[JURIST] Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood [official website] announced Thursday that his office had filed a civil suit [PDF complaint] against five national insurance companies - Mutual Insurance Co., State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., Allstate Property and Casualty Co., the United Services Automobile Association and Mississippi Farm Bureau Insurance - seeking a declaration that provisions in their insurance contracts avoiding liability for property damage of the type inflicted by Hurricane Katrina are null and void. In a press statement [PDF] Hood said:

The Complaint asks the Court to declare that certain insurance contract provisions are void and unenforceable as the same are contrary to public policy, are unconscionable, and are ambiguous. The provisions at issue attempt to exclude from coverage loss or damage caused directly or indirectly by water, whether or not driven by wind. The Complaint states that these provisions should be strictly construed against the insurance companies who drafted the insurance policies and their exclusions. The Complaint also states that the issuance of such insurance policies violates the Mississippi Consumer Protection Act.

[JURIST] US Congressman Curt Weldon (R-PA) [official website] said Thursday that an unnamed Pentagon employee was ordered to destroy documents that identified Mohammed Atta [Wikipedia profile] as a terrorist two years before the 9/11 attacks [JURIST news archive], and was prepared to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee next week and reveal the identity of who directed the documents' destruction. Mastermind Atta and three other hijackers were allegedly identified in 1999 by a military intelligence unit called Able Danger [Wikipedia backgrounder] as potential members of al Qaeda [Wikipedia backgrounder]. In late August US Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website] specifically asked the FBI to investigate Able Danger [JURIST report] as well as information-sharing procedures between the FBI and the Pentagon. Two military officers have said that military lawyers dissuaded members of Able Danger from further pursuing Atta and sharing information with the FBI because he was legally in the US at the time. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice and the special counsel investigating the leak of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame [Wikipedia profile; JURIST news archive] advised Congress earlier this week to block legislation that would force the adminstration to turn over documents related to the case. The DOJ said in a Wednesday letter to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) [official website] released Thursday that special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald believed that hearings and the production of documents would interfere with his ongoing investigation. Democrats in the Congress have thusfar been unable to pass legislation to force the President and the Departments of State, Justice and Defense to give Congress documents related to Valerie Plame. House Republicans on the Intelligence Committee turned a proposed investigatory bill back on Thursday, after their counterparts on the House Judiciary Committee did so Wednesday. Plame's husband, former diplomat Joseph Wilson [Wikipedia profile], claims that the leak was a response to his criticism of Bush's Iraq policy in 2003. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove [Wikipedia backgrounder] has denied leaking Plame's identity [JURIST report] to TIME magazine reporter Matthew Cooper. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice [official website] said Thursday it had dropped its voting rights lawsuit against Boston [text; official press release] after city officials agreed to provide voting materials such as ballots and registration notices in Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese. Boston also agreed to give more training on the Voting Rights Act [text] to poll workers. The lawsuit was filed on July 29, 2005, alleging that Boston's election practices discriminated against voters who were Hispanic and Asian American and could not speak English. Acting Attorney General for the department's civil rights division Bradley J. Schlozman applauded the city's decision, saying "[t]he city of Boston is to be congratulated for agreeing to resolve this matter in a constructive and forward-looking manner." AP has more.

[JURIST] A UN spokesperson in Iraq confirmed Thursday that the UN plans to distribute five million copies of Iraq's draft constitution [JURIST news archive] to Iraqis before a national referendum on the charter on October 15, but indicated that printing would not go ahead "until the transitional National Assembly designates a final draft constitution", now expected Sunday. Farhan Haq's statement contradicts a Wednesday declaration by National Assembly deputy speaker Hussein al-Shahristani, who said that the final document had already been given to the UN [JURIST report] for printing and distribution. The latest revision of the document apparantly contains only minor changes, with one new article added, another dropped, and two others adjusted. The new article notes that Iraq was a founding member of the Arab League (intended to underline Iraq's Arab identity for Sunnis), the dropped article would have given the constitution precedence over international human rights agreements (the provision is said to have dropped at the instance of the US, likely concerned over the rights of women and other groups in an Iraqi charter shaped by Islamic law), and the altered articles provide for central water management and two deputies for the prime minister. AP has more.

[JURIST] Nilo Jerez, a former political prisoner in Cuba [JURIST news archive], sued Fidel Castro [Wikipedia profile] and his government Thursday claiming he had been rendered sterile after having been repeatedly tortured with drugs and electric shocks in the early 1970s. Jerez stated that he still suffers from "distress, anxiety, fear and apprehension" as a result of the treatment, said to have occurred at Mazorra, a Havana psychiatric hosptial which housed political dissidents. Jerez was incarcerated there for three-months. In 2002, Jerez testified against a nurse and described the horrors of his living conditions [Miami Herald report] and the electroshock treatment he received. Jerez told reporters "[i]t is time to have justice." John Gaebe, an attorney for Jerez, said the case represents "an effort to shine a light on what is going on in Cuba." Gaebe noted that even if he wins, Jerez may have trouble collecting the $50 million in damages he is seeking. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Thursday's environmental law news, a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by 8 states against four private energy companies and the federal Tennessee Valley Authority [official website] which claimed they contributed to global warming. US District Judge Loretta Preska [profile] ruled [opinion text, PDF] that the states wanted the judiciary to make environmental policies that would affect the economy, national security and foreign policy, decisions that should be made by "the political branches that are accountable to the people, not [by] the judiciary." AP has more.

In other environmental law news...

• A bill is being prepared by Senator James Inhofe, chairman of the US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee [official website], that would allow the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [official website] to temporarily relax its rules following Hurricane Katrina. A preliminary draft of the bill gives the EPA administrator power for 120 days to "waive or modify" EPA's laws and regulations if "necessary to respond, in a timely and effective manner, to a situation or damage relating to Hurricane Katrina." The governors of affected states would be consulted before any changes in EPA rules are made. AP has more.

[JURIST] New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer [official website] and State Insurance Superintendent Howard Mills [official website] Thursday said that eight former senior executives of Marsh & McLennan [corporate website] had been indicted [PDF] for bids given "under false pretenses." Spitzer said bid rigging carried out from November 1998 to September 2004 cost customers of the US's largest insurance brokarage company millions of dollars. Marsh & McLennan in January agreed to pay $850 million in restitution to persuade Spitzer to stop his investigation [JURIST report] into bid rigging and price fixing, but this did not prevent Spitzer from obtaining a guilty plea [JURIST report; official press release] from a Marsh executive in February for client deception.The charges included first-degree scheming to defraud, restraint of trade and competition, and grand larceny. The defendants all entered "not guilty" pleas and were released in NY Supreme Court Thursday. As a corporation, Marsh & McLennan faces no criminal sanctions. Read Spitzer's press release on the indictments. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Thursday's states brief, the Massachusetts state legislature today overrode Governor Mitt Romney's veto [JURIST report] of a bill [text] which requiring emergency room doctors to offer emergency contraception to rape victims. Romney said he would not sign the bill because doing so would violate his campaign pledge not to change the state's abortion laws. Romney was concerned the contraception could abort a fertilized egg. During his 2002 campaign, however, the governor said that he supported broader access to emergency contraception. AP has more.

In other state legal news ...

• Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz [official website] announced Thursday that the state's 3,500 lever-style mechanical voting machines may have to be replaced as a federal commission has ruled [Commission's advisory opinion] the machines are not accessible to all voters and she has asked state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal to determine whether the advisory opinion is binding on the state. A spokesperson for the US Election Assistance Commission [official website], which advises states on how to comply with the federal Help America Vote Act [PDF text] created after the 2000 presidential election, said it is up to the US Department of Justice to decide whether the state is required to switch to new voting devices. Connecticut has received about $33 million from the federal government to improve voting in the state. A press conference was scheduled for this afternoon. AP has more.
  
  
• A federal judge has ruled [PDF text] Michigan's Legal Birth Definition Act is unconstitutional as it places an "undue burden" on a women's right to choose to have an abortion. US District Judge Denise Page Hood struck down the law [PDF text], which supporters said would ban a late term abortion procedure, because its vague language would ban pre-viable abortion procedures, and the exception for the life of the mother unconstitutionally requires doctors to balance the interests of the woman and the fetus. Furthermore, Judge Hood found the law's health of the mother exception to be meaningless. A spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan [ACLU press release] said the ruling "is a victory for all Michigan families," and the Michigan Catholic Conference [Conference press release] said it will urge state Attorney General Mike Cox to appeal the ruling. AP has more.

[JURIST] Russian President Vladimir Putin [official website] called Thursday for collective international action to defeat terrorism as he addressed world leaders at the ongoing 2005 World Summit [official website] on UN reform [JURIST news archive]. Putin urged the adoption of "constructive" UN reforms that would "unite, not separate" and insisted that the UN must play a central role in the fight against terrorism. Labelling terror "the ideological successor of Nazism," Putin said that it poses the main threat to human rights and sustainable development and called [PDF statement] for the UN and its Security Council to serve as "the main center for coordinating international cooperation" against it. During the opening day of the summit Wednesday, Security Council heads of state and government unanimously adopted [JURIST report] a resolution [text] calling on states to reinforce the battle against terrorism and strengthening the Council's role in preventing conflict. BBC News has more.

Also Thursday, the UN Convention against Corruption [PDF text; UN backgrounder] received its 30th ratification, meaning the first international treaty against governmental corruption will enter into force in 90 days. The ratification comes as part of an invitation by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan [UN News report] for leaders attending the summit to sign, ratify or accede to 32 treaties. The documents included in this year's treaty event span a broad range of issues, including human rights, the law of the sea, disarmament, and refugees. As part of the treaty event, the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism [PDF text] received its first signature [JURIST report] Wednesday. UN News has more.

[JURIST] Chile's Supreme Court Thursday upheld the acquittal of former dictator Augusto Pinochet [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] on charges that he ordered political abductions and murders as part of "Operation Condor" [Wikipedia backgrounder], a conspiracy between South American dictators during the 1970s to eliminate political opponents and dispose of the bodies in different countries. The high court decision comes just one day after the court lifted Pinochet's immunity [JURIST report] in a separate case, one that is investigating a 1970s government campaign known as Operation Colombo. Thursday's acquittal in the Operation Condor case will not prevent prosecutors from charging Pinochet for Operation Colombo, which is said to have organized the disappearance and deaths of over 100 members of the Revolutionary Leftist Movement. AFP has more. From Santiago, La Nacion has local coverage.

[JURIST] Uzbekistan [official website, English version] deputy state prosecutor Anvar Nabiyev on Thursday named 15 men who will stand trial next week for trying to overthrow the Uzbek government. The men, who allegedly organized disturbances in the town of Andijan [JURIST report] in May 2005, face charges including shooting hostages, forcing civilians to take part in an anti-government protest and membership in banned extremist groups. Nabiyev also listed specific sites in neighboring Kyrgyzstan where he said the militants had trained for the uprising, and implied that the Kyrgyz government had knowledge of these plans. BBC News has more. The Uzbekistan National News Agency has local coverage.

[JURIST] US Chief Justice nominee John Roberts [Wikipedia profile; JURIST news archive] finished his fourth and final day of confirmation testimony Thursday morning by declaring "I am not an ideologue," adding that ideologues do not belong on the court. Though Roberts' views were again challenged by Democrats, it appears increasingly likely that he will be approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] in a vote scheduled for next week and then confirmed by the full Senate in time for the opening of the Supreme Court's 2005-2006 term in October. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) [official website] and other Democrats questioned Roberts Thursday about memos he wrote as an lawyer in the Reagan administration that advocated a narrow application of civil rights laws. Roberts claimed his memos reflected White House policies rather than his own views. Read a transcript of Thursday's hearing. Following the conclusion of Roberts' testimony, the Judiciary Committee is now hearing from several other witnesses [witness list and prepared testimony] on the nomination. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The US Senate has approved the creation of a new US Department of Justice [official website] office that would investigate racially motivated homicides that took place prior to 1970. The Unsolved Crimes Section was proposed in reaction to numerous cases that remain unsolved due to weak state and federal prosecution at the time they occurred, including the Emmett Till [JURIST news archive] case. The amendment was co-sponsored by Senator Jim Talent (R-MO) [official website; press release] and Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) [official website] and received unanimous support from the Senate, which included the measure in the Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bill, expected to move through the Senate this week. The House version of the bill does not include the proposed DOJ office and the proposal would have to survive conference negotiations before becoming law. The new office would be similar to the Office of Special Investigations [official website], which hunts down Nazis living in the US. AP has more.

