[JURIST] US officials plan to request that convicted sex offender Malcolm Watson serve his three-year probation in New York instead of Canada. According to Erie County District Attorney Frank J. Clark [official website], the request is motivated by complaints from Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant [official website]. Although Watson was sentenced by a New York court [JURIST news archive] last week for endangering the welfare of a child and third-degree sexual abuse, a plea bargain permitted him to serve his probation in Canada, where he currently resides with his family. The court prohibited Walton from entering the US except to meet with a probation officer.

The US court's decision has received considerable criticism north of the border. In a provincial parliamentary debate [PDF transcript] last week, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said, "[W]e’re very much concerned with any particular jurisdiction south of the border that might want to use Ontario as a dumping ground for convicted felons." Canadian Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day previously indicated [JURIST report] that the Canadian federal government would file an application to block Watson's entry to Canada so that it does not become "a haven for pedophiles or anyone else committing a serious crime... We don't want US courts getting the notion that we just take people here that they would have put in jail." Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has called the US sentence "outrageous," but Clark told the Canadian Press that Canadian officials have over-reacted to the sentence and made it a political issue. CBC News has more. Canadian Press has additional coverage.

[JURIST] An attorney for US Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) argued before the US DC Circuit Court of Appeals [official website] Tuesday that the leaking of an illegally-obtained phone call to the news media should be protected by the First Amendment. In March, a three-judge panel of the court ruled against McDermott [JURIST report] for releasing the tape of a phone conversation of Rep. John Boehner, now House Majority Leader [official website], ordering him to pay Boehner $700,000 in fines. The tape was recorded over a police scanner by a couple in Florida and given to McDermott, who passed it on to the media in 1996. Members of the media are concerned that if the court upholds its previous ruling, the media will encounter great difficulty obtaining information from Washington insiders.

McDermott was found guilty [opinion text] by a three-judge panel of violating 18 USC 2511(1)(c) [statute text], but in June the Court granted his petition for an en banc rehearing in front of the entire nine-judge panel. Lawyers for ABC, NBC, CBS, the Associated Press, TIME, Newsweek, and the Washington Post among others filed an amicus curiae brief [PDF] on behalf of McDermott, arguing that the First Amendment protects him and that he should not incur liability for merely receiving tapes obtained by other parties. AP has more.

[JURIST] Canada faces a lawsuit from conservationist group Friends of the Earth [official website] for failing to meet its emissions goals under the Kyoto Protocol [text, BBC backgrounder], which government officials have deemed to be untenable. The group presented a legal opinion to Canadian Environment Minister Rona Ambrose [official profile] on Tuesday stating that according to a recent government report [PDF], Canadian pollution violates international law. Friends of the Earth hope to use the Canadian Environmental Protection Act [text] to obligate the government to honor its commitments to control pollution.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, Canada agreed to reduce greenhouse emissions to 6 percent below 1990 levels by 2012; however, its emissions are currently up 26.6 percent. South Africa brought a complaint to the committee charged with enforcing the Protocol in May, listing Canada among the 15 nations that have failed to report on their progress toward achieving its goals. Canada has said that if it fails to meet targets, it will not purchase emissions credits through the European Union's Emissions Trading System [EU backgrounder]. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The nephew of former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat [CNN profile] was sentenced to a year in prison by a military tribunal Tuesday for his comments implicating the military in the assassination of his uncle over 25 years ago [BBC archive]. Talat Al-Sadat, a politician from the small Al-Ahrar [BBC backgrounder] opposition party, has protested the trial [JURIST report], as the military tribunal did not permit him to have a defense team. The media was barred from the proceedings and Egyptian newspapers have been instructed not to report on the trial.

Sadat is the second political opponent of President Hosni Mubarak [official profile] to be jailed in the past year. Former presidential challenger Ayman Nour [JURIST news archive; BBC profile], was sentenced to five years in prison [JURIST report] in December after being convicted of forging signatures required for his name to appear on presidential ballots. Sadat's conviction stems from his insinuations to the press [Aljazeera report] that Mubarak and other senior Egyptian military officials were involved in his uncle's murder. An appeal of the tribunal's verdict is not permitted, meaning that a pardon from President Mubarak is Sadat's only recourse. AP has more.

[JURIST] The retrial of five Bulgarian nurses [JURIST report] and one Palestinian doctor accused of infecting over 400 Libyan patients, primarily children [JURIST news archive], with the HIV virus was adjourned Tuesday after resuming for only one day since a five week postponement [JURIST report] caused by the illness of leading defense lawyer Othmane Bizanti. Bizanti returned to court Tuesday and once against argued that the alleged confessions were coerced through torture, a sentiment echoed by Bulgaria and its allies, including the US [JURIST report] and the European Union. According to local media, the nurses, who have been incarcerated for seven years, claim that police forced them to undress [JURIST report], tortured them with insects and dogs, threatened them with HIV infection, withheld water and prevented them from sleeping. The defense has also argued that the infections were caused by hygiene problems and neglect [Reuters report] rather than intentional acts by the medics.

The six health workers were first convicted in May 2004 and sentenced to death [JURIST reports] for deliberately infecting the children, but the Libyan Supreme Court overturned the convictions [JURIST report] in December 2005 and ordered a retrial. The defendants, detained since 1999, previously argued that the children were infected with the virus before treatment. French Professor Luc Montagnier, the co-discover of the HIV virus, testified in the initial 2004 trial that the infection had spread in the children's hospital before the Bulgarian nurses began their contracts there. The retrial is set to resume on November 4. AFP has more. From Bulgaria, Novinite.com has local coverage.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] heard oral arguments [transcript, PDF] Tuesday in Philip Morris USA v. Williams [Duke Law case backgrounder; merit briefs], 05-1256, a case challenging the punitive damages awarded in a wrongful death action against Philip Morris USA [corporate website] brought by the relatives of a longtime smoker. Earlier this year, the Oregon Supreme Court upheld a jury award of $80 million [opinion text; JURIST report] in punitive damages because the marketing tactics of Philip Morris were "reprehensible." A lawyer for the tobacco company argued that punitive damages can only be awarded for the case at hand and not to punish the company for other smokers. Although the Supreme Court sent the award back to the Oregon Court of Appeals and requested that it consider it using the guidelines for calculating punitive damages established in the 2002 Supreme Court ruling in State Farm v. Campbell [opinion], the justices in argument seemed unsure of how to apply prior rulings that limit punitive damages and contemplated sending the appeal back to the state Supreme Court once again for an explanation.

Also Tuesday, the Court heard oral arguments [transcript, PDF] in Lawrence v. Florida [Duke Law backgrounder, merit briefs], 05-8820, where the justices are considering a challenge to the rules surrounding the one-year filing deadline for making habeas corpus claims in federal court. Florida death row inmate Gary Lawrence, convicted of pre-meditated murder in the first degree, is questioning whether the deadline is suspended while the Supreme Court reviews his petition for post-conviction review. Lawrence first sued Florida for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 USC 2254 [text] after exhausting his appeals based on his claim of ineffective assistance. After the district court dismissed Lawrence's petition as being barred by the statute of limitations under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act [text], the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed [opinion, PDF], holding that Lawrence had no valid exemption from the statute of limitation. Appealing to the Supreme Court, Lawrence claimed his writ of habeas corpus should not have tolled while he waited to see if the Supreme Court would hear his case. Lawrence moreover argued that his lawyer was responsible for making the legal filings on time and highlights what critics say are problems with court-appointed attorneys for death row inmates in Florida. AP has more.

[JURIST] Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan [official website; BBC profile] has said that his government has no plans to abolish Article 301 [Amnesty backgrounder] of the country's penal code, despite warnings [JURIST report] from the European Union [official website] that it infringes upon the freedom of expression. Turkey already revised portions of its penal code [JURIST report] last year, and Erdogan said Sunday that Turkey will not change Article 301 but will consider EU suggested changes. The EU has warned Turkey that its slow progress [JURIST report] on a variety of legal and other reforms could threaten its bid [EU materials] for membership in the European Union [JURIST news archive]. Criticism of Article 301 is suspected to be included in the European Commission's annual progress report on Turkey [JURIST news archive; CIA backgrounder], due to be published on November 8.

Article 301 makes it a crime to insult the Turkish identity and has been used to prosecute human rights defenders, journalists and other members of civil society. Turkish novelists Elif Shafak [personal website], Hrant Dink and Orhan Pamuk [JURIST news archive] have all been charged under Article 301 for discussing the alleged Armenian genocide. Shafak was acquitted and Pamuk's charges were dismissed [JURIST reports], while Dink faces a retrial [JURIST report]. The Cyprus Mail has more.

[JURIST] Leading US auto supplier Delphi [corporate website] has settled [press release] civil fraud charges brought against it by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website], the SEC announced Monday. The SEC complaint [PDF text] alleged that "between 2000 and 2004, Delphi engaged in multiple schemes that resulted in Delphi materially misstating its financial condition and operating results in filings with the Commission." Specifically, the SEC alleged that:

In 2000, Delphi engaged in two fraudulent accounting and disclosure schemes, which had the purpose of and ultimately resulted in Delphi hiding a $237 million warranty claim asserted by its former parent company and inflating its net income by $202 million.

In the fourth quarter of 2000, Delphi entered into two improper inventory schemes, through which it agreed to sell approximately $270 million of metals, automotive batteries and generator cores to two third parties at year end, while simultaneously agreeing to repurchase the inventory in the following quarter for the original sales price, plus interest charges and structuring fees. The purpose and result of the schemes was for Delphi to inflate its cash flow from operations by $200 million, engineer $270 million in inventory reductions and improperly report $80 million in net income.

In the fourth quarter of 2001, Delphi solicited a $20 million lump sum payment from an IT company in return for Delphi providing new business to the IT company. Delphi agreed to repay the $20 million over five years, with interest, which made the payment, in substance, a loan to the IT company. However, in order to meet earnings forecasts for the quarter, Delphi improperly accounted for the $20 million payment as if it was a nonrefundable rebate on past business, rather than a liability.

From 2003 to 2004, Delphi hid up to $325 million in factoring, or sales of accounts receivable, in order to improperly boost non-GAAP, pro forma measures of Delphi's financial performance that were relied upon by investors, analysts and rating agencies. Hiding this factoring allowed Delphi to overstate materially its "Street Net Liquidity," a pro forma measure, during that two-year period. In addition, in one quarter, Delphi also manipulated the hidden factoring to create a false $30 million boost in its "Street Operating Cash Flow," another pro forma measure.

[JURIST] Russian human rights activists held vigil in Lubyanka Square, former KBG headquarters and current location of the Federal Security Service, in Moscow on Monday to commemorate victims of political persecution during the Soviet Era and to protest current prosecution of Russians on political grounds. International human rights group Memorial [advocacy website] told Interfax on Sunday that there are currently about 900,000 "victims of political reprisals" and said that Russian officials have not done enough to help these victims [Interfax report]. A round-table discussion on alleged political prisoners was held in conjunction with the rally to discuss new Russian laws that may infringe on certain freedoms.

Russian President Vladimir Putin [official website] has been criticized for infringing on freedoms throughout his term in office. Earlier this month, a Russian court shut down the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society [JURIST report], a Chechen human rights group that has been exposing abuses against civilians in Chechnya and providing assistance to victims of violence. The group was shut down in accordance with a new and controversial Russian NGO law passed [JURIST report] earlier this year that makes it illegal for NGOs to be headed by persons with criminal records. According to the Worldwide Index of Freedom [press release], a report measuring protection of press freedom, issued last week by Reporters Without Borders (RWB) [advocacy website], Russia fell nine places this year to rank 147th. AP has more. MosNews has local coverage.

[JURIST] US Customs and Border Patrol [official website] agents arrested significantly fewer illegal immigrants [fact sheet] attempting to cross US borders in fiscal year 2006 than in the previous year, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) [official website] reported Monday. According to the DHS report, "CBP Border Patrol agents improved border security, reducing the number of apprehensions at the borders by 8.4 percent compared with fiscal year 2005." In a press conference [transcript] Monday, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff [official profile] said that the addition of over 1,500 border patrol agents, installation of new fencing, and implementation of other immigration reforms [JURIST news archive] have added to the ultimate goal of eliminating illegal attempts to enter the US.

An August DHS study [PDF text] estimated that the number of illegal immigrants living in the US increased by half a million [JURIST report] between January 2005 and January 2006. A study released in March by the Pew Hispanic Center [research website] estimates that the number of illegal immigrants now living in the US [JURIST report] has risen to 12 million. AP has more.

[JURIST] The early release of Tommy Suharto [BBC profile] from prison Monday by court order under the Indonesian government's holiday remission program has prompted criticism that the Indonesian justice system continues to be easily manipulated by those with money and power. Suharto, whose full name is Hutomo Mandala Putra, is the son of former President Haji Mohammad Suharto [CNN profile] who has himself been the subject of a corruption investigation [JURIST report]. Tommy Suharto was serving a 10-year sentence for hiring a hitman to kill a judge [BBC report] who had found him guilty in an earlier corruption case. He was released from prison [BBC report] Monday after serving only five years due to Indonesia's tradition of reducing sentences on certain national holidays [JURIST report] to reward an inmate's good behavior. His sentence was reduced to 10 years on appeal, but his initial 15-year sentence was criticized in some quarters as too lenient.

Indonesian courts are inconsistent in reducing sentences and ordering early prison releases and Indonesia's justice minister has indicated that public opinion could factor into the decisions. Many in Indonesia have called for the judiciary to explain to the public how the decision to release Tommy Suharto was reached. Reuters has more. The Jakarta Post has local coverage.

[JURIST] US Marine Lance Cpl. Tyler A. Jackson will plead guilty in connection with the April 26 death of Iraqi civilian Hashim Ibrahim Awad [Wikipedia profile] in Hamdania [USMC timeline; JURIST news archive], Jackson's lawyer said Monday. Jackson faces court-martial [press release] on charges of murder, conspiracy, housebreaking, larceny and kidnapping, but his lawyer said that Jackson has agreed to plead guilty on lesser charges. Jackson is one of eight military personnel originally charged [JURIST report] in the Hamdania incident, where seven Marines and a Navy Corpsman allegedly left Awad by the side of the road with a shovel and AK-47 after they shot him, making Awad look like an insurgent.

US Marines Pfc. John J. Jodka and US Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos [JURIST reports] have both already entered guilty pleas. Four of the eight initially charged still face courts-martial [JURIST report], and a decision as to whether the final Marine charged, Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III [JURIST report], will face court-martial is still pending. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council [official website] sitting in London Monday upheld [ruling, RTF] the sex abuse convictions [JURIST report] of six men for committing rapes and sexual assaults against women and underage girls on the British possession of Pitcairn Island [official website] over a period of more than 30 years. The men, including the island's mayor, had asserted that English law did not apply to their case as Pitcairn Island never ratified or approved the British legal system, but the Judicial Committee rejected this argument. The six men have lost previous appeals [JURIST report], and because the Judicial Committee is still the final court of appeal for the island, they will begin serving their sentences [JURIST report] shortly.

Pitcairn Island was originally settled by descendants of Fletcher Christian who led the 1789 mutiny against Captain William Bligh on the HMS Bounty. AP has more.

[JURIST] China's National People's Congress [official website] voted Tuesday to amend the Organic Law on the People's Courts [text] so that only the Supreme People's Court [official website] has the authority to approve the death penalty [JURIST news archive]. The high court's president first hinted at death penalty reform last year and later the court said it would begin reviewing all death penalty decisions [JURIST reports].

Under the revision [Xinhua report] approved Tuesday, which will take effect January 1, 2007, all cases where the death penalty has been handed down must be approved by the country's top court, except judgments issued directly by the Supreme People's Court. Appeals of guilty verdicts will still be considered through the standard appellate process. AP has more. Xinhua has local coverage.

[JURIST] Advocacy groups filed a second lawsuit Monday against the city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania [official website] in an attempt to block the community's anti-immigration laws that will make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to reside or work in the town. The city's Illegal Immigration Relief Act [PDF text] and Landlord Tenant Ordinance [PDF text], set to take effect Wednesday [notice], mandate fines against landlords who rent to illegal immigrants [JURIST news archive] and requires tenants to register their personal contact information and pay $10 for rental permits. Landlords who do not comply face a $1,000 initial fine and an additional cost of $250 per day for each tenant. The laws also deny work permits to companies that employ illegal aliens. The laws were previously delayed from taking effect [JURIST report] while the city made revisions to the measures, following a challenge [JURIST report; complaint, PDF; ACLU materials] by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.

The plaintiffs, including several illegal immigrants, the Hazleton Hispanic Business Association, and a businessman, are now seeking an injunction against the laws, claiming they violate the US Constitution because the federal government has the exclusive power to regulate immigration [CRS study]. Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta has vigorously defended the laws, claiming [letter] that the city has seen an increase in drugs, gangs and crime since illegal immigrants have moved into the area. Barletta claims the measures do not regulate immigration but only apply to those doing business with illegal aliens. AP has more.

[JURIST] A federal jury Monday returned a $48 million verdict against Amerigroup [corporate website] and its Illinois affiliate for discriminating against pregnant women by intentionally not reaching out to them while marketing its insurance services in Illinois. The lawsuit was based on allegations made by whistleblower Cleveland Tyson, who was fired from the company in 2002 and will also receive part of the jury award for coming forward. Federal and state prosecutors said the jury award will be tripled according to requirements under the federal False Claims Act [text] and the Illinois Whistleblower Reward and Protection Act [text]. The jury also found that the company made over 18,000 false claims against Medicaid during a 3-year period. US District Judge Harry Leinenweber [official profile] will decide how much the company should pay for those charges, a number that could reach $11,000 for every instance of fraud.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan [official website] called Amerigroup's actions "unconscionable" and said the verdict will send a strong message to insurance providers in the state. Amerigroup has denied all wrongdoing, saying they had publicly announced that the company was working to limit the number of third-trimester women that it covered in order to provide "continuity of care." The company claims the state encouraged such a practice and said it plans to appeal the jury's verdict. AP has more.