[JURIST] The US Supreme Court's Thursday ruling in Kelo v. New London [text] allowing local governments to expropriate private property for development [JURIST report] has sparked intense negative reaction from defenders of private property rights, with a number hailing this as a "dark day for American homeowners". David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union (ACU) [official website], called the ruling a "slap in the face" [press release] saying, "It is outrageous to think that the government can take away your home any time it wants to build a shopping mall." In an online chat [transcript] on the Washington Post website Carol DeGrasse, president of Property Rights of America, compared the ramifications of the high court's decision on middle class neighborhoods with the condemnations that ruined black communities during the 1950s and 60s.

The Institute for Justice [official website], a conservative public interest law firm, expects a strong battle over the issue [statements by the Institute for Justice and its clients] in the state supreme courts. The National Taxpayers Union (NTU) [official website], a non-partisan group that filed an amicus brief [PDF] in the case, stressed that that the implications go beyond affecting property owners to also burden taxpayers [press release].

Meanwhile, the National League of Cities (NLC) [official website] praised the decision, calling it a "victory for cities" [press release] and said eminent domain is "one of the most powerful tools city officials have to rejuvenate their neighborhoods."

University of Florida law professor Michael Allen Woolf, holder of the law school's local government chair, said late Thursday, however, that the wash of negative reaction may be unwarranted:

The only thing that was surprising about the decision was that Justice Sandra Day O?Connor wrote the dissent, supporting the homeowners. One of the reasons why the majority sided with the city of New London was that the Supreme Court, in a 1984 opinion written by Justice O?Connor herself, upheld a very broad-based use of the takings clause by the state of Hawaii, allowing property to be taken from one private party and transferred, upon payment of just compensation, to another private party.

Contrary to the horror stories spread by the supporters of the homeowners in New London, not all Americans? homes are at risk. In fact, in many states the state and local governments are restricted in their use of eminent domain power. For example, in several states, like Florida, only blighted property may be taken in cases such as this by the government. Also, it must be remembered that the United States Constitution guarantees all property owners just compensation when their property is taken. This is not a token payment, but fair market value.

Finally, the political alignments in this case are somewhat surprising. On the one hand, the five justices who refused to strike down the taking (Stevens, Breyer, Kennedy, Ginsburg, and Souter), that is, the justices who restrained themselves and allowed state and local officials to proceed, are not the most conservative members of the court. These moderate and left-left leaning judges respected states? rights, refusing to elevate federal law over local law. In the process, they ignored the pleas of homeowners and elevated the interests of the powerful Pfizer Corporation and its allies in government. That sounds like pro-business conservatism to me. On the other hand, the dissenters (O?Connor, Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas) attempted to play the role of judicial activists in this case and tried to use federal constitutional law to reverse the decisions of duly elected lawmakers, railing against "those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms." That sounds like good old-fashioned liberalism to me.

The bottom line is that, after this decision, the future of eminent domain law is in the hands of state and local elected and appointed officials. While the Michigan Supreme Court did recently reverse its previous position and rendered an opinion more in line with the Kelo dissent than the majority, we can expect that most of the moves for change will now be in state legislatures, not courtrooms. And, conservatives, moderates, and liberals alike can probably agree that that is the best place to make these socially and politically charged decisions.

[JURIST] Mexico's House [official website in Spanish] voted for an constiutional amendment Thursday that expunges the death penalty language from the country's present constitution [document in Spanish] by a margin of 412-0. The amendment calls for the current language to be replaced with verbiage that prohibits legal executions, mutilations, and forms of cruel and unusual punishment. While Mexico had not carried out a death penalty in the last 43 years and has regularly refused to hand over suspects to the US who faced a potential death sentence, the practice was still legal in military courts. Mexico recently launched a successful International Court of Justice case against the United States [JURIST report] for putting Mexican nationals on US death row without giving them access to consular assistance. The amendment, which was passed by the Mexican Senate [official website] in March, now must go before the nation's 31 states for approval, but significant opposition is not anticipated. AP has more.

[JURIST] The California Supreme Court [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Thursday that the membership configuration of the California Coastal Commission's [official website] does not violate the separation of powers clause of the state's constitution. Four of the commissioners are appointed by the governor while the remaining eight are selected by the state legislature. The commission, created in 1972 and locked in as a permanent body by the California Coastal Act [text] of 1976, regulates coastal development, conservation, and public access [CCC responsibilities backgrounder]. Opponents of the commission are among the state's real estate developers and waterfront property owners who say the group's decisions are too environmentally-based and hinders private property rights. The case before the state's high court arose when the commission ordered the Marine Forests Society [official website] to stop constructing a Newport Beach underwater reef. AP has more.

[JURIST] US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld [official profile] told the Senate Armed Services Committee [official website] in a heated hearing [witness list] on Iraq Thursday that a delay in Iraq's adoption of a constitution would be "an enormous disservice" while "coalition people are being killed. Iraqis are being killed." Rumsfeld did not specify the potential repercussions of a delay, but said, "To the extent there were, for whatever reason, a delay in moving forward with drafting a constitution or a referendum on the constitution or holding the elections, it would retard the entire process." Senator Carl Levin [official website], the committee's ranking Democrat, noted that the approved timetable under the interim Iraqi constitution gives the country's National Assembly only until August 15 to draft a constitution with but one six-month extension possible. Earlier this month Iraq asked for UN assistance [JURIST report] in drafting the charter to avoid potential delays. Read Levin's hearing statement. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Leading Thursday's corporations and securities law news, Morgan Stanley [corporate website] has settled with stumbling Italian dairy giant Parmalat [corporate website]. Parmalat sued Morgan Stanley in February to recoup money Parmalat gave to Morgan Stanley shortly before the food maker's bankruptcy. Parmalat's press release is available. Reuters has more.

In other corporations and securities law news...

• UK telecom provider BT [corporate website] has settled with British telecom regulator Ofcom [official website]. Ofcom and BT's rivals have accused BT of unfair business practices and owning a monopoly. As part of the settlement, BT has promised to offer other UK telecom operators greater access to its networks. Ofcom had threatened to split BT into separate wholesale and retail divisions. In BT's press release the company "commits to a new era of regulation." Ofcom's press release also praised the agreement as the beginning of a new regulatory approach. AP has more.
  
  
• A legal foundation in North Carolina has sued to have the state's tax incentives for Dell [corporate website] declared unconstitutional. The North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law [foundation website] charges that the state illegally gave Dell over $200 million in tax-breaks and other incentives to lure the corporation to North Carolina. The NCICL has issued a press release outlining its complaint and provides additional material on the litigation. AP has more.
  
  
• The US Department of Justice [official website] has approved America West's [corporate website] acquisition of US Airways [corporate website]. Federal regulators determined that the move would not be anti-competitive and would improve choice and efficiency. America West's press release notes that the move still must be approved by shareholders and the SEC, among others. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Thursday's states brief, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a 4-3 decision that forgetting to register for Megan's Law [ CA Attorney General website] because of stress is an insufficient excuse. The Supreme Court overturned the decision of the Court of Appeals, ruling that forgetting is only a valid excuse when the sex offender suffers from an "involuntary condition" such as amnesia or Alzheimer's disease. In the opinion [PDF text], Justice Janice Rogers Brown, recently elevated to the federal appeals bench, wrote, "It is simply not enough for a defendant to assert a selective impairment that conveniently affects his memory as to registering, but otherwise leaves him largely functional." Joseph Sorden showed up to register two weeks late, saying he had forgotten to register earlier because he was suffering from depression. AP has more.

In other state legal news ...

• The Supreme Court of New Jersey ruled Thursday in a unanimous decision, that for someone to be convicted of refusing to take a breathalyzer test [NJ Attorney General guidelines, PDF] the prosecution must prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The standard of proof had previously been by a preponderance of the evidence. In its decision [PDF] the court said that a change in the standard was needed because the penalties for an accused drunk driver refusing to take a breathalyzer test have substantially increased. A first-time offense carries with it a seven month to one year driver license suspension. The higher standard of proof will apply to future and present cases, including those presently on appeal. AP has more.
  