[JURIST] Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell [official website] and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal [official website] have said that the state will not file an immediate appeal [press release] to the US Supreme Court challenging a decision that allows the Base Closure and Realignment Commission [official website] to prepare Bradley Air National Guard Base for realignment. State officials have decided instead to make their case in the US District Court in Hartford after the realignment process is complete in November. The commission voted to send 15 planes currently stationed at Bradley to the Air Force's pool of planes and retire the rest but the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [official website] ruled [PDF text] last week that Connecticut's case can be heard by the lower court prior to the removal of aircraft, even if the realignment process has been finalized. AP has more.

[JURIST UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke [official profile] Thursday released draft anti-terrorism legislation [PDF text] that includes terms allowing police to detain terror suspects for up to three months without charge and creating a new criminal offense for "glorifying terrorism." The draft legislation was included in a letter [PDF] to opposition colleagues in which Clarke stressed that the proposed provisions were "very much draft clauses" and solicited their input. Opposition spokesmen publicly pounced on the new terms, however, suggesting a breakdown in a previous consensus among the major parties [JURIST report] to move forward with the legislation after the summer London bombings [JURIST news archive]. Liberal Democrat and Conservative criticisms of extended detention echo concerns articulated last year by Britain's highest court when it ruling against the indefinite detention of foreign terror suspects [JURIST report] without charging them. Liberal Democrats also say they oppose the criminalization of "glorifying terrorism" because of uncertainty about how courts will interpret such a vague offense. The Terrorism Bill is expected to be introduced in the House of Commons in mid-October. Thursday's Guardian has more.

[JURIST] The US House of Representatives approved a measure Wednesday that would add sexual orientation, gender, and disability to a current federal hate crimes law that already prohibits crimes based on the victim's race, ethnicity, or religion. The legislation was proposed by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) [official website] and passed by a margin of 223-199 [House roll call]. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) [official website] called the measure "long overdue" saying, "All Americans have a fundamental right to feel safe in their communities." The measure was sent through the House as an amendment to a sex offender bill [PDF text, HR 3132], which passed by a margin of 371-52 [House roll call] Wednesday. That legislation is designed to bolster sex offender registration and notification programs, create a national website allowing the public to track sex offenders [JURIST report], and establish federal mandatory minimum sentences for violations by sex offenders. The sex offender bill will now be handed over to the Senate for approval. AP has more.

[JURIST] The former chief of staff of the Israeli Defense Forces [official website] has called off a trip to London after a complaint was filed in Great Britain against him and other top Israeli military officers for "war crimes." Moshe Ya'alon [Wikipedia profile] had been invited by an Israeli soldiers support group to attend a fund-raising event in Britain, but changed his plans upon news that British authorities were seeking to question Israel's former commanders. The charges relate to a 2002 bombing raid in the Gaza Strip which killed 12 Palestinians, and British courts are responding to the appeals of human rights groups who unsuccessfully tried to have the cases heard in Israel. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom [official profile] has described Britain's plan to question the Israeli officers for alleged war crimes as "scandalous." AFP has more. Meanwhile, war crimes charges have also been filed in Great Britain against Israeli municipal authorities for demolishing the homes of East Jerusalem residents because they did not have "proper construction permits." From Israel, Haaretz has local coverage.

[JURIST] Opening statements began Wednesday in the second trial against Merck [corporate website] over the distribution of its painkiller Vioxx [Merck Vioxx Information Center website; JURIST news archive]. The plaintiff in this case is an Idaho postal worker who claims that taking Vioxx caused him to suffer a heart attack. Lawyers for the plaintiff argued Wednesday that he would not have taken the drug if Merck had been forthcoming about the fact that Vioxx could increase the likelihood of heart attacks and strokes [FDA public health advisory] when it first learned of the issue, but rather the company waited 18 months to warn doctors. Merck's attorney denied the allegations, saying she would prove Vioxx did not cause the plaintiff's heart attack and that the company reported the drug's potential effects when it found out about them. Currently, there are 2,475 Vioxx cases pending against Merck in New Jersey alone, where the company is incorporated, and the company is facing almost 5,000 lawsuits across the United States. The first trial ended in a judgment against the company [JURIST report] for $253 million last month. AP has more.

3:46 PM ET - During the trial Thursday, Superior Court Judge Carol Higbee reprimanded a Merck lawyer for making references to the plaintiff's attorneys during opening arguments, and warned that there would be "repercussions", including a possible mistrial, if the conduct continued. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Three more Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees have been hospitalized as a hunger strike [JURIST report] at the prison facility stretched through its second month. Following the hospitalization, a total of 21 are now being fed intravenously to prevent them from dying of starvation. Sgt. Justin Behrens, a spokesman at Guantanamo, said all the striking detainees were in stable condition. The military views hunger strikes as a form of suicide, and it will take steps to prevent it. Accounts of the military and the detainees' attorneys as to the number of detainees participating in the hunger strike differed markedly, with the military saying 125 and attorneys for the detainees saying 210. Prisoners are reportedly protesting conditions at the facility and the military's failure to act on a promise to bring the facility into compliance with the Geneva Conventions. Earlier this month, the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights released a report [PDF text] detailing the hunger strikes that have broken out at the prison since 2002. AP has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Gitmo hunger strike gains momentum
• Hunger strike at Gitmo enters second month
• Gitmo detainees begin new hunger strike
• Gitmo prisoners protest detentions with hunger strike

[JURIST] The Israeli Supreme Court [official website] ruled Thursday that the country had a right to construct the West Bank barrier [Wikipedia backgrounder; official IDF website] across occupied Palestinian land, once again disputing a International Court of Justice advisory opinion [text; JURIST report] that found the barrier illegal. The court nonetheless limited its holding to sections where the army had demonstrated security concerns for the wall's construction and instructed the government to reconsider the routing [Aljazeera report] of other sections. Israel has maintained the wall is necessary to protect itself from terror attacks, but Palestinians have called the move a land grab. The Israeli high court said it reached a different outcome than the ICJ because it said that court had ruled without complete access to the facts. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A new arrest warrant could be issued for the wife of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic [JURIST news archive] if she fails to appear for the start of her corruption trial in Belgrade, a court spokesperson said Wednesday. Mirjana Markovic [Wikipedia profile] fled to Russia in 2003 in the face of an international warrant for her arrest. The warrant was revoked in June [JURIST report] on the condition that Markovic appear for her trial. Markovic's defense lawyer would not say whether she was planning to return from Russia. Markovic has often been called a driving force behind her husband's autocratic rule throughout the 1990s, and she has been charged with illegally giving away government-owned luxury apartments. Investigators have also sought to question her in connection with the 2000 killing of former Serbian President Ivan Stambolic. AP has more.

1:15 PM ET - Serbian Judge Sinisa Sofrenovic ordered Markovic's arrest Thursday after she failed to appear in court. Markovic's lawyer said during the hearing that "the judge's decision was against the law." AP has more.

[JURIST] A federal judge in Argentina [JURIST news archive] has ordered the arrest of a former military leader in the investigation into the death of a student during the country's "Dirty War" [Wikipedia backgrounder] in the late 1970s. The judge on Wednesday ordered Luciano Benjamin Menendez and 15 other former army officers to be detained. Menendez is alleged to be the commander of the army unit that kidnapped, tortured and killed Diego Hunziker in 1976. The investigation comes after the country's supreme court struck down immunity laws [JURIST report] for hundreds of former military leaders. Also Wednesday, another judge ordered the detention of former General Jorge Rearte for his role in military atrocities on the border with Paraguay from 1976 to 1978. AP has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Argentine naval officer convicted for 'Dirty War' crimes
• Former Argentine military officer faces genocide charges in Spain
• Mexican prosecutor to file additional "dirty war" genocide charges

[JURIST] Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti [official profile] has said he will investigate hospitals and nursing homes throughout the state for evidence of negligence during the evacuation prior to Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive], making it seem likely that additional charges will be filed in the coming weeks. Charges were filed earlier this week against a couple [JURIST report] who ran a nursing home and who failed to evacuate the 34 elderly residents. All 34 were killed by the rising floodwaters. The couple turned themselves in [LA AG news release] to investigators on Wednesday. Some experts said it was unlikely that many criminal negligence charges would be filed due to the difficulty in successfully prosecuting such cases. However, experts were also warning of a glut of civil cases that will likely be filed in the coming years over a variety of issues, including the break in the levees and chemical spills that followed. AP has more.