[JURIST] Former WorldCom [JURIST news archive] accounting director Buford Yates was sentenced to a year and a day in prison on Tuesday for his role in the company's billion-dollar business fraud. In 2002 Yates pleaded guilty [USA Today report] in Manhattan Federal Court to conspiracy and securities fraud charges for his part in a scheme to defraud investors by falsifying WorldCom's financial condition. Yates [litigation settlement information], who will begin serving his sentence on Oct. 10, was also fined $5,000 and given three years probation. The judge limited Yates' sentence because of the "substantial assistance" and "cooperation" he gave prosecutors in this case. WorldCom, which now operates as MCI Inc., went bankrupt in July 2002 due largely to its fraudulent [CBS report] activities. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A three-judge panel of the US Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals [official website] in Atlanta overturned the convictions and sentences of five accused Cuban spies [advocacy website] Tuesday, ruling [PDF opinion] that their trial in Miami was biased due to community prejudice and extensive media coverage. Ringleader Gerardo Hernandez's murder conspiracy conviction was also overturned. Hernandez was convicted for his role in the deaths of four Cuban exiles whose plane was shot down by Cuban MiGs in international airspace in 1996. The judges blamed prosecutors for making inflammatory remarks, which included saying jurors would be abandoning their community if they acquitted the spies sent to "destroy the United States." The five were convicted in June 2001 of serving as unregistered agents of a foreign government, and Hernandez and two others were also convicted of espionage conspiracy. In July the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention similarly condemned the 2001 conviction [JURIST report]. While all five admit being Cuban agents they said that they were spying on "terrorist" exile groups opposed to Castro, not on the United States. A new trial has been ordered. AP has more.

[JURIST] New Saudi King Abdullah [Wikipedia profile; JURIST report] has pardoned four activists jailed after criticizing the strict religious environment and the slow pace of democratic reform in Saudi Arabia. In June, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had called for the release [JURIST report] of Ali al-Demaini, Abdullah al-Hamed and Matruk al-Faleh, but had been rebuffed. University Professor Saeed bin Mubarak Al-Zaeer, who was detained [JURIST report] last year for terrorist comments after he compared Osama bin Laden's attacks on Western civilians to US attacks that have killed Iraqi civilians and Israeli attacks that have killed Palestinian civilians, was also released. The four activists released Monday were the last of 13 people arrested [AP report] in March 2004 after a letter demanding political, economic and social reforms was sent to the King. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Tuesday's states brief, the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today refused to block the implementation [PDF text] of Arizona's Proposition 200 [Yes campaign website; JURIST report], which denies some state public benefits to illegal immigrants and makes it a crime for public employees to fail to report undocumented immigrants who seek benefits outlined in the legislation. The panel said the plaintiffs, who were seeking a preliminary injunction until a trial is held to determine if the law's benefit prohibition is constitutional, had not demonstrated they were hurt by the law's implementation or charged or specifically threatened with prosecution. In a separate state court action, a trial judge's dismissal of a challenge to Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard's opinion [JURIST report] that the law's benefit provision applies to a small number of welfare programs is also being appealed. AP has more.

In other state legal news ...

• A Wisconsin court of appeals ruled [PDF text] Tuesday that a private high school is not eligible to participate in the publicly funded school voucher program for poor Milwaukee students because while the school's green space and parking lot are located in Milwaukee, the school buildings are located in a suburb. The court found that the state's Department of Public Instruction [official website] was correct in denying the school's application because state law clearly limits the program to schools in Milwaukee. In dissent, Judge Ralph Fine wrote, "In my view, a school is where it is, and if it straddles two or more municipalities, it is 'located' in each of them." The high school has not decided whether to appeal the decision or renew lobbying efforts for a state law allowing it to join the program. AP has more.
  
  
• The California Supreme Court has ruled [PDF text] that state regulators may intervene when county governments approve reclamation plans for surface mines that do not meet state standards. Surface mines in California are normally regulated by county government as part of their supervision of local land use, but the court ruled that the state may step in because if a county-approved plan fails to meet state reclamation standards, "accomplishment of (the law's) goal of protecting heath and safety, as well as the environment, is at risk." The ruling reinstates a lawsuit filed by the California Department of Conservation [official website] to shut down two sand and gravel quarries in El Dorado County, alleging that the county-approved reclamation plans fail to meet state standards. The San Francisco Chronicle has local coverage.
  
