2002, Fell's attorneys and prosecutors had reached a plea deal in which Fell would plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence but the US Department of Justice later intervened, insisting on the death penalty. Fell, who has a long history of substance abuse and was abandoned by both parents at childhood, is expected to argue that because of his troubled upbringing he should be given a sentence of life in prison. AP has more. The Vermont Rutland Herald provides extensive local coverage.

[JURIST] With many predicting a retirement announcement from current Chief Justice William Rehnquist [CNN profile] when the US Supreme Court's current term ends June 27, advisors to President Bush are said to be concentrating on three possible replacements: Judge John Roberts of the US DC Circuit Court of Appeals [profile], Judge J. Micheal Luttig [Wikipedia profile] of the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and perhaps US Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales [DOJ profile]. While Roberts and Luttig are both seen as solidly conservative and therefore likely to prompt a confirmation showdown with Democrats, Gonzales is seen as more of a centrist on issues like abortion and affirmative action and could have an easier time being confirmed, although he himself ran into some Democratic opposition at his AG confirmation hearings because of his involvement as White House Counsel in the writing of memos that appeared to sanction torture of prisoners. A Gonzales nomination, however, might put the President at risk of alienating some of his conservative political base. The Washington Post has more.