[JURIST] Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saturday his government might have to review relations with countries that criticized Saddam Hussein's execution [JURIST report], calling last Friday's hanging a domestic affair. In a speech in Baghdad celebrating the anniversary of the founding of the Iraqi army, he said, according to Iraq's independent VOI news agency:

[T]he Iraqi government views reactions shown by some countries and governments as an act of incitement, sedition, flagrant interference in Iraq's affairs and an insult to the feelings of Iraqi families...The Iraqi government may have to reconsider its relations with any country that does not respect the Iraqi people's will based on joint interests and reciprocity...

We consider the execution of the dictator (Saddam) as an internal affair that has to do exclusively with the Iraqi people, and consequently we reject and condemn all acts and statements made by some governments, whether officially or through the mass media...We are really amazed about statements made by some governments lamenting the death of Saddam on the pretext that his execution took place on a holy day although these governments know quite well that Saddam had profaned all sanctities throughout 35 years...Where were these organizations when crimes against humanity, mass graves, executions and massacres that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and people of neighboring countries were rampant in Iraq?

[JURIST] US Marines Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich shot five unarmed Iraqi civilians ordered out of a white taxi after his unit took casualties in a roadside bombing in Haditha last November, according to a Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) [official website] report obtained by the Washington Post. The Post reported Saturday that Iraqi eyewitnesses saw Marines order four students and the taxi's driver out of the vehicle and then Wuterich shoot them one by one from about 10 feet away. Wuterich was one of eight Marines charged [list of charges and specifications; JURIST report] last month in connection with the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha. AP has more.

The deaths prompted two separate military investigations: one conducted by the NCIS aimed at determining whether to prosecute the soldiers involved, and an investigation into decisions made by Marine leadership led by US Army Major General Eldon Bargewell [Wikipedia profile]. Wuterich said last year that his unit followed the rules of engagement [JURIST report] and did not purposefully attack civilians. In August, Wuterich filed a defamation and invasion of privacy lawsuit [complaint, PDF] against Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) [official website], alleging that Murtha falsely accused him of war crimes during press conferences where Murtha discussed [JURIST report] the Haditha killings.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] Friday granted certiorari in seven cases [order list, PDF], including a capital case, an endangered species case, and two labor-related cases among others. In the Texas death row case Panetti v. Quarterman (06-6407) [docket], the Court will determine whether it is unconstitutional to execute an mentally ill individual who has a delusion about the actual reason he faces execution despite being factually aware of the reason. Scott Louis Panetti [advocacy website] knew he was being executed after killing his wife's parents, but he believed that it was actually because he was "preaching the gospel." The endangered species case stems from two consolidated cases, National Association of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife (06-340) [docket] and EPA v. Defenders of Wildlife (05-549) [docket; cert. petition, PDF], and allows the Court to examine whether the Endangered Species Act [text] permits the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [official website] to transfer permitting authority for the discharge of pollutants to the state of Arizona.

In one labor-related case, BCI Coca-Cola Co. of Los Angeles v. EEOC (06-341) [docket; cert. petition, PDF], the Court will determine whether an employer may be held liable for a subordinate worker's alleged bias where the worker did not make the employment decision at issue. In a second labor-related case, Long Island Care at Home v. Coke (06-593) [docket; cert. petition, PDF], the Court will decide whether home care workers employed by outside agencies, not directly by families, should receive overtime pay. In other cases, the Court will examine federal law liability for lost or damaged freight, whether private prep schools can talk to prospective student athletes despite their voluntary agreement to obey a no-recruiting rule, and whether courts may consider inferences of innocence when deciding whether someone sued for federal securities violations has a guilty state of mind. SCOTUSblog has more.

[JURIST] Umran Javed, a British Muslim, was convicted of incitement to murder and race hatred [BBC report] Friday after leading a February 2006 protest [BBC report] against the publication of satirical Danish cartoons depicting Muhammad [JURIST news archive] outside the Danish Embassy in London. Javed was taped leading the chant, "Bomb, bomb, Denmark, bomb, bomb USA." He testified that it was just a soundbite and he was caught up in the moment.

Mizanur Rahman, another demonstrator at the same protest rally, was similarly convicted of incitement [JURIST report] in November. The charges levied at Javed and Rahman followed intense public outrage [JURIST report] after British media broadcast images of protestors holding signs that included inflammatory declarations, such as "Europe, your 9/11 will come" and "be prepared for the real Holocaust." AP has more.

[JURIST] Revised charges against a group of Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] prisoners will be drawn up by the US military by February, with first evidence to be presented by this summer according to the chief prosecutor for the commissions speaking to Reuters Friday. US Air Force Colonel Moe Davis cautioned that the timetable could change as the judicial process continues. Davis also said that he was very likely to recommend the death penalty for some of the 14 high-value detainees [DNI backgrounder, PDF] moved to the camp [JURIST report] from CIA secret prisons in September.

The terror detention camp at Guantanamo Bay will mark its fifth anniversary on January 11. Since its inception, Guantanamo has seen 770 prisoners, only 10 of which have been charged. Today, 395 captives remain. The US Supreme Court effectively dismissed the charges against the original 10 defendants accused of terrorism in June when it rejected President Bush's initial military commission system [JURIST news archive], saying it was created without proper authorization from Congress. In response, the Republican-dominated Congress created a new military tribunal system this past September when it passed the Military Commissions Act [JURIST news archive]. Final rules governing trials conducted under the Act are being drafted by the Pentagon, and their release is expected in mid-January. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] FBI [official website] records [parts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6] released Thursday shed light upon late US Chief Justice William Rehnquist's [Wikipedia biography; JURIST news archive] public battle with prescription drug dependency [Reuters report] in the early 1980s. The records reveal that he was prescribed a powerful sleeping aid when he was an associate justice, which he took for over a decade. Rehnquist also took Placidyl [WebMD patient fact sheet] to alleviate chronic back pain, sometimes three times the recommended dosage.

In 1981, he suddenly stopped taking the drug. FBI records indicate that after Rehnquist checked himself into George Washington University Hospital [official website], he exhibited a common symptom of Placidyl-withdrawal and became delirious. Believing that the CIA was plotting against him, he fled the hospital in his pajamas [Washington Post report]. Rehnquist entered into a month-long drug detoxification program the next year to wean him of his dependency.

As a result of his drug use, Rehnquist developed slurred speech, a known side effect of Placidyl. The FBI records state that the Rehnquist's back pain also led to his abuse of Darvon [WebMD patient fact sheet] and Tylenol 3, both of which may have contributed to his condition [Washington Post report]. The records were release in response to Freedom of Information Act [text] requests filed by media organizations and academics in 2005. The delay in disclosure was due to privacy law which forbids public release of personal files during the subject's lifetime. AP has more.