[JURIST] The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] said Thursday that it had reached settlements with former WorldCom CFO Scott Sullivan and six others for their roles in fraudulent adjustments and entries in WorldCom's books and records. Mark Abide, former WorldCom director of property accounting, also agreed to pay a total of nearly $130,000 as part of the settlement.

WorldCom [MCI/WorldCom website] plunged into bankruptcy in 2002 after the accounting fraud at the company was revealed. Former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers [JURIST news archive] was sentenced to 25 years in prison [JURIST news report] for his role in defrauding investors. Sullivan received a five-year sentence [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Attorneys for the US government and for plaintiffs asked the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation [official website] Thursday to consolidate more than 20 cases involving telephone companies' roles in the National Security Agency's warrantless domestic surveillance program [JURIST news archive]. The government requested that the cases be consolidated into one civil action in the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] so it could invoke the state secrets privilege and seek to have the cases dismissed, while the plaintiffs asked to have District Judge Vaughn Walker [official profile] in San Francisco handle the class-action cases. Earlier this month, Walker rejected [order, PDF] a US Department of Justice (DOJ) motion to dismiss [redacted brief in support of motion, PDF; JURIST report] on state secrets grounds a class-action lawsuit [EFF backgrounder; JURIST report] brought against AT&T. The suit alleged that the telecommunications giant violated citizens' rights to privacy as well as several federal statutes when it allowed the NSA to use its infrastructure to wiretap US citizens with suspected links to terrorism.

The federal government invoked the state secrets privilege [News Media & the Law commentary] established by the US Supreme Court in United States v. Reynolds [opinion text] in only four cases between 1953 and 1976. The Bush administration invoked the privilege 23 times in the four years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, as well as multiple times in the past year. A decision from the panel is expected in three to six weeks. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The current Mideast conflict [JURIST news archive] has halted the UN International Independent Investigation Commission [UN materials] probe into the February 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive], Beirut's Daily Star newspaper reports Friday. A source told the paper that Belgian Serge Brammertz [official profile], deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and current head of the Hariri investigation succeeding German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis [JURIST news archive], left Lebanon with most of his staff on the second day of the conflict, though some staff members have remained and may continue to work. According to the source, Brammertz's exit was an attempt to avoid any loss of evidence due to the violence.

The UN Security Council voted last month to extend the mandate [press release] of the UN commission probing the Hariri assassination for an additional year, until mid-June 2007. From Beirut, the Daily Star has more.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeal for the DC Circuit [official website] will allow the Bush administration to file briefs in yet another round of legal arguments challenging hundreds of lawsuits filed by detainees held at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. A court panel has outlined a schedule for US government lawyers and counsel for the prisoners to voice their opinions about the impact of the US Supreme Court [official website] ruling last month that found the Guantanamo military commissions [DOD materials] as initially constituted by the President lacked proper legal authorization [JURIST report]. The court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld [Duke Law case backgrounder; JURIST news archive] found that President Bush did not have authority to establish the commissions and that both military law and the Geneva Conventions [ICRC materials] barred the military commissions in their current form.

The DC Circuit has already heard arguments in the detainees' case twice, in March and last September [JURIST reports]. Lawyers for the detainees had opposed the government's request [JURIST report] for another round of briefs. The outcome of the case will determine the constitutional scope of the Detainee Treatment Act (DTA) [text] as it applies to the] detainees who have sought habeas corpus review to challenge their detentions. The DTA bars detainees from filing habeas petitions to challenge the legality of their detention but does allow them to appeal the rulings of military tribunals. AP has more.

[JURIST] A judge in Arkansas Thursday approved a $90 million settlement [JURIST report] by Google [corporate website] to resolve a class action lawsuit [PDF complaint] filed by advertisers alleging that Google and other online search engine companies overcharged for pay-per-click advertising, in which advertisers pay a fee every time an internet user clicks on their ads. Google agreed [press release] to give advertising credits that equal $4.50 for every $1,000 that was spent in advertising over the past 4.5 years. Only the lawyers who handled the case will actually receive any cash - $30 million of the settlement will be split among them.

There were over 70 objections in the case with several smaller companies arguing that they did not have the means to investigate how much they lost through "click fraud." Last month, a federal judge in Los Angeles gave preliminary approval [JURIST report] to a settlement in a similar lawsuit brought against Yahoo! Inc. [corporate website] for overcharging in pay-per-click advertising. AP has more.

[JURIST] Republican leaders in the US House of Representatives [official website] are planning to hold an additional 19 hearings [press release] on immigration [JURIST news archive] in 12 states across the country to garner support for strict border controls they say will help stop illegal immigration. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) [official website] and Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) [official website] are both sponsors of the hearings [JURIST report], which they hope will address concerns with the legislation passed by the US Senate that differs considerably from the bill approved by the House.

The Senate bill [S 2611 summary; JURIST report] allows some illegal immigrants to earn US citizenship, while the House version [HR 4437 summary; JURIST report] calls illegal immigration a felony and proposes stricter border security. The representatives are optimistic that negotiations with the Senate can begin soon in order to present a unified bill to President Bush before the November congressional elections. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Senior managers in the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) [official website] allegedly violated ethics rules by maintaining an improper relationship with an accounting firm that won more than $6.5 million in contract work related to Indian trust funds [JURIST news archive] held by the government, according to a US Department of the Interior (DOI) [official website] investigation [US News & World Report article]. The report cites several meals, drinks and golf games offered by accounting firm Chavarria Dunne & Lamey [firm website], often just days before contracts were awarded for accounting services, which the DOI has called "preferential treatment."

The office was established in 1994 to manage the Indian trusts after a class-action lawsuit [Cobell v. Norton litigation website] was filed by thousands of Indians who accused the government of mishandling billions of dollars of American Indian money [DOI Indian Trust Fund website]. Plaintiffs are currently considering an $8 billion payment [JURIST report] to settle the case. AP has more.

[JURIST] US officials Thursday denied that the US had violated British air transport safety regulations in routing "smart bombs" to Israel [JURIST news archive] through the UK, despite concerns expressed by UK Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett [official profile] earlier this week that procedures for handling the dangerous cargo were not followed. Beckett said Wednesday that a formal complaint would be made to the US if it was confirmed that any rules were broken, but British officials said they are still investigating the situation and US Department of Defense [official website] spokesman Joe Carpenter said all protocols were properly followed by the US and that the flights "comply with existing bilateral agreements."

Two cargo planes carrying GBU 28 laser-guided bombs [GlobalSecurity backgrounder] touched down at Scotland's Prestwick International Airport [website] outside Glasgow in order to refuel and allow the crew to rest before continuing on to Israel. The accusations by Beckett are expected to further criticism of British Prime Minister Tony Blair [official website] as the only other major world leader who has joined the US in refusing to demand an immediate ceasefire by Israel in the conflict in Lebanon [JURIST news archive]. Reuters has more.

8:21 PM ET - British media reported late Thursday that Blair had approved the transit flights, and that apparently two more have been confirmed for the next two weeks. From London, the Daily Mail has more.

[JURIST] Former President of Malawi Bakili Muluzi [Wikipedia profile] was released Thursday following a brief arrest, during which he was charged with 42 counts of corruption, fraud and theft, according to Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) [official website] Director Gustave Kaliwo. Kaliwo said the charges arose from allegations that Muluzi directed campaign contributions into his personal accounts. Muluzi proclaimed his innocence through his lawyer, and his United Democratic Front (UDF) [Wikipedia profile] party said the charges are politically motivated.

The Malawi [government website; BBC country profile] parliament last October adopted procedures [JURIST report] to impeach President Bingu wa Mutharika [BBC News profile], who has been accused of misusing state funds and violating the country's constitution. Muluzi hand-picked wa Mutharika to succeed him, but the current president later defected from the UDF after the UDF opposed his anti-corruption platform, and wa Mutharika formed his own party. In April, Vice President Cassim Chilumpha [official profile] was released on bail [JURIST report] but placed under house arrest three weeks after police arrested [JURIST report] him in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate President wa Mutharika. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Turkish author and journalist Perihan Magden [profile] was acquitted Thursday for defending an objector who was sentenced to four years in prison for refusing to wear his military uniform. The law in Turkey [JURIST news archive] requires any man over 20 years old to serve in the military for 15 months and does not allow conscientious objections. Magden was charged with trying to encourage individuals against serving their military obligations as she petitioned for the creation of a civilian service rather than a mandated military service requirement. The Turkish court found in favor of Magden, ruling that her opinions were a freedom of expression and were not a crime under the Turkish penal code.

Turkey is a candidate for membership to the European Union [official website] which has encouraged the country to revise provisions in the penal code [JURIST report] that allow for the easy prosecution of individuals who disagree with state policy. The current state of the law has allowed the prosecutions of several authors, journalists and editors for challenging the state's ideals. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan [BBC profile], however, has been reluctant to change the penal laws saying prosecutions hardly ever result in successful convictions. One case against author Orhan Pamuk [TIME profile; JURIST news archive] for making unfavorable remarks about Turkey's stance on genocide during World War I was dismissed [JURIST report] earlier this year, while another case against editor Hrant Dink resulted in a six-month suspended jail sentence [JURIST report] for similar opinions. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] on Thursday ruled in favor of the mother of a Chechen man who claimed that Russia failed to investigate the death of her son as required by Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights [PDF text]. Fatima Bazorkina [BBC report] brought a civil suit against the Russian government after she saw television footage in 2000 where a Russian officer ordered the execution of her son. In its judgment [text; press release], the court found that Russia violated Article 2 both in connection with the soldier's disappearance and by failing to sufficient investigate the incident; that Russia violated Article 5 protections of liberty and security through the detention of the soldier; and that Bazorkina had a right to a remedy under Article 13.

The court awarded the plaintiff 35,000 euros in damages and 12,241 euros for costs and expenses. Commentators suggest that Bazorkina's case could set an important precedent for cases involving the treatment of Chechens by Russian soldiers, as 200 similar cases are now before the ECHR. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] At a US Senate Foreign Relations Committee [official website] confirmation hearing Thursday, Democrats renewed their fight against the nomination of John Bolton [official profile] as the permanent US ambassador to the United Nations [official website]. To avoid initial opposition in the Senate [JURIST report], President Bush gave Bolton the job [JURIST report] on an interim basis last year through a recess appointment [Slate backgrounder] that expires when the new congressional session begins in January. During the hearing, Democratic senators pointed out what they described as Bolton's reluctance to amicably build consensus with other UN officials. Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) [official website], the committee's lead Democrat, said that before a confirmation vote is taken, the White House should release documents [statement, text] that the Senate requested but that the administration refused to provide when Bolton was originally nominated last year [JURIST report].

Despite the resistance, Republicans remain optimistic that Bolton will be confirmed. The chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) [official website], noted that the Senate has already embarked on an exhaustive review of Bolton's credentials [statement text] saying, "Few Executive Branch nominees have ever received more scrutiny than Ambassador Bolton." AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Marshals Service [official website] has released statistics showing that the number of threats on judicial employees, including judges, increased 63 percent from 2003 to 2005, from 584 threats to 953. So far this year, marshals have investigated 822 threat reports. The Marshals Service, part of the US Department of Justice, is responsible for protecting federal judges, prosecutors, jurors and employees [Marshals Service backgrounder, PDF].

Chief Justice John Roberts called for increased judicial protection [JURIST report] in his 2005 year-end report on the judiciary [PDF text] after the high-profile killings of a Georgia state judge and two relatives of a Chicago district court judge [JURIST reports] last year. Supreme Court [official website] Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor [OYEZ profiles] have both said in recent speeches that they have been the target of death threats. In a March address [NPR report] O'Connor - without naming names - made reference to remarks [JURIST report] by former House Majority leader Tom DeLay following the death of Terri Schiavo. DeLay had called for the impeachment of all judges involved in the case and later remarked that "the time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior." Many interpreted his remarks as a call for violence against judges. Security for judges is also becoming a national concern according to US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [official profile] who reported in March that 75 percent of the country's federal judges have requested home security systems [JURIST report] funded by the government. USA Today has more.

[JURIST] President Bush signed a bill [HR 9 text, PDF; White House backgrounder] Thursday to reauthorize expiring provisions of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) [text; DOJ backgrounder]. The provisions would have lapsed in 2007, but the reauthorization extends them through 2032. "Today, we renew a bill that helped bring a community on the margins into the life of American democracy," Bush said [official transcript] during a signing ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House. "My administration will vigorously enforce the provisions of this law, and we will defend it in court."

The House of Representatives and the Senate [JURIST reports] passed the renewal bill earlier in July. In June, some conservative Southern lawmakers unexpectedly balked [JURIST report] at two key provisions of the legislation - one requiring nine mostly Southern states with a history of race-based voter discrimination to seek DOJ approval before changing voting laws, and one requiring bilingual ballots in certain areas - that they characterized as unnecessary federal oversight. AP has more.

[JURIST] The entertainment industry and Sharman Networks [corporate website] announced Thursday that they had reached a settlement [press release] regarding Sharman's Kazaa software, which allowed illegal Internet downloads of music and movies [JURIST news archive]. The company agreed to pay "substantial" penalties - $115 million, according to a Los Angeles Times report - and to discourage online piracy by creating roadblocks for users who try to download copyrighted materials from the Internet without paying. Sharman plans to set up a lawful means for users to buy music and movies through negotiated licenses with entertainment distributors.

Members of the Motion Picture Association of America [industry association website] and the Recording Industry Association of America [industry association website] praised the settlement and expressed hope that it marks a move toward the end of Internet piracy. The industry was able to sue Sharman based on the US Supreme Court's decision [opinion text] last year allowing lawsuits against technology companies [JURIST report] that encourage the stealing of copyrighted materials online. AP has more. The Los Angeles Times has additional coverage.

[JURIST] The United Nations [official website] may sanction the Philippines [JURIST news archive] if its government continues to refuse to submit reports on human rights abuses in the country, the chairwoman of the Commission on Human Rights Philippines (CHRP) [official website] said Thursday. Purificacion Valera Quisumbing [official profile] said that Manila has not complied with UN requirements to release the reports since 1992, subjecting the country to possible "blacklisting" if it does not come forward with reasons for the long delay. Quisumbing cited a drastic rise in the number of kidnappings and killings of suspected rebels who are fighting Muslim separatists and communist rebels in the country.

The Asian Human Rights Commission [advocacy website] has requested that Manila's national police chief investigate the alleged role of soldiers in murders across the country, and Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo [official website; Wikipedia profile] is facing impeachment charges [JURIST report] related to human rights violations in the killings of leftist activists. But the charges against Arroyo are expected to fail because of her support in the lower house of the Philippines Congress. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Chief Judge Raouf Abdel Rahman [BBC profile] on Thursday ordered proceedings in the Saddam Hussein trial [JURIST news archive] adjourned until October 16, when a verdict against the ousted Iraqi president is expected to be announced. Hussein was not in court Thursday, but his former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan [Wikipedia profile] and Awad Hamed al-Bandar [Wikipedia profile], former chief of Hussein's Revolutionary Court, did attend and argued with the judge that the proceedings were a "sham."

The prosecution called for Saddam to face the death penalty [JURIST report] last month for allegedly killing, torturing and illegally detaining Dujail residents, including 148 executed Shiites [JURIST report], and for committing other inhumane acts after an alleged 1982 assassination attempt on Hussein's life. Hussein has requested execution by firing squad [JURIST report] rather than hanging if he receives the death penalty because he claims he was a member of the military. But his request is unlikely to be met; Iraqi law mandates that execution be carried out by hanging, and Saddam never actually served as a soldier but merely appointed himself commander-in-chief. He faces a second trial [JURIST report], expected to begin next month, charges of genocide against Iraq's Kurdish population. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] US Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website] Wednesday introduced legislation [S 3731] that would give Congress the power to bring lawsuits in federal court [JURIST report] to challenge presidential bill signing statements [1993 DOJ backgrounder] the constitutionality of which is in question. President Bush has used the signing statements to bypass particular provisions that he considers unconstitutional, even though he has signed the bill that includes them - perhaps most notably a law that bans the torture of prisoners held by the US. An American Bar Association task force concluded [JURIST report] earlier this week that Bush's signing statements "undermine the rule of law and our constitutional system of separation of powers." The administration has defended Bush's use of the statements [JURIST report] as "indistinguishable" from that of other presidents.

Democrats in Congress are broadly expected to support Specter's proposed bill, while Republican senators such as Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and Trent Lott (R-MS) [official websites] have voiced their opposition. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Both houses of the US Congress passed bills Wednesday that impose investigation guidelines on the Treasury Department's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) [official website; Wikipedia backgrounder], the panel that approved a Dubai-owned company to manage US ports earlier this year. The Bush administration was criticized [JURIST report] for signing off on the transaction without giving adequate consideration to national security concerns, and the deal with United Arab Emirates-owned Dubai Ports World [corporate website] eventually fell through [JURIST report]. The bills require signatures by the secretaries of the US Departments of Homeland Security, Commerce and Treasury [official websites] before the approval of any investment that involves foreign governments or may threaten key US infrastructure. They also call for 45-day investigations into any investments by companies owned by foreign governments.

CFIUS was established following the passage of a 1988 law that gives the president the authority to stop foreign transactions with the US because of national security concerns. The US Senate [official website] passed a version [S 3549 bill summary] of the bill by voice vote, while the House of Representatives [official website] approved its version [HR 5337 bill summary] unanimously. The two houses of Congress will now have to reconcile their bills. AP has more.