[JURIST] A lawyer for a Yemeni prisoner held at the Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detention camp has filed a motion in DC federal court asking that the use of a restraint chair and large nasal feeding tubes to force-feed his client be prohibited if he resumes his hunger strike. Muhammed Bawazir ended his protest hunger strike in January following some 12 days of force-feeding [CNN report] after refusing food for 140 days. The motion alleges that the force-feeding tactics now acknowledged by the Pentagon amount to a torture violating the recently-enacted McCain Amendment [JURIST news archive; amendment text] incorporated into the Detainee Treatment Act [JURIST document] prohibiting the cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of any person in the custody of the US government, either at home or abroad. The military says similar tactics are used to force-feed civilian prisoners on hunger strikes.

Reportedly only four detainees are still on hunger strike [JURIST report] after the military began using aggressive force-feeding tactics [JURIST report] to keep protesters alive. Lawyers had announced last month that several protesters were close to death [JURIST report] as a result of the hunger strikes. AP has more.

[JURIST] The International Criminal Court [official website; JURIST news archive] announced Tuesday that construction on 12 holding cells has been completed, and the world's first general international war crimes court is ready to use them to detain leaders of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) [Global Security profile; BBC backgrounder] of Uganda, for whom the court issued arrest warrants [JURIST report] last year.

The ICC hopes to arrest the LRA leaders in the near future, and has requested the assistance of Uganda [JURIST report] and neighboring countries. Sudan, also the target of an ICC investigation in connection with alleged crimes committed in the Darfur region, has already pledged its support [JURIST report] in helping to arrest the fugitives, thought to be hiding in the southern part of the country. The ICC has accused the LRA [case materials] of killing thousands of Ugandans, enslaving more than 10,000 children and causing more than 1.6 million people to lose their homes. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] An Oregon chapter of the defunct Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation [Wikipedia backgrounder] claimed in a lawsuit filed in federal court Tuesday that the National Security Agency had illegally wiretapping several conversations between the charity and its attorneys. The complaint alleges that the NSA failed to get a court order authorizing electronic surveillance thereby failing to follow procedures required by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [official materials], and seeks relief in the form of "an order that would require defendants and their agents to halt an illegal and unconstitutional program of electronic surveillance of United States citizens and entities." Read excerpts [text] from an Oregon Public Broadcasting interview with the plaintiff's attorney.

The chapter of the Saudi-based charity was indicted on tax fraud charges [US DOJ press release] in February 2005 after having been labeled a "specially designated global terrorist" [full list] in September 2004 by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control following accusations that it laundering $150,000 in donations to assist al-Qaeda in 2000. AP has more. The NSA surveillance program is currently the direct or indirect target of attorneys in several terrorism-related cases; earlier this month, a federal judge granted a request by defense attorneys that sentencing for Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, convicted in November of last year for joining al Qaeda and conspiring to assassinate President Bush, be delayed [JURIST report] so that prosecutors have time to file a sworn declaration revealing whether or not evidence used against him was gained through warrantless surveillance.

[JURIST] Britain's High Court [official website] Tuesday blocked a four week suspension of London Mayor Ken Livingstone [official profile] ordered [ruling text, PDF] by a case tribunal of the Adjudication Panel for England [official website] last week for bringing his office into disrepute. The suspension, scheduled to begin March 1, stemmed from an exchange between Livingstone and a Jewish journalist. The High Court deferred the suspension until Livingstone's appeal can be heard.

The incident occurred when the outspoken Livingstone, leaving a private party, responded to a reporter's questions by telling him he was "like a concentration camp guard - you are just doing it because you are paid to." Livingstone later defended his comments as referencing not the journalist himself, but his employer, the Evening Standard, a tabloid paper that supported the Nazis in early 1930's. At a press conference [full text] earlier Tuesday, Livingstone argued that overly insensitive remarks "are not grounds for overturning the decision of the voters of London to elect me as mayor." After the ruling he issued a personal statement saying:

...the ruling of the Case Tribunal to suspend me from office when there is no suggestion that I have acted unlawfully strikes at the fundamental principles of democracy. The decision of the High Court today to stay the suspension ordered by the Case Tribunal is therefore a very welcome development.

[JURIST] The Philippines Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred a ruling on petitions brought against the state of emergency [Proclamation 1017 text; JURIST report] declared by President Gloria Arroyo [official website; BBC profile] last week. Arroyo, who today said the decree will remain in effect at least until Saturday [Manila Times report], said the move was necessary to resist a coup plot which resulted in the arrest of 16 people [JURIST report] earlier this week. Critics of the declaration who were concerned with the possibility of unwarranted arrests and an infringement on political freedom called the move unconstitutional.

Philippines Supreme Court [official website] Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban refused to issue a restraining order on the proclamation, saying that due process required the court to hear the other side. He gave the government until Monday to submit responses, and set oral arguments for Tuesday. AP has more.

[JURIST] Members of the US Senate Judiciary Committee holding a second hearing [agenda materials] Tuesday on the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program [JURIST news archive] appeared frustrated by the lack of information released by the Bush administration. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website] accused the White House [text] of "running roughshod over the Constitution and hiding behind inflammatory rhetoric demanding Americans blindly trust every one of its decisions." Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website] also expressed dissatisfaction with White House refusal to even offer a broad explanation of the initiative, which his committee has now been investigating for several weeks. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appeared before the Committee earlier this month [JURIST report]. CNET has more.

Specter is preparing a bill [JURIST report] that would require the government to revise its procedures in conducting surveillance and provide more information about the NSA program to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Professor Ken Gormley of Pittsburgh's Duquesne University Law School, one of six legal experts to testify at the hearing, expressed concern with the amount of executive power being claimed by the Bush administration. He supports Senator Specter's approach, saying that it would give the Bush administration power to fight the war on terror while staying within the bounds of the Constitution. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has more.

[JURIST] Leading Tuesday's environmental law news, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) [official website] has issued [press release] a new rule that lowers the acceptable level of hexavalent chromium [OSHA backgrounder] that can be present in a workplace. Previously, the acceptable level was 52 micrograms per cubic meter of air, per a rule originally issued in 1971. Under the new rule [PDF text, regulatory text], the allowable limit is now 5 micrograms per cubic meter of air. Hexavalent chromium exposure occurs most often to welders, steelworkers and jewelers, and is linked to lung cancer. AP has more.

In other environmental law news...

• The Royal Dutch Shell Company [corporate website] has appealed [press release] a ruling by the Nigerian federal high court in Port Harcourt that found the company must pay $1.5 billion to local Ijaw [Wikipedia profile] aboriginal communities for alleged environmental damage. Shell maintains that there is no evidence to support the pollution claims. AFP has more.
  
  
• The New Jersey Assembly Committee on Environment and Solid Waste [official website] approved a bill [text] Monday that would eliminate the statute of limitations for certain environmental crimes. Currently the statute of limitations is 10 years from the date of discovery. The Gloucester County Times has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] on Tuesday heard oral arguments in Randall v. Sorrell [Duke Law case backgrounder; merit briefs] to decide whether Vermont's Act 64 campaign law [text], which places strict caps on campaign contributions and spending, should be upheld. The justices appeared skeptical of the state's limits with Justice Antonin Scalia [OYEZ biography] calling the strict law "very unusual in an American democracy." Vermont currently only allows contributions in the amount of $200 for state House races, $300 for state Senate campaigns, and $400 for statewide offices. The Vermont Republican State Committee [party website] and the Vermont Right to Life Committee [advocacy website] have led opposition to the law, while the Democratic National Committee [party website] led by chairman Howard Dean [party profile] is the law's biggest supporter. The case allows the Court to reconsider its decision in Buckley v. Valeo [opinion text], a 1976 case in which the Court allowed federal caps on campaign contributions while eliminating spending limits in order to promote political expression. Bloomberg has more.

The high court also heard oral arguments in Marshall v. Marshall [Duke Law case backgrounder; merit briefs], a case involving model Anna Nicole Smith's attempt to gain half of her late husband's estate. Oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II died at the age of 89, one year after marrying 26-year-old Smith, and one of Marshall's sons claims he is the only heir to his father's fortune. The justices seemed sympathetic to Smith's case as they considered when federal courts should hear claims that involve state probate proceedings. AP has more.

[JURIST] The UK House of Lords [official website] Tuesday voted by a margin of 160-156 to remove references to the "glorification" of terrorism from the Terrorism Bill [text; Home Office backgrounder], proposed after the London bombings [JURIST news archive] last July. The Lords received the bill [JURIST report] after the UK House of Commons [official website] had previously voted [JURIST report] to keep the offense among the bill's provisions, which UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said would be a "signal of strength" in fighting terrorism. Allowing the glorification offense to remain in the bill would also enable action to be taken against individuals who hold signs glorifying the July bombers, as happened during recent protests against cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad [JURIST news archive].

The House of Lords removed the glorification of terrorism offense [JURIST report] from the bill once before in January. The proposed legislation will now return to the House of Commons and the government is expected to again reverse the removal of the term from the bill. BBC News has more.

ALSO ON JURIST  Op-ed: The UK Terrorism Bill: Defending Democracy's Core Values [UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke]

[JURIST] The 12th General Conference of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union (AIPU) [official website, English version] ended Tuesday with members of Arab states calling on the United Nations [official website] to adopt a resolution which bans offenses against religion, including Islam. The member countries harshly criticized the cartoons of Prophet Muhammad [JURIST news archive] printed in European publications and urged the UN to bring individuals who attack religion "to justice." Last weekend, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said he would lobby the UN to make blasphemy an internationally-recognized criminal offense [JURIST report]. Parliamentarians from 16 Arab countries on Tuesday also confirmed their stance against terrorism and asked the UN to sponsor an international conference to define terrorism.

Additionally, the participating countries addressed current events in other Middle Eastern countries by expressing their support for a unified, sovereign Iraq [JURIST news archive]; standing behind Syria as the country is investigated for involvement in the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive]; and criticizing nations who threaten to remove Palestinian aid [JURIST report] after Hamas' victory in the January elections [JURIST report]. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Algerian Islamist Rachid Ramda [Wikipedia profile] has gone on trial in France for his alleged role in several deadly bomb attacks in Paris in 1995. Ramda was arrested in Britain in 1995, but delayed his extradition [JURIST report] ten years until December 2005 with a series of appeals. He is charged with criminal association with a terrorist organization and faces a maximum sentence of ten years for the Paris public transport system bombings [Wikipedia backgrounder] that killed 8 and injured 200. Ramda allegedly financed the operation which was headed by the Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA) [FAS backgrounder]. He also faces a possible second trial for his role in the actual execution of the bombings and faces a life sentence if convicted.

Ramda's defense lawyers are expected to argue for dismissal of the case, claiming that the primary evidence against Ramda was obtained under duress through forced witness statements by convicted bomber Boulalem Bensaid. Ramda was an alleged accomplice of Bensaid and Smain Ait Ali, who received life sentences in 2002 for their roles in the 1995 bombing. AFP has more.

[JURIST] One inmate was killed and three others wounded Tuesday as Afghan police fired on rioters trying to push down a gate at a Kabul prison, ending a day-long truce [JURIST report] at the tense facility. Negotiations between the parties broke down Tuesday, prompting renewed rioting among inmates at Policharki prison [AP report; IWPR backgrounder; also "Pul-e-Charkhi"]. Police have blamed the riots on about 350 Taliban and al Qaeda detainees at the facility, while a purported spokesman for the prisoners, Maqsodi, said that the prisoners had refused to move to a new wing of the prison that they said was in no better condition than the previous one.

Rioting erupted [JURIST report] on Saturday after prisoners refused to wear new uniforms ordered after seven inmates escaped by posing as visitors to the prison. By Monday, four inmates had been killed and another 38 were wounded in a tense standoff with authorities. The prisoners have demanded retrials for all being held, many of whom have argued they are innocent. AP has more.

[JURIST] America Online (AOL) [corporate website] has filed three lawsuits [complaints; press release] in federal court in Virginia against international groups that allegedly stole information from AOL users, violating Virgina's anti-"phishing" law, the first of its kind in the US. The company, based in Dulles, is seeking $18 million in damages from the groups, claiming that thirty people violated the Virginia Computer Crimes Act [text], which was updated in 2005 to include anti-phishing provisions [VA AG press release] by sending thousands of e-mails and setting up websites supposedly from AOL customer service.