  
• Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller [official website] has said that the state will use the $1.7 million it received in the Microsoft settlement to buy state patrol vehicles, upgrade its DNA lab and improve the state's sex-offender registry website. In a press release [text], Miller said "The Legislature and the Governor get credit for using this money to help meet important law enforcement needs in the state." Under a 2002 settlement agreement of an antitrust case by Miller and other attorney general's, Microsoft agreed to pay the states $28.6 million dollars. Iowa received approximately $2 million. Iowa's Quad-City Times has local coverage.

[JURIST] Leading Thursday's international brief, in an immense demonstration of cooperation, over 200 African and international NGOs have made a collective appeal to the United Nations and the African Union [official website] to force Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe [Wikipedia profile] and the Zimbabwean government [official website] to cease "Operation Restore Order", the program of systematic evictions and arrests of illegal squatters and merchants that has resulted in over 30,000 arrests and an unknown number of homeless individuals, with estimates ranging from 300,000 to closer to one million being completely without shelter. The petition, spearheaded by Amnesty International [advocacy website] among other leading NGOs, calls on the UN to take immediate action to cease the evictions, now moving into rural areas, instead of waiting to hear from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's recently appointed special envoy [JURIST report]. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Zimbabwe [JURIST news archive]. Read Amnesty International's press release. ZimOnline has local coverage.

In related news, the Zimbabwe government has authorized Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo and Agriculture Minister Joseph Made to approach national and international NGOs for assistance in caring for those left homeless by "Operation Restore Order" and the destruction of hundreds of thousands of homes. The decision is a reversal of a previous refusal [JURIST report] to allow NGOs to help in aid efforts and is seen as highly embarrassing for President Mugabe and the ruling Zanu PF party [official website]. Chombo and Made have already begun speaking to NGO representatives, and some, such as the Red Cross and Christian Care, have already sent workers in to begin aiding families in the affected zones. The first official complaints of deaths caused directly by police action [ZimOnline report] in razing 'illegal' housing were filed Thursday, as reports indicated that three children had been killed, two by direct police orders to send bulldozers into buildings that had children still sleeping inside. The exact ages of the children have not been reported, but one was a toddler and one was a high school student. Zimbabwean police deny direct responsibility and blame the parents of the children instead for failing to evacuate their condemned building fast enough. ZimOnline has local coverage

In other international legal news ...

• The Nepali government was caught lying to the Nepal Supreme Court Thursday, after it declared that Nawaraj Subedi, Secretary General of the Jana Morcha Nepal political party had not been rearrested following a court ordered release last week. Sudeep Pathak, a member of the Nepal National Human Rights Committee [official website], told the Supreme Court that, despite government assurance that they were not detaining Subedi, a team from the NHRC had met with Subedi in the district police office in Lalitpur on Thursday, one day after the government's testimony that Subedi was not in there custody. The government responded that Subedi had been detained and not re-arrested. The government has had a revolving door arrest policy with many outspoken opponents to the declaration of a state of emergency [JURIST report] by King Gyanendra [official profile] rearrested after being released them pursuant to court order. Subedi was rearrested within hours of his release [Kantipur Online report] following last week's Supreme Court-ordered release. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Nepal [JURIST news archive]. Kantipur Online has local coverage.
  
  
• The UN General Assembly [official website] met Wednesday and approved a $3.2 billion (USD) budget for UN peacekeeping operations [official website], the largest budget ever granted peacekeeping in UN history. The General Assembly included with its approval a call for heightened scrutiny of fiscal allocations of peacekeeping funds, more efficiency in management departments, and quicker implementation of budgetary changes. The Assembly also acknowledged the work of the UN peacekeeping forces and warned that more care was needed in deploying those forces, as international demand for UN interventions was at an unprecedented high. Read the official UN press release. The UN News Centre has local coverage.

[JURIST] White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said [press briefing transcript] Thurday that President Bush was willing to consult to a degree with Senate Democrats if a vacancy in the Supreme Court should occur. With widespread speculation of at least one opening on the court after this term, other White House officials nonethless noted that Bush will stick to his goal of nominating a conservative who will not "legislate from the bench." Democrats in the US Senate sent a letter to Bush Thursday [Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid statement] urging him to consult with members of both parties prior to a Supreme Court nomination. The current Supreme Court term ends next week and Chief Justice William Rehnquist is generally expected to step down. The Washington Post has more.

[JURIST] City officials in Jerusalem said Thursday that they will ban the annual gay pride parade planned for the city next week to prevent offending Jerusalem's conservative religious communities. Parade organizers sought an intervention from the Israeli Supreme Court [official website] claiming that the ban ammounted to a violation of freedom of expression. A similar ban put in place recently in Warsaw resulted in violence [JURIST report] earlier this month when protestors threw eggs and placed barricades in front of those who chose to ignore the ban and march anyway. Three previous parades have passed without much incident [2002 Jerusalem Post report] in Jerusalem, the population of which is mostly made up of conservative Orthodox Jews, Muslims, and Christian Palestinians. AP has more.

[JURIST] The national prosecutor's office in the Netherlands announced Thursday that three people have been arrested as suspected members of a terrorist organization. The two women and one man, all in their early 20s, are alleged members of Hofstadgroep, the group thought to be responsible for the shocking murder last year of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh [BBC report]. The three suspects are due in court Friday in Rotterdam, when a judge will decide whether police can continue to detain them without the benefit of the proposed new terror laws [JURIST report] in the Netherlands. The arrest brings the number of Hofstadgroep members in custody to 13. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The Kyrgyz prosecutor general's office said Thursday that Kyrgyzstan plans to deport a group of 29 Uzbek asylum seekers despite UN denunciation [JURIST report; UN press release] of four earlier deportations over the possibility that the returned individuals may face torture in Uzbekistan. A top Kyrgyz prosecutor referred to the refugees as "criminals" and said "they need to be punished, their place is in prison." Hundreds of Uzbeks fled to Kyrgyzstan in May after government troops opened fire on protestors, reportedly killing hundreds [JURIST report] in the city of Andijan. The 29 asylum seekers are expected to be turned over to the Uzbek government within a week. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] A group of 50 Sunni Muslim religious, political, and tribal leaders Thursday endorsed a list of 15 men to sit on a special committee to help draft Iraq's new constitution [JURIST news archive]. The announcement ends any debate over whether improperly endorsed appointments [JURIST report] should be deemed invalid. The 15 men, whose appointment was anticipated by a Sunni spokesman [JURIST report] Wednesday after agreement with Shiite and Kurd leaders, will be joined by a single representative for the small Sabian community [Wikipedia backgrounder] and the 16-person group will work with the current 55-member body composed of elected legislators. The unconventional set-up [JURIST report] was a result of a general Sunni boycott of the January elections leaving them with a disproportionately small number of representatives. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Food and Drug Administration [official website] has warned Texas Governor Rick Perry [official website] that a law he signed requiring the Texas State Board of Pharmacy [official website] to provide information about Canadian pharmacies may violate federal law [FDA letter to Perry]. The agency would inspect up to 10 Canadian pharmacies and allow consumers to decide which ones were safe options to purchase lower-cost drugs from. Nine other states operate similar websites [JURIST report], and the FDA has issued similar warnings [JURIST report] about all of them, including earlier this week to Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn [AP report]. The FDA prohibits importing drugs [official website] because it cannot guarantee their safety. A US industry coalition has also introduced a website lobbying against importing drugs. The Houston Chronicle has more.

[JURIST] Military interrogators at Guantanamo [JURIST news archive] had access to detainees' medical records until early 2003 and possibly later, and exploited information from the records during questioning, according to a new article in the New England Journal of Medicine [PDF full text]. The authors, Gregg Bloche of Georgetown University law school and Jonathan Marksof of London's Matrix Chambers, known for its human rights work, cite a policy statement from US Southern Command that such information is not privileged and that caregivers are required to provide information upon request. Such policies are not in effect at other US prisons, either civilian or military. Additional Protocol 1 of the Geneva Conventions also provides that medical personnel "shall not be compelled to perform acts or to carry out work contrary to the rules of medical ethics." AFP has more.

[JURIST] Following the March Supreme Court ruling [JURIST report] that juveniles may not be sentenced to death, Texas Governor Rick Perry [official website] has commuted the sentences [official press release] of 28 offenders to life in prison. They will be eligible for parole after 40 years. Twelve other US states have juveniles on death row [advocacy website]. The Houston Chronicle has local coverage.

[JURIST] Iraqi deputy prime minister Ahmad Chalabi [Wikipedia profile; JURIST news archive] said on Thursday that the trial of Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] will begin within 90 days, before the end of September 2005. The government had previously stated that they wanted the trial to begin before the constitutional referendum [JURIST report] scheduled for October 15. On Tuesday, Iraq's justice minister accused the US of stalling the trial [JURIST report]. Saddam's defense team meanwhile continues to object to the proceeding, saying that preliminary stages required by the governing statute [text] of the Iraqi Special Tribunal [official website] had not been completed, and that Hussein is protected from charges by sovereign immunity. AKI has more.

[JURIST] ABC News is reporting that ex-KKK member Edgar Ray Killen [JURIST news archive], now 80, has been sentenced to the maximum 60 years in prison for manslaughter in connection with the 1964 killings of three civil rights workers. Killen was found to have organized a group to kidnap, assault, and shoot the three young men. He was taken to state prison where his condition will be evaluated before he is placed in solitary confinement according to Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood [official website]. Killen's attorney said he will appeal the decision. AP has more. CBS-TV 12 in Jackson provides recorded video of the sentencing.

[JURIST] Following the Supreme Court's early June decision that Congress can criminalize the use of marijuana with a doctor's permission [JURIST report], federal agents executed search warrants and made arrests on Wednesday in raids on medical marijuana providers in northern California. Almost 25 different locations were searched, and in Sacramento a doctor and her husband were arrested after being indicted for marijuana distribution [AP report]. The San Francisco Police Department said they were not part of the operation [press release], but have complained in the past that some medical marijuana clubs were fronts for larger drug organizations. They did not specify if any of the clubs targeted by the federal authorities were under larger suspicion. The New York Times has more.

[JURIST] The Tokyo High Court [official site in English] overturned a 2001 Tokyo District Court ruling on Thursday that awarded compensation to the family of a Chinese man who was forcibly brought to Japan as a laborer during World War II. The lower court originally ordered compensation not for labor but because the man hid in the mountains of Hokkaido for 13 years after the war had ended. The ruling was overturned [Kyodo News report] on the grounds that there was no duty to find or rescue him, and there was no agreement on redress between the two nations. The Japanese government holds that individual claims for compensation were settled by a 1972 diplomatic agreement. A similar Japanese ruling in April that victims of atrocities in occupied China were not entitled to compensation [JURIST report] strained relations between the two countries. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Thursday in Kelo v. New London [Duke Law backgrounder] that a local government authority can expropriate private property - land, homes and businesses - for private redevelopment that confers economic benefits on the community such as more jobs and tax revenue so long as it is not just a private use of the property for private benefit. The City of New London Connecticut had authorized expropriation of properties to accommodate a development plan for its Fort Trumbull area which included condominiums, hotels, and a conference center, as well as a new Pfizer pharmaceutical plant. Homeowners had objected, insisting that legal expropriation for public use under the Fifth Amendment was limited to clear public purposes such as roads, school, or renewal of urban blight. Read the opinion [via Cornell LII]. AP has more.

In other rulings Thursday...

• the Court held 6-3 in Halbert v. Michigan [Duke Law backgrounder] that a Michigan state statute that refused counsel to indigent defendants pleading guilty to a crime but later seeking leave to appeal is unconstitutional. Read the opinion [via Cornell LII].
  
  
• in Mayle v. Felix [Duke Law backgrounder], the Court upheld the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and ruled 7-2 that an amended habeas petition that makes a new claim on different facts is still subject to a one-year filing deadline. Read the opinion [via Cornell LII].
  
  
• in Orff v. U.S [Duke Law backgrounder], a unanimous Court, again upholding the Ninth Circuit, held that the doctrine of soverign immunity rendered the US government immune from a suit by farmers who claimed that the US Bureau of Reclamation had breached a contract to deliver water to their district. Read the opinion [via Cornell LII].
  
  
• in the consolidated cases of Exxon Corp. v. Allapattah Services and Ortega v. Star-Kist Foods [Duke Law backgrounder] a sharply divided court ruled 5-4 that a rule requiring a federal court claim to be worth $75,000 is satisfied where one party has that much at stake, even when other parties to a claim fo not. Read the opinion [via Cornell LII].
  
  
• in the habeas procedure case of Gonzalez v. Crosby [Duke Law backgrounder], the Court ruled 7-2 that a seeking to challenge a District Court ruling on the statute of limitations for filing habeas petitions can be decided by a District Court without a Circuit Court's permission. Read the opinion [via Cornell LII].

[JURIST] US lawmakers Wednesday called on the White House to encourage expansion of human rights and religious freedoms in Vietnam as Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai [Wikipedia profile] continued his landmark visit to the US, the first by a Vietnamese head of government since the end of the Vietnam War 30 years ago. The meetings were largely about trade and Vietnam's possible admission to the World Trade Organization, and some US lawmakers want any trade agreements or concessions to be closely linked to reform. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) [official website] said there are "serious issues" in Vietnam, and Representative Ed Royce (R-CA) [official website] said "there is a lack of freedom and a lack of prosperity" in Vietnam. A bill has been introduced in the House that would restrict aid to Vietnam unless certain human-rights conditions are met. President Bush has promised a visit to Vietnam next year. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The New York Senate on Wednesday approved a bill which would provide for over-the-counter sales of emergency contraceptives. The current law requires a physician's visit, which State Sen. Nicholas Spano (R-Westchester) [official site], the bill's sponsor, said involves "frequent difficulties". Similar measures had passed New York's Assembly three years in a row, but this was the first time the Senate approved it, by a 34-27 party line vote. A spokesman for Governor George Pataki had no comment on whether the bill would be signed or vetoed, citing the need to review specifics first. AP has more. Morning-after pills have recently become politically and legally contentious, becoming a proxy for the more general abortion debate. Earlier this month Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle threatened to veto [JURIST report] a bill that would ban the emergency contraceptive pill from Wisconsin college campuses; in Washington, House Democrats have introduced a bill that would require [JURIST report] pharmacists to fill prescriptions for the pill.

[JURIST] A report [text, PDF] released Wednesday by the Democratic National Committee [party website] found problems during the voting process in Ohio during the November 2004 election, but also found no evidence of fraud. A large number of complaints were made about long lines, intimidation, and misfunctioning machines; these prompted various legal actions [JURIST news archive] but those ultimately went nowhere. DNC chairman Howard Dean said "The purpose of this study was not to challenge the results of the election," but rather to bring about change in the voting process, such as new machines and different rules for absentee ballots. The New York Times has more.

[JURIST] Manfred Nowak [ICJ profile], the UN special investigator on torture, complained Thursday that the US was stalling on his request to visit detainees at Guantanamo [JURIST news archive]. A US spokeswoman denied any delay, however, and put the lack of response to the mid-April request down to the request review process, which involves the White House, Congress, and the courts. So far, only the International Committee of the Red Cross has been allowed to visit the prison [JURIST report]. Allegations of abuse in their report to the US government were leaked, but the Red Cross would not confirm or deny them. UN human rights investigators have been trying to visit Guantanamo since 2002. The UN has issued this statement on the visitation delay. AP has more.

[JURIST] Iran's official news agency reported on Thursday that at least 26 people, including a military figure, have been arrested for suspected election violations commited during last week's first round of presidential voting. The close voting required a partial recount [JURIST report] and raised immediate allegations of fraud [JURIST report], an issue which is still a concern in Friday's runoff [JURIST report] between former prime minister Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and conservative Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran's armed forces have denied any wrongdoing, which leaves the Revolutionary Guards or the paramilitary "basiji" vigilantes as possible suspects. Both groups are strong supporters of Ahmadinejad, who some say benefitted from strong-arm tactics, multiple votes, and other illegal acts. AP has more.