[JURIST] China's National People's Congress [official website] started debate Sunday on the seventh draft of a landmark private property bill [Xinhua backgrounder] intended to protect state, collective and private property [CRI report]. If passed, the legislation will be first bill in China's history to specifically protect private ownership.

The controversial bill has already sparked public debate [AFP report] on whether the law represents a serious departure from Communist values or a realistic modern view of the nation's economic position. The legislation has been in revision since its introduction in 2002 and has had more reviews than any other in the NPC's history. A review of its sixth version [JURIST report] was completed in October. In March 2004 the NPC officially enshrined private property protection in the Chinese constitution [JURIST report] by approving an amendment declaring "legal private property is not to be encroached upon." The NPC Sunday also considered legislation that would equalize tax rates paid by Chinese and foreign companies, many of which get tax breaks that some say hurt domestic entrepreneurs. AP has more.

[JURIST] Former US Army Sergeant Ricky Clousing [advocacy website; JURIST news archive], a paratrooper and interpreter who disputed the legality of the war in Iraq, was released Saturday from a military prison where he was serving a three-month sentence after pleading guilty [JURIST report] to going absent without leave for 14 months. Clousing was released 15 days early for good conduct and is headed home to Washington state.

In October, a court-martial [JURIST report] in Fort Bragg, NC, sentenced Clousing to 11 months' confinement, with all but three months suspended, under a plea agreement that allowed him to avoid a finding of desertion [JURIST report]. Clousing abandoned his post at Fort Bragg [official website] after reporting abuses committed by fellow soldiers during his five-month stint in Iraq. Clousing refused to request conscientious objector status [Selective Service backgrounder] to receive a discharge because he said he does not believe all wars are wrong. After 14 months AWOL, Clousing turned himself in [JURIST report] at Fort Lewis, WA. AP has more.

[JURIST] A federal appeals court Friday suspended a November order [PDF text] by US District Judge Richard Leon requiring the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) [official website] to reinstate certain housing payments [JURIST report] to Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive] victims. The US DC Circuit Court of Appeals suspended the order in response to FEMA's request to allow the agency to delay action on the shelter program [JURIST report] at least until March when the appeals court will hear arguments in the case.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) [advocacy website] filed the lawsuit on behalf of displaced hurricane evacuees alleging violations of their due process rights. Leon granted the plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction against the payments stoppage, maintaining that FEMA had failed to provide evacuees with adequate explanations for their denials of housing assistance and their means of appeal under the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act [text]. Leon's order also required FEMA to explain to evacuees in plain English why they are no longer eligible for funding. AP has more.