  
• A New Jersey Superior Court judge has ordered [PDF text] the New Jersey Education Department [official website] to formulate a plan to carry out court-ordered reforms in 31 of the state's poorest urban school districts. The ruling requires the Department to address the "recruitment, retention, professional development and effective deployment" of its staff and to include annual goals and objectives. The Education Law Center sued the state for its failure to develop a management plant for the next two years, and after the ruling an attorney for the Education Law Center [Education Law Center news release] said, "A plan and budget is essential for building public confidence and engaging stakeholders in the historic effort to improve education in our high poverty urban schools." In 1997 and 1998, the state Supreme Court ruled students in the 31 poorest urban school districts should receive a better education. AP has more.

[JURIST] Britain's Home Office [official website] said Tuesday that the UK government is considering a move to special judge-only courts hearing in-camera evidence argued by security-cleared "special advocates" after reports surfaced that secret pre-trial terror hearings could be in the works. The Home Office said that no specific model was being examined, but a Guardian report claims that the judges in such courts would likely review evidence without a jury to decide how long a suspect should be detained without charge. Prime Minister Tony Blair last week said the government was contemplating new court procedures [JURIST report; statement text] as part of a number of new proposals put forth to combat Islamic extremism. Responding to the Home Office confirmation, Shami Chakrabarti, the Director of Liberty UK said Tuesday :

...the thought of secret hearings where once again the accused will never hear the case against them fills me with dread. We need to move away from the shadowy world of secret suspicions and return to charges, evidence and proof. The involvement of a Judge cannot sanitise an unfair process.

[JURIST] In addition to the deals currently being finalized [JURIST report] between the United States and the governments of Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, the US is negotiating with 10 more Muslim countries to return their citizens held at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], the Washington Post reported Tuesday. The goal of the plan is to expedite detainee transfers and give home countries a greater role in the prosecution of alleged terrorists. Among the countries involved are Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait and Morocco; according to the State Department, at least 19 prisoners from these countries are currently awaiting transferral. The two most important factors on the US side of negotiations are the humane treatment of detainees in their home countries and security guarantees ensuring that those handed over are unable to escape detention. The Washington Post has more.

[JURIST] In a clash of opposing viewpoints, a group of strongly conservative Iraqi women Tuesday confronted a sit-in by their liberal counterparts in Baghdad's Firdous Square as the August 15 deadline for the country's constitution nears. The liberal secularists were passing out leaflets and calling on UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan [official website] and others to press for female political rights and representation in the new Iraqi constitution [JURIST news archive]. They were met by the conservative group, who were waving banners and advocating a constitution that strictly adheres to Islamic law. Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafaari has promised to include the rights of women in new charter and US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld [official profile] has warned Iraq against limiting women rights [JURIST report]. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The Environmental Protection Agency [official website] Tuesday proposed new radiation exposure limits [EPA backgrounder] for the Yucca Mountain waste dump project [official website] with the goal of ensuring a safe public site for hundreds of thousands of years. The proposal [EPA press release] is intended to satisfy a July 2004 court decision [JURIST report] that rejected the EPA's plans to protect against radiation for 10,000 years as inconsistent with evidence from the National Academy of Sciences [official website]. The new proposal will be two-tier standard: one for a span of up to 10,000 years as previously put forward and another standard for a length of time that could approach 1 million years. The Bush Administration had hoped the underground site which will house highly radioactive spent reactor fuel would open by 2010, but an opening in 2012 or later now seems more likely. AP has more.

[JURIST] US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [official profile] addressed lawyers attending the annual meeting of the American Bar Association [group website] Monday, arguing for support of several controversial legal issues on the Bush administration's agenda. Gonzales urged the group to endorse Supreme Court nominee John Roberts as strongly as it had when Bush named him to a federal appeals court by giving him the top rating of "well-qualified." He also asked for the ABA's backing in the war on terror, though the group has pushed for probes into alleged torture incidents [JURIST report] in the past. The group has also come out against some aspects of the Patriot Act [JURIST news archive], including access to library and medical records, but Gonzales argued that these were important investigative tools that would not be misused by the government. Read the full text of Gonzales' speech. Tuesday's Chicago Sun-Times has more.

[JURIST] A key suspect believed to be connected to the abduction and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl [Wikipedia profile] was brought before a civil court Tuesday in the city of Karachi, Pakistan. Mohammad Hashim Qadir was held in connection with a separate case, involving the killing of a man on June 5, though police said he would also be charged for his alleged role in the Pearl case. He is believed to have coordinated the January 2002 meeting between Pearl and his kidnappers. British-born Islamic militant Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh [Wikipedia profile] was sentenced to death for kidnapping and murdering Pearl [JURIST report] in July 2002 and three co-conspirators were sentenced to life in prison. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The US State Department said Monday that it may deny a visa application [press briefing transcript] by new Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [BBC profile; official website, in Farsi] due to allegations that he was part of the 1979 hostage crisis [JURIST report]. Both a former agent [JURIST report] and Ahmadinejad himself [JURIST report] have denied the accusations, and the White House admits it has no proof [JURIST report] linking him to the crisis. A head of state has never previously been denied entry to the US for UN business; even longtime foe Fidel Castro has appeared before the body. Yasser Arafat was denied entry but because he was not representing a sovereign nation, the US Headquarters Agreement [text], which requires the US to allow officials of member states to travel to the UN for business, did not apply. The State Department says that it is reviewing Ahmadinejad's visa application, "bearing in mind our responsibilities under the Headquarters Agreement." Aljazeera has more.

[JURIST] Attorneys for Wal-Mart have asked a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] to dismiss a class action lawsuit that claims as many as 1.6 million female employees were discriminated against. A district judge originally certified the class [JURIST report] last year, but Wal-Mart told the federal appeals court Monday that the charges raised by the six lead plaintiffs [plaintiffs' website] are not typical or common of the class [Reuters report]. Wal-Mart is also objecting to the size of the class certified, which they say is the largest in US history and would violate its due process rights. Wal-Mart says that its individual stores operate independently and should thus be sued as such; plaintiffs' lawyers called that impractical. The district court rejected their claim that the class size was "impractical on its face" and approved a statistical formula for paying damages if discrimination is proven. AP has more.

[JURIST] After Iran announced an end to negotiations and a resumption of its nuclear program [Washington Post report] on Monday, the International Atomic Energy Agency [official website] held an emergency meeting [IAEA news release] Tuesday in Vienna to discuss the situation and before the meeting, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei urged that negotiations be continued [statement transcript]. European Union negotiators have been working with Iran [JURIST report] to ensure that the program is used peacefully and Russia has called for Iran to stop uranium conversion immediately [AFX report], saying the dispute can still be resolved. No UN seals at Iran's nuclear facility in Isfahan have been broken yet, but the seals will need to be removed eventually for the plant to be fully operational. Iranian nuclear officials have said that they will wait until security cameras can be installed [Reuters report] by the IAEA in mothballed parts of the facility, which should happen by Wednesday. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur on Torture [official website] Manfred Nowak said Tuesday that British Prime Minister Tony Blair's plan to deport Islamic extremists [JURIST report] is likely to result in violations of international human rights law. While such laws prohibit Britain from deporting people to a country where they may face torture or death, Blair said he planned to obtain pledges from several countries in the Middle East, as he already has with Jordan, stating they would not subject the deportee to such treatment. Talks are underway with Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt to obtain their promises as well, but Nowak argues that diplomatic assurances would provide insufficient protection to the deportees in countries that systematically use torture. Blair has also stated he would consider amending the 1998 Human Rights Act, which integrates the European Convention on Human Rights [text] into British law, in order to ease deportations. AP has more.

[JURIST] Jailed Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji [Wikipedia profile; advocacy website] has ended his eight-week hunger strike in response to concerns of family and friends for his deteriorating health, a spokesman for Iran's judiciary said Tuesday. Ganji has been imprisoned since April 2000 and was sentenced to six years in prison in 2001 for "collecting confidential information harmful to national security and spreading propaganda against the Islamic system" after he wrote stories linking officials to the murder of political dissidents. He initiated the hunger strike to persuade the judiciary to grant him unconditional release, a demand supported by the US, EU and human rights groups. The White House issued a statement [text] in July calling for Ganji's release, saying that his calls for freedom in Iran deserve to be heard. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A former UN official pleaded guilty [US DOJ press release, PDF] Monday to US charges that he accepted close to $1 million in bribes from UN contractors in the Oil-for-Food scandal [JURIST news archive]. Alexander Yakovlev, a procurement officer and the first UN official to face criminal charges, pleaded guilty to accepting and soliciting bribes, wire fraud, and money laundering after having his diplomatic immunity stripped [Kommersant report] by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Yakovlev resigned in June in response to separate allegations that he helped his son get a job with a company working with the UN. AP has more.

[JURIST] Palestinian Chief Justice Zuhair Sourani has said he is retracting his Saturday resignation [JURIST report] in reaction to promises made by President Mahmoud Abbas to increase protection of Palestinian courts and judges. Lawyers and judges shut down the Palestinian legal system Saturday, protesting against recent attacks on senior legal officials including a bomb attack against the homes of the Chief Justice and Attorney General Hussein Abu 'Aassi. Both attacks damaged property, but did not result in casualties. Aljazeera has more.

[JURIST] Omar Bakri Mohammed, one of the Muslim clerics being investigated by British authorities for remarks supporting the London bombers [JURIST report], left the country on Saturday and is now in Lebanon. Mohammed reportedly praised insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan while vowing not to inform authorities if he learned any information about plans for future terrorist attacks. British authorities have been considering charging him with treason for the statements, but one government official said treason [Wikipedia backgrounder] charges were unlikely as the law is "very specific" and other charges would be "more appropriate". From London, the Independent has local coverage.

11:40 AM ET - Bakri said Tuesday that he plans to return to Britain within four to six weeks. He told the BBC: "I am going to return back, unless the government say we are not welcome, because my family is in the UK. I do not think I will have any problem returning," he said. AP has more.

[JURIST] Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website], chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told US Supreme Court nominee John Roberts in a letter Monday that he intends to question him at upcoming confirmation hearings on the extent of Congress's power, specifically citing two recent cases where the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had overstepped its bounds. In US v. Lopez (1995) [opinion] and US v. Morrison (2000) [opinion], the Court rejected Congress' assertion that the Commerce Clause [Wikipedia backgrounder] allowed them to regulate gun possession near schools or enact a civil remedy for gender-based violence, respectively. Democrats say the letter should serve as an open door for both sides to question Roberts about specific cases. AP has more.

3:31 PM ET - The American Constitution Society has now posted the text of Senator Specter's letter to Roberts. After detailing what Specter calls "the Court's denigrating and, really, disrespectful statements about Congress' competence" in the Lopez and Morrison decisions, Specter asks four specific questions of Roberts that will be asked at the confirmation hearing:

(1) Is there any real justification for the Court's denigrating Congress' "method of reasoning" in our constitutional structure of separation of power where the elected Congress has the authority to decide public policy on issues such as gender-based violence effecting interstate commerce?"

(2) Is there any possible basis for the Court's characterization of "uniquely judicial competence" implicitly criticizing a lesser quality of Congressional competence?

(3) Do you agree with Justice Harlan's jurisprudence concerning legislation on the "rational basis" test as embraced by the dissent contrasted with the majority opinion?

(4) What is your thinking on the jurisprudence of U.S. v. Lopez and U.S. v. Morrison which overturned almost 60 years of Congress' power under the Commerce Clause?

[JURIST] Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri [Human Rights First profile], an Illinois student from Qatar, filed suit in the US District Court for the District of South Carolina Monday accusing his military jailers of violating his human rights [Human Rights Watch press release] during his two years of detention at the Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, South Carolina. The complaint asks the court to prevent further "cruel, inhumane and/or degrading treatment," claiming jailers subjected al-Marri to inhumane treatment, abuse of the Koran, and threats to his family. Al-Marri entered the US on a student visa September 10, 2001, was arrested by the FBI in December 2001 and charged in May 2003 with credit card fraud and lying to the FBI [US Attorney's Office press release; complaint]. In June 2003, however, President Bush declared him an enemy combatant [CNN report] and had him removed to the Charleston facility. Noting al-Marri's legal entry into the country, his attorney stated that "if the government can detain al-Marri indefinitely without charges and treat him like this, they can detain any of the approximately 20 million non-citizens who are in this country legally." The Department of Defense responded to the suit, stating

This is a legal matter that will be handled through legal channels, and we will not comment on specific allegations. However, allegations of this nature have been proven false in the past, and we know that enemy combatants have been trained to make sensational claims about their detention if captured.

[JURIST] After a sandstorm got in the way [JURIST report] of talks yesterday, Iraqi leaders met again on Tuesday to try and iron out their last remaining differences in order to submit a constitution by the August 15 deadline. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani [Wikipedia profile] is hosting the group, which is deadlocked over issues such as the role of Islam and federalism [JURIST report] in the new government. Groups of protestors argued about how strong a role Islamic law should play [Reuters report] in central Baghdad on Tuesday and the US has joined calls to reject strict application of laws that would limit women's rights. The debate over the role of federalism has also been a contentious issue, with Kurds demanding a federalist system to maintain their autonomy. Many Sunni Arabs oppose federalism, saying it will eventually lead to division in Iraq. One Sunni leader said Tuesday that federalism would have "grave consequences" and called for that issue to be handled by the new parliament instead. AP has more.

[JURIST] Microsoft announced a $7 million settlement [press release] Tuesday of its lawsuit against Scott Richter and his company, once one of the biggest spammers in the world. Last summer Richter's company also paid $50,000 in penalties and costs [NY AG press release; JURIST report] relating to a suit filed in New York by Attorney General Elliott Spitzer. Microsoft agreed to direct $1 million of their settlement to New York [Microsoft open letter] with another $5 million going towards continued efforts to block illegal spam. The settlement is conditioned on the dismissal of pending bankruptcy petitions by Richter's company, with motions to do so expected to be filed today. Richter admitted no wrongdoing as part of the agreement but said his business had made "significant changes" as a result. AP has more.

[JURIST] Lebanon's cabinet Monday night approved the creation of a 12-member, half-Muslim, half-Christian committee that is charged with drafting a new election law. The country conducted elections in May and June [JURIST report] under the 2000 election law [official text in French], which was drawn up while Lebanon was under Syrian control and is said by critics to limit Christian representation and the general range of electoral choice [JURIST report]. The move is seen as a necessary step towards political reform following the April end to Syria's 29-year military presence in Lebanon. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] British Prime Minister Tony Blair's latest plans to fight terror have drawn cross-party criticism and have led one senior MP from Blair's own Labour Party to level accusations that the government response to terror threats is panicked. Blair's recent initiatives include plans to deport advocates of terrorism and ban two radical groups [JURIST report] and a controversial proposed review of the 1998 Human Rights Act [text] if the courts rule it blocks certain new measures from being enacted. Treason charges for those praising the bombings [JURIST report] have also been mooted. John Denham [official website], Labour chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Committee, said Monday:

What is more worrying is the sense of slight panic that seems to be emanating from the government over the last few days. After the bombings, there was a very sensible and measured approach recognising things needed to be done and discussed. The flurry of announcements over the last few days, many of which haven't been developed fully, gives the sense that the government is not fully in control of events and that's unfortunate.

[JURIST] A long-awaited FDA ruling on access to an emergency contraceptive called Plan B [FDA Q/A] is expected to be announced by the end of the month, as part of a deal that got Lester Crawford [official profile] approved by the Senate [JURIST report] as the new Food and Drug Administration [official website] chief. However, the ruling is unlikely to settle much, as individual states continue to discuss their own limits for sales of the drug. The Massachusetts legislature is likely to override the governor's July veto of a bill [JURIST report] that would allow the pill to be sold without a prescription; seven other states already do so. A similar law was vetoed in New York [JURIST report] earlier this month but appears unlikely to be overridden. AP has more.

[JURIST] Lawyers for Guantanamo detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan filed a petition of certiorari [PDF text; PDF appendix] on Monday, asking the US Supreme Court to block military tribunals for terror suspects. The high court had once before denied cert on a request for an expedited hearing, instead sending the case to the DC Circuit Court [JURIST report]. A judge there initially enjoined the Guantanamo proceedings [JURIST report], but a three-judge panel that included Supreme Court nominee John Roberts ruled [PDF text] in July that the military trials could continue [JURIST report]. AP has more.