AOL spokesman Nicholas Graham said it is unclear exactly how many members were victims of the phishing [backgrounder] scheme, which fooled AOL members into disclosing screen names, passwords, and financial information. The groups named in the lawsuit are allegedly part of a multinational network spanning the United States, Germany, and Romania. AOL also brings claims under federal computer fraud law and the Lanham Act [text], governing trademark protection. AP has more.

[JURIST] US District Judge Reggie B. Walton [official profile] has indicated that he may offer a compromise over requests by I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby [defense profile; JURIST news archive] for access to classified information in his trial on perjury charges [PDF indictment; JURIST report]. Walton issued an order Monday that reduced the number of intelligence briefings that he might order to be turned over the case, and instead suggested that general summaries of specific briefings could be sufficient for Libby's defense [defense website].

Libby's defense team has requested access to CIA briefings [JURIST report] that Libby, as chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, received between May 2003 and March 2004, the volume of which defense lawyers say can explain how Libby may have forgotten what he told reporters in the CIA leak case [JURIST news archive] arising out of the disclosure of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald [official website] has challenged the request as classified information and has accused the defense of attempting to "graymail" [Wikipedia backgrounder] the prosecution. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Utah House of Representatives Monday voted down a much-watched bill that would have challenged the teaching of evolution in high school science classes in the conservative state. The so-called "Origin of Life" bill [text] as initially presented would have required teachers to issue a disclaimer to students saying that not all scientists agree on the theory of evolution or the origin of species. While the bill did not explicitly present an alternative to the evolution theory, some think that the bill may have encouraged the teaching of the intelligent design [JURIST news archive]. The measure was defeated 46-28.

Just before the vote, Majority Whip Stephen H. Urquhart [official profile] amended the bill to strip it of most of its original language, maintaining that science and religion should remain separate and leaving intact only a provision that the Utah State Board of Education [official website] "shall establish curriculum requirements relating to scientific instruction." Legislative officials say the bill is not likely to be revived before the legislature is adjourned on Wednesday. The New York Times has more. The Utah Daily Herald has local coverage.

[JURIST] The trial of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] resumed in Baghdad Tuesday with prosecutors at the Iraqi High Criminal Court - formerly the Iraqi Special Tribunal [official website] - continuing to present their case on charges of murder, torture, forced expulsions and illegal imprisonment stemming from a crackdown on villagers in Dujail [JURIST report] following a 1982 assassination attempt on Hussein. Prosecutors introduced a document signed by the former dictator which approved the executions of 148 Shiites by hanging. Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi said the death sentences were handed down without the defendants ever being brought to court for trial. Also admitted into evidence was a 1984 Revolutionary Court memo which detailed the names of the 148 suspects and was signed by one of Saddam's co-defendants, Awad al-Bandar, who was then head of the court. AP has more.

The documents were presented as defense lawyers ended a month-long boycott [JURIST report] of the trial by returning to court Tuesday. Their return was short-lived, however, as two lawyers walked out [Reuters report] after chief judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman [BBC profile, JURIST report] began Tuesday's session by declining a defense request [JURIST report] to remove himself and Moussawi from the trial. Hussein's lawyers, who petitioned for the judge and prosecutor to be removed due to bias, said they would appeal the decision. Defense lawyers also asked for a one-month adjournment, but the judge refused and proceedings will resume Wednesday. AP has more.

ALSO ON JURIST  Topic: Saddam Hussein Trial | Op-ed: The Iraqi Special Tribunal: One Chance to Get It Right

[JURIST] The Bush administration has rejected [press briefing transcript] a request by a group of House Democrats asking that a special counsel be appointed to investigate NSA spying [JURIST report] on people within the United States. In a letter [text] to President Bush Monday, the 18 legislators called for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to appoint a special counsel, arguing that any surveillance of suspected terrorists must be done within the scope of United States law. They claimed that it has been difficult to obtain information about the program, and suggested that the eavesdropping activities authorized by the NSA program are illegal and violate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [text].

Both the Justice and Defense departments have declined to open inquiries into the surveillance program [JURIST news archive], and the General Accountability Office, Congress's investigative arm, also refused to conduct an investigation into the program's practices. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] expressed outrage [press release] at the Bush administration's refusal to open an inquiry, suggesting that the reluctance to allow an inquiry further suggests the administration's guilt in breaking the law with the eavesdropping program. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] issued two unanimous rulings Tuesday, limiting the scope of both the Hobbs Act [text] and the Sherman Antitrust Act [text]. In Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, Inc. [Duke Law backgrounder], 04-1244, the Court ruled that the Hobbs Act's prohibition on threats of violence did not shield abortion clinics from demonstrations by anti-abortion protestors. The Court, per Justice Breyer [Oyez profile], ruled that the Hobbs Act only covered threats of violence related to extortion and robbery. The holding, which expands on a previous ruling [JURIST report] by the Supreme Court in the case, effectively ends the claims of abortion clinics under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act [text] and an injunction issued [PDF text] by the US 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Read the Court's opinion [PDF text]. AP has more.

In Texaco Inc. v. Dagher [Duke Law backgrounder], 04-805, the Court unanimously ruled that price setting by a joint-venture of two competing companies is not a per se violation of Section 1 [text] of the Sherman Antitrust Act. In the case, the plaintiffs had challenged price setting [JURIST report] by Equilon Enterprises and Motiva Enterprises, joint-ventures of Texaco Inc. and Shell Oil Co. [corporate websites]. Justice Thomas [Oyez profile], writing for the Court, noted that per se liability under the Act only applied to "plainly anticompetitive" schemes that needed no detailed analysis. The Court found instead that Shell and Texaco were not competing with each other based on the existence of the joint-venture between the two. Read the Court's opinion [PDF text]. AP has more. Judge Alito did not take part in either of the decisions, which were argued before his confirmation.

[JURIST] The US government has agreed to a $300,000 settlement of claims by an Egyptian [JURIST report] that he was abused while being detained by US authorities for months following the Sept. 11 terror attacks. The settlement reached with Ehab Elmaghraby is the first reached by the federal government over claims arising from the rounding up of hundreds of mostly Muslim and Arab men [ACLU backgrounder] in New York City and elsewhere in the weeks and months following the attacks, and comes in a case in which a federal judge had previously ruled that top leaders including former US Attorney General John Ashcroft [official profile; JURIST news archive] must testify under oath [JURIST report]. The government has argued that the attacks had created a national emergency that required special action to avoid future attacks. Elmaghraby, one of two plaintiffs in the suit, alleged that he was detained and mistreated for nearly a year before being deported on immigration grounds.

The second plaintiff in the suit, Pakistani Javaid Iqbal, is continuing with his claims, while a second case involving a class action is also pending before US District Judge John Gleeson [official profile]. A US Department of Justice report issued last spring [JURIST report] found that no prison officials were disciplined in connection with an earlier report [text] finding routine abuse by guards at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, NY, where many were held on immigration charges following the Sept. 11 attacks. The settlement must be approved by Judge Gleeson before taking effect. Nina Bernstein of the New York Times has more [registration required].

[JURIST] Leading Tuesday's international brief, the Supreme Court of India [official website] has issued a ruling [text] that bans all media entities from publishing or revealing any transcripts or recordings they may have of conversations that were taped illegally. The ruling comes as Amar Singh, a high political party official in India, has been fighting the release by radio and newspaper of illegally recorded phone conversations between himself and other famous individuals in India. The court held that such recordings are subject to government control until the court produces a guideline on what can and cannot be used and published. The court also criticized the government for failing to clearly spell out what was illegal for investigative journalists and for failing to properly prosecute the violation of the law. The Navhind Times of India has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• The ongoing debate over the level of autonomy in the recently-resolved Aceh region in Indonesia has been rekindled over a legislative provision that would give the Indonesian central government [official website in Bahasa Indonesian] law-making abilities inside the Aceh province beyond what was agreed to in the peace protocols [JURIST report] signed last year. Originally, Indonesia would only have a say in legislating matters concerning foreign policy, defense security, judicial affairs, and finance. The current Aceh autonomy bill [JURIST report] up before the Indonesian House of Representatives seeks to grant the central government power to legislate certain issues outside of those exceptions. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Indonesia [JURIST news archive]. The Jakarta Post has local coverage.
  
  
• The South Korean Ministry of Justice [official website] has proposed a series of reforms focusing on the rights of child victims of sexual abuse and the criminal justice procedures surrounding the need for a civilian complaint before a case may be brought against an individual. The proposed reforms suggest several key changes, including a mandatory minimum sentence of three years for convicted pedophiles and the removal of the requirement that the victim bring charges against the perpetrator - a requirement that prosecutors argue keeps individuals from coming forward concerning regular abuse. The Ministry of Justice is also considering the introduction of a new crime of "sexual assault of a minor" that would cover many gaps in sexual assault laws designed to deal with attacks on adults rather than children. South Korea's Chosun Ilbo has local coverage.
  
  
• UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) [official website] officials met with representatives of Ethiopia and Sudan [government website] on Monday to sign a three-party agreement aimed at returning over 70,000 Sudanese citizens, some of whom have been in Ethiopia since the 1969 Sudanese civil war, back to their homes. The document outlines the legal responsibilities of both governments and the aid to be expected from the UNHCR in returning those Sudanese citizens who wish to go. The presence of Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia has been a point of contention for years between the two governments, and the UNHCR hailed the agreement as a solid step forward to resolving a difficult legal, political, and human situation. Read the UNHCR press release. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage.
  

[JURIST] The main opposition party in Uganda [JURIST news archive], Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) [party website], said Tuesday that it plans to contest the country's election results in court. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni [BBC profile] won last Tuesday's election with 59 percent of the votes amidst allegations of fraud [JURIST report] and intimidation of voters. Protestors in support of losing FDC presidential challenger Kizza Besigye [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], who held 37 percent of the votes, flooded the streets Saturday after the final election numbers were announced, but riot police broke up the crowd using tear gas.

Museveni is calling Besigye's camp "bad losers" and has warned FDC leaders against any future violence in protest of the election results. The Democracy Monitoring Group, however, has released a preliminary report concluding that the elections did not meet standards for free and fair elections [Daily Monitor report]. The group, which monitored polls around the country, said that there were "cases of massive vote rigging" in some polling stations. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Ohio [official website] Monday ruled [opinion, PDF] that hundreds of convicted defendants will need to be resentenced after judges handed down harsher sentences because they were considering evidence not admitted at trial. The ruling found that six parts of the 1996 Ohio sentencing law are unconstitutional because they required judges to review evidence during the sentencing phase, including prior criminal record, which defendants did not admit to during their trials. The unanimous Ohio ruling follows the 2004 US Supreme Court [official website] decision in Blakely v. Washington [syllabus] where the Court ruled that the Sixth Amendment [text] right to a jury trial prohibits judges from lengthening criminal sentences based on facts other than those decided by a jury.

A number of other states have re-evaluated their sentencing guidelines [SL&P blog post; SL&P archive] in light of the Blakely decision, including Oregon. The Supreme Court of Oregon in December said that juries could retroactively resentence as many as 400 criminal defendants [JURIST report] based on aggravating circumstances. Earlier this month, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear [JURIST report] an appeal out of California, where the state high court ruled that its sentencing guidelines, similar to the federal guidelines struck down in Blakely, were constitutional. AP has more. From Cincinnati, Sharon Coolidge and Dan Horn of the Enquirer have local coverage.

[JURIST] The New York Times [media website] sued the US Department of Defense [official website] Monday over the government's failure to release requested documents regarding the National Security Agency (NSA) [official website] domestic surveillance program [JURIST news archive]. The Times broke the story last December, reporting that the government has secretly eavesdropped on domestic phone conversations without court approval [JURIST report], and requested internal e-mails, memos and names of those spied upon through the program under the Freedom of Information Act [text]. The Pentagon has not yet released the information, however, instead saying that the request is being processed as quickly as possible. The Times asserts that the Defense Department has not contended that there are "unusual circumstances" prompting the delay, which the act requires to give the government more time to respond. In a separate FOIA lawsuit [JURIST report] filed by the Electronic Information Privacy Center, a federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to produce documents [JURIST report] relating to the NSA spying program, including the guidelines used when deciding whether to monitor an individual's communications.

US President George Bush called the leak to the Times "shameful" and the US Department of Justice [official website] is investigating the potential source [JURIST report] for the story. US Democrats from the House of Representatives also asked for a probe earlier this week to investigate whether NSA activities violate the Fourth Amendment. The Bush administration claims that it has the authority to bypass the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [text], which requires warrants for surveillance activities inside the US, by Congress in order to respond to the September 11, 2001 attacks and because President Bush is the commander in chief of the armed forces. Reuters has more.