[JURIST] President Bush pressed for comprehensive immigration reform in his State of Union address [text; White House initiatives summary] Tuesday night, urging US lawmakers to take action to secure US borders, enhance interior and worksite enforcement of immigration laws, create a temporary worker program, resolve "without animosity or amnesty" the status of illegal immigrants already in the US, and promote assimilation. The call contained in a speech otherwise focused on Iraