[JURIST] There were indications Saturday that Iraq's constitutional committee [official website] would resolve major issues and submit a draft constitution [JURIST news archive] before the Monday August 15 deadline. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani told reporters that the committee had reached a tentative agreement on the issue of oil wealth distribution, and expressed optimism that the committee would resolve major issues such as federalism, the creation of Shiite Muslim areas, and the role of Islam in Iraqi law [JURIST report], and submit the draft to the National Assembly on Sunday, one day early. On Friday, committee members returned to the table to negotiate after Sunni Arab leaders rejected a Shiite federal region proposal [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced in a press release late Friday that the threat level for transit systems nationwide was being lowered from Code Orange, or "high", to "elevated" Code Yellow. The threat level had been increased on July 7 following the London subway bombings [JURIST news archive]. In his statement, Chertoff urged all Americans to "continue to be vigilant, take notice of their surroundings, and report suspicions items or activities to local authorities immediately". The Washington Post has more.

[JURIST] Two attorneys representing inmates at Guantanamo Bay prison [JURIST news archive] told reporters Saturday that the US military has agreed to meet several demands of prisoners for better conditions at the facility, including greater access to books and bottled water with every meal. According to the attorneys, the military opened negotiations with a detainee representatives following a hunger strike [JURIST report] last month. Prison officials would not comment directly, but did say that staff were working to improve the living conditions of all detainees, and to "addresses concerns from detainees consistent with the spirit of the Geneva Conventions". The Boston Globe has more [registration required].

[JURIST] By a 4-2 margin late Friday the California Supreme Court [official website] overruled a lower court decision [JURIST report], and placed controversial Proposition 77 [text] back on the November 8 special election [Secretary of State information] ballot. Proponents of the plan that transfers redistricting power from the current Democratic-controlled legislature to a panel of judges had argued that the petition circulated to get the initiative on the ballot was misleading. The court majority found there was a lack of evidence that the differences between the petition and the actual wording of the proposition "were likely to have misled the persons who signed the initiative petition .'' The San Francisco Chronicle has more.