[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled 5-4 Wednesday against issuing a stay of removal in the case of a British citizen with US permanent resident status who had been convicted of marijuana possession, domestic violence and resisting arrest in Mississippi. Kiren Kumar Bharti was granted permanent residency in 1998. Solicitor General Paul Clement argued in a court filing that although Bharti's appeals were ongoing, those could still be pursued outside the US, and that his return to the UK would not expose him to persecution. Bharti has lived in the US for close to 25 years and now has family ties in the country, including a young daughter.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, and Alito voted against the stay, with Justice Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer voting for. No reasons were given in the court order [PDF] issued late Wednesday. In April, the court agreed to hear two cases raising a similar issue of deportations pursuant to state drug convictions [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] US Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) [official website] said Wednesday that General Michael Hayden [official profile], the Bush administration's nominee for CIA director [JURIST report] replacing Porter Goss, has suggested that he might welcome a modification to the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) [text] bringing the Bush administration's domestic surveillance [JURIST news archive] program within the scope of statutory authority. Hayden, the former National Security Agency (NSA) [official website] director, has been meeting with members of Congress regarding his nomination to take over the CIA, and both Republicans and Democrats have been concerned about the role he played in designing the current warrantless surveillance program.

President Bush and other officials have thusfar dismissed suggestions [JURIST report] that FISA should be changed to officially allow the NSA to listen in on conversations without a warrant, and Hayden previously agreed in order to avoid the release of US intelligence techniques. But Durbin said Hayden commented that he may be amenable to a congressional debate on the issue if he assumes the position as CIA head. AP has more.

[JURIST] Maurice Vellacott [official website], a Conservative Party member of the Canadian Parliament [official website, English version], resigned [statement, PDF] Wednesday from his position as chairman of the House of Commons Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Committee [official website] after making comments over the weekend about Canadian judges using their roles to "play God." In an interview with CBC News on Saturday, Vellacott singled out Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin [official profile] of the Supreme Court of Canada [official website] by saying that she admitted that judges are overcome by some sort of "mystical power" when stepping onto the bench. The high court usually refrains from addressing criticism, but a spokesman for McLachlin responded and denied that she had ever made such a remark: "She has always said it is a judge's role to interpret and apply the law … but those choices are always made in accordance with legal precedents and with the laws laid down by parliament and the legislatures."

Vellacott issued a statement [text, PDF] on Monday apologizing for saying McLachlin directly made the comment, but members of Parliament from the opposition Liberal Party [party website] and leaders of the Canadian Bar Association [profession website] called for Vellacott to step down [Liberal statement]. A non-confidence motion was introduced into the twelve-member committee Wednesday with an afternoon vote scheduled that prompted Vellacott's resignation. Earlier this year during the federal election campaign, Conservative leader and now Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper [official website] was criticized by the then-governing Liberals [JURIST report] for speaking out against "activist" judges using the court system to fulfill their own agendas. CTV has more; CBC has additional coverage.

[JURIST] British Attorney General Lord Goldsmith [official profile], already a critic [JURIST report] of the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], Wednesday made a forceful public call for the shutdown of the facility. Making a speech [text] in London's Whitehall, Goldsmith reminded his audience the British government had succeeded in negotiating the return of all its nationals held at Guantanamo after it concluded that the US military commission process did not guarantee them a fair trial by international standards.

He went on to say:

...the existence of Guantanamo Bay remains unacceptable. It is time, in my view, that it should close. Not only would it, in my personal opinion, be right to close Guantanamo as a matter of principle, I believe it would also help to remove what has become a symbol to many – right or wrong- of injustice. The historic tradition of the United States as a beacon of freedom, liberty and of justice deserves the removal of this symbol.

[JURIST] British doctors belonging to the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) [profession websites] have said they oppose [RCGP statement] a bill now before the UK House of Lords [official website] that would permit terminally ill patients to choose death by euthanasia. The RCGP says it "firmly believes that with current improvements in palliative care, good clinical care can be provided within existing legislation." Over 70 percent of doctors are against the proposed euthanasia law, according to two surveys conducted by the RCP [RCP statement].

Proponents of the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill [text], partly based on the Oregon Death With Dignity Act [PDF text] which survived a US Supreme Court challenge [JURIST report] early this year, contend that the present law is not an adequate deterrent for doctors who currently perform secret assisted suicides without following the necessary safeguards. The Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill [PDF text] is up for a critical second reading vote in the House of Lords on Friday. UPI has more.

[JURIST] Judge J. Michael Luttig [SCOTUSblog backgrounder], 51, of the Richmond, Virginia-based US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] resigned from the bench Wednesday to accept a position as senior vice-president and general counsel [Boeing press release] of the Boeing Company [corporate website], the giant airplane manufacturer and defense contractor. Luttig became the nation's youngest appellate judge when he was appointed at age 37 by President George H.W. Bush in 1991, and was widely considered to be a frontrunner [JURIST report] for the US Supreme Court opening left by the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist in 2005. The conservative Luttig is a former aide and clerk to Chief Justice Warren Burger, and was a law clerk to Associate Justice Antoinin Scalia when Scalia served as a federal judge.

In his resignation letter [PDF text], Luttig thanked President George W. Bush for the opportunity to serve his country, especially during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, and said that the opportunity to serve as Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Boeing came about through "sheer serendipity." Luttig said that he was convinced to take the Boeing job because of Boeing's status as an "American icon" and their contributions to national security, as well as because of new Boeing CEO James McNerrey. NBC has more.

[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour [official profile; JURIST news archive] on Wednesday called the election by the UN General Assembly [JURIST report] of 47 member states to founding seats on the new UN Human Rights Council [official website; JURIST news archive] "very encouraging" and said [Reuters report] that there was "reason to believe that we are putting aside some of the difficulties we saw with the Commission on Human Rights." US officials including US Ambassador John Bolton [official profile] have not been as encouraged, however, noting that seats went to Cuba, Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan, countries that have been criticized by the US and international rights groups as human rights violators. Rights groups nonetheless noted that many countries with poor rights records who had been members of the Commission on Human Rights didn't seek seats on the new council, including Sudan, Zimbabwe, Libya, Congo, Syria, Vietnam, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Eritrea and Ethiopia.

In March the US led a tiny minority of 4 countries opposing [JURIST report] the resolution [JURIST document] creating the Council, insisting that it wanted more to be done to prevent abusive countries from gaining membership [JURIST report]. The new body meets for the first time in Geneva on June 19. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] A panel of the US District Court for the District of Columbia has rejected [opinion, PDF] a challenge brought by a nonprofit political interest group to the electioneering communication ban in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 [FEC materials] that prohibits TV advertisements funded with corporate or union money that mention a specific candidate from airing 30 days before a primary election or 60 days before a general election. The three judges sitting on the panel were unpersuaded by arguments made by the Christian Civic League of Maine [advocacy website], which argued that an ad mentioning US Senator Olympia Snowe's refusal to sign the Marriage Protection Amendment [text] was an example of grass roots campaigning rather than electioneering. Snowe (R-ME) [official website] is running unopposed in Maine's June 13 primaries.

The panel found that the government had a compelling interest in monitoring the integrity of the election process, and that the electioneering ban was narrowly tailored to achieve that goal. Read the transcript of the April 24 motion hearing here. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Australian and US governments will both have to approve the transfer of prisoners sentenced by US military commissions under the terms of a new agreement reached earlier this week, according to a statement from Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. The agreement, reached Tuesday, may apply to David Hicks [JURIST news archive; advocacy website], the Australian Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee facing military commission proceedings after being captured by US forces in Afghanistan in 2001. The agreement could allow Hicks to be transferred to Australia for incarceration if US authorities are in accord. Read Downer's press release, issued jointly with Australian Attorney-General Philip Ruddock.

Hicks is currently seeking UK citizenship so he can urge British officials to push for his release. His mother is a British citizen, entitling Hicks to citizenship under UK law, but the UK Home Office has so far delayed a decision Hicks' application due to public policy concerns [JURIST report]. The Home Office had sought leave to appeal [ABC Australia report] the April 12 UK Court of Appeal decision [JURIST report] holding that Hicks should be granted British citizenship. Bloomberg has more. ABC Australia has local coverage.

[JURIST] The federal government is violating First Amendment free speech rights by withholding federal HIV/AIDS funding from human rights groups working abroad who refuse to sign a pledge condemning prostitution, according to an opinion [PDF text] released Tuesday by a New York federal judge. US District Court Judge Victor Marrero said that the US Supreme Court has "repeatedly found that speech, or an agreement not to speak, cannot be compelled or coerced as a condition of participation in a government program."

The case arose from a challenge brought by several US-based human rights groups fighting HIV and AIDS abroad against a 2003 bill [OLPA materials] that conditioned federal funding on the receipt of a "pledge requirement" that prevented the groups from treating human sex workers with the disease, or from speaking about the issue. Defendants included the United States Agency for International Development [official website], which argued that the pledge requirement would encourage people to avoid sex workers. The plaintiffs were represented [press release] by the Brennan Center for Justice [academic website] at NYU School of Law. AP has more.

[JURIST] The lawyer for Moustafa Hassan Nasr [Wikipedia profile], the Egyptian cleric who CIA operatives allegedly kidnapped and moved out of Italy [JURIST news archive] to Egypt in 2003 in an instance of extraordinary rendition [JURIST news archive], has claimed that Nasr was physically beaten while in US custody. Montasser Zayat [Wikipedia profile] told Knight Ridder newspapers that Nasr informed him of the abuse in meetings in March and April, his first meetings with a lawyer since his 2003 abduction. Zayat also said that Nasr detailed his torture at the hands of Egyptian detention personnel who allegedly stripped most of his clothes away and interrogated him while he was blindfolded and bound.

Italian Prime Minister-elect Romano Prodi [BBC profile, campaign website, in Italian], who recently defeated incumbent Silvio Berlusconi, has yet to comment publicly on the Nasr case but Italian Justice Minister Roberto Castelli [official profile] said last month that the Italian government would not validate Milan prosecutor Armando Spataro's request [JURIST report] to extradite from the US the 22 CIA agents allegedly responsible for the events leading to Nasr's incarceration and abuse. Knight Ridder has more.

[JURIST] The US Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote Thursday on the controversial renomination of White House aide Brett Kavanaugh [White House backgrounder] to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. Kavanaugh faced probing questions from committee members Tuesday, one day after the American Bar Association [profession website] lowered its rating [JURIST report] of him from "well qualified" to "qualified" [ratings, PDF; White House response]. Kavanaugh was asked about his possible involvement in the development of White House policies on interrogation of Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] prisoners and detainees held abroad. He was also queried about his work with then-independent counsel Kenneth Starr during the impeachment investigation of President Clinton in the late 1990s and work he did for the Bush campaign during the disputed 2000 election. Kavanaugh denied any role in shaping Bush policies on detainees and said that in making judicial decisions he "would interpret the law as written and not impose personal policy choices."

Kavanaugh's original nomination in 2003 stalled over Democrats' concerns about his role in setting White House policy. Last week, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) [official website] said that he was considering a filibuster [JURIST report] to block him again. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) [official website] says he wants a full Senate vote on the nomination before Memorial Day. AP has more.

[JURIST] The alleged assassin of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic [BBC obituary; memorial website] has accused Serb police officers and other officials of forcing him to sign a statement that says he is responsible for the 2003 murder [JURIST report] of the Serbian reform leader outside a government building in Belgrade. Zvezdan Jovanovic initially acknowledged a role in the killing but later pleaded not guilty and through his lawyer told reporters that the forced confession involved threats against his family.

Ex-Serb paramilitary commander Milorad Ulemek, who served with Jovanovich during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s, has been accused of masterminding the murder as part of a larger plan to put more power in the hands of former leader Slobodan Milosevic [JURIST news archive]. Both men and 11 others are being detained as their trials continue. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US House of Representatives Tuesday approved a bill limiting protests during military funerals. The Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act [text] is aimed mainly at the renegade Westboro Baptist Church [WARNING: readers may find material at this church website offensive; Wikipedia backgrounder] led by the Rev. Fred Phelps in Topeka, Kansas. The group claims US soldiers have been killed because America tolerates homosexuals. The bill seeks to block unapproved protests at Arlington National Cemetery [official website] and other federal cemeteries. It also creates a 500-foot no-protestor zone around military funerals that begins one hour before a funeral and ends one hour after its conclusion if protests include loud disturbances.

Similar legislation has been passed or proposed in states such as South Dakota [JURIST report] and Oklahoma [text, RTF] and the federal legislation urges more states to pass such measures. The House measure must still be approved by the Senate. AP has more.

[JURIST] Former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark [JURIST news archive], now serving as a defense lawyer for ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive], called the trial of the former Iraqi leader "a direct threat to international law, the United Nations, universal human rights and world peace" on Tuesday before demanding that the Iraqi Special Tribunal [official website] transfer the proceedings to a different court. Clark was speaking at a news conference in Washington where he assailed the tribunal as essentially a "sectarian persecution" with Kurd and Shiite judges trying mostly-Sunni defendants. Clark has previously called for the trial to be moved [JURIST report], calling the Baghdad body a "dysfunctional court" incapable of conducting a fair hearing.

If convicted of playing a part in the murderous crackdown in Dujail [JURIST report] following a 1982 assassination attempt, Hussein and his seven co-defendants could face the death penalty. The prosecution is also preparing a second trial in which Hussein will face genocide charges [JURIST report] arising from the killings of over 100,000 Kurds in 1980. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Leading Wednesday's international brief, the High Court in London has recommended that the UK hacker behind unprecedented attacks on US military computer systems in late 2001 and early 2002 be extradited to the US to face criminal charges [US DOJ indictment]. Gary McKinnon [CNET interview; advocacy blog] is allegedly responsible for hacking into computer networks operated by several military branches as well as by the Department of Defense itself. McKinnon's lawyers say that he was motivated by a desire to uncover 'hidden technology' capable of benefiting all of mankind, which he claims is being suppressed by the US military. The final decision on whether he will be deported lies with the British Home Office [official website]. BBC News has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• Italy's parliament has elected Giorgio Napolitano [Wikipedia profile] as the country's new president. A former member of the Italian communist party, Napolitano is a popular member of the new Left Democrats and is scheduled to be sworn in on Monday. His election is the last legal requirement necessary for the creation of a new government by newly-elected Prime Minister Romano Prodi [campaign website in Italian] and represents the end of a tense legal and political struggle [JURIST report] between Prodi and former PM Silvio Berlusconi [official profile] over who would be chosen as Italy's next president. Prodi told reporters that he was expecting the call for a new executive branch to be issued by Napolitano by next Wednesday. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Italy [JURIST news archive]. BBC News has more.
  
  
• Several human rights organizations in Kenya [government website] that together form the Kenya Human Rights Network have issued a public critique of the proposed Kenyan Anti-Terrorism Bill 2006, claiming the bill represents too large an infringement on Kenyan civil rights. Under the new provisions, foreign military forces engaged in anti-terrorism operations would be guaranteed cooperation from Kenyan police and military institutions. The bill also allegedly permits the use of indefinite detention by the executive branch, and the automatic disbanding of political groups on request by the Ministry of Internal Security. The bill is part of an effort by Kenya to reject criticism from the United States that it has 'been lax' in its fight against international terrorism. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Kenya [JURIST news archive]. Kenya's East African Standard has local coverage.
  
  
• Zahira Sheikh, a witness to the notorious arson of Best Bakery [Wikipedia backgrounder] during the 2002 religious riots in the Gujarat region of India, has pleaded not guilty before a local court on charges of perjury. Scheduled to go to trial on Thursday, Zahira is alleged to have changed her testimony concerning her initial eyewitness report to police in exchange for financial compensation. Previously sentenced [JURIST report] by India's Supreme Court [judicial website], Zahira won the right to a retrial on the perjury charges. Calcutta's Telegraph has local coverage.

[JURIST] US senators working towards a compromise on key sections of an immigration reform bill [JURIST news archive] they hope to vote on by Memorial Day have tentatively agreed to toughen rules on the hiring of illegal immigrants by forcing employers to check Social Security numbers and investigate the immigration status of potential employees. The current Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 [text] sanctions employers for illegal hires but the rules have been only loosely enforced. Under the Senate agreement, fines per violation would range from $200 to $6,000 but would go as high as $20,000 if a controversial electronic screening system were implemented. Critics of the proposed electronic method such as the ACLU [immigrant rights website] and some business interests say it could have an effect similar to current no-fly lists, with legal workers being potentially barred from working because they are unable to confirm their status.

Senators involved in the negotiations include Jon Kyl (R-AZ) [official website], Chuck Grassley (R-IA) [official website], Edward Kennedy (D-MA) [official website], and Barack Obama (D-IL) [official website]. A recently-passed House immigration bill [JURIST report] also increases employer sanctions for hiring of illegals but has been criticized for harshness and its lack of a guest worker program. AP has more.

[JURIST] US District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina [official profile] has ruled that a lawsuit against US officials brought by four British citizens formerly held at Guantanamo who claim their religious freedoms were infringed during detention may go forward. Urbina found that because the Religious Freedom Restoration Act [text] applies to territories and possessions of the United States, it applies not only to government action within the continental US but to areas such at the US Naval station at Cuba's Guantanamo Bay where the US "exercises perhaps as much control as it possibly could short of 'ultimate sovereignty." The 1993 Act declares that the government may not "substantially burden a person's exercise of religion" except in specified instances.

The four men, who claim they were captured while providing humanitarian relief in Afghanistan post-9/11, have sued [Guardian report] US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld [official profile] along with 10 US military commanders claiming they suffered harassment, were forced to shave their religious beards, and watch as a guard desecrated the Koran [US military rules for Koran treatment, PDF]. They are seeking $10 million in damages. AP has more.