[JURIST] The Indonesian Supreme Court held Saturday that the conviction of Abu Bakar Bashir [Wikipedia profile] was not made in error, upholding his 30-month sentence for conspiracy [JURIST report] in connection with the 2002 bombings in Bali [CNN special report]. Bashir is associated with Jemaah Islamiyah [CFR backgrounder], a group the US alleges has links to al-Qaeda. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Reaction to British Prime Minister Tony Blair's [official website] proposed anti-terrorism measures [JURIST report] was mixed Friday and Saturday, with opposition politicians and rights activists expressing concern over the civil liberties and immigration implications of the plan. The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Charles Kennedy, said on BBC Radio [Today interview audio] Saturday that there was "a lot that came out yesterday which is the first any of us have heard of some of these initiatives." The Liberal Democrat leader also suggested that his party might not support the initiatives [BBC report], threatening the fragile Parliamentary consensus now in place. Human rights organizations and Muslim advocacy groups flagged statements by Downing Street related to revisiting the British application of the European Convention on Human Rights [official text; Telegraph report]. Rights group Liberty UK released a statement saying "Mr. Blair says the rules of the game have changed, but public safety has never been a game. The fundamental values of a democracy cannot be changed because we are provoked by terrorists." Islamic Forum Europe [official website] also issued a statement of concern, especially after Blair announced his intention to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir [IOL report], a group that supports the creation of a single Islamic state in the Middle East, but condemns terror as a tool to achieve this goal. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice Friday refused a congressional request to turn over certain documents authored by US Supreme Court nominee John Roberts [Wikipedia profile] when he was deputy Solicitor General, saying that internal deliberations on the merits of cases are privileged. The DOJ did, however, agreed to turn over any documents reflecting Roberts' final position on cases. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website], the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee charged with overseeing hearings on Roberts' confirmation, called the decision to shield the internal documents "unfortunate". Read Sen. Leahy's statement on the need for these documents for Roberts' confirmation. In July President Bush nominated Roberts [JURIST report] to replace retiring Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Reuters has more. The Supreme Court Nomination Blog has details on Roberts as a nominee and a judge.

[JURIST] The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland [diocesan website] in California has agreed to pay $56 million to settle a series of lawsuits filed by former church members who claim they were sexually abused by priests [JURIST news archive]. The payout will settle 56 lawsuits, with nearly 750 civil lawsuits still pending against the Roman Catholic dioceses statewide. In 1999, the California Legislature passed a law [backgrounder] that delayed discovery statute of limitations for the commencement of civil actions brought by adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse, allowing many victims who would have been barred from bringing suit to file claims. AP has more.

[JURIST] Canadian Transport Minister Jean Lapierre announced [speech text] sweeping security changes to Canadian transportation security Friday, including the creation of an anti-terror "no-fly" list similar to that created in the US under the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001 [text]. Lapierre did not provide details on the proposed list, but did comment that it "will identify people who pose an immediate threat to security". Under current Canadian law, there are few measures in place to prevent potentially dangerous individuals from boarding any mode of public transportation. Last year a similar measure was delayed amid legal and financial concerns [JURIST report], including concern that any restrictions on air travel would violate the guarantee of free mobility under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [text]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari [BBC profile] met with several of the country's leading Shiite clerics in the city of Najaf Friday to discuss issues surrounding the Iraqi constitution. Jaafari said after a discussion with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani that the senior Shiite celeric "does not want to impose dictation on drafting the constitution, but according to my knowledge he hopes that Islam become the main source of legislation." The same general position was reiterated by fiery junior cleric Muqtada al-Sadr [EIN news archive], a stern opponent of US policy in Iraq, who also told reporters that all Iraqis should participate in the constitution-making process, although he said he himself would not do so while US troops remained in the country. AP has more.

[JURIST] A jury in Virginia Friday found that Daryl Renard Atkins [Street Law backgrounder] is not mentally retarded, and upheld his death penalty conviction. Atkins had been convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for the 1996 killing of Airman 1st Class Eric Nesbitt; he later appealed his conviction [certiorari petition] to the US Supreme Court, arguing that he was mentally retarded at the time of the murder and therefore did not posses the necessary culpability to be sentenced to death under Virginia law. Prosecutors argued that while Atkins' IQ test scores indicated low intelligence, several scores taken after the murder were above the range necessary to be considered mentally retarded. In 2002 the Supreme Court issued an opinio [text] abolishing the death penalty for the severely mentally retarded, but did not pass on Atkins' own mental state, leaving that determination to the state. Atkins' execution is scheduled for December. AP has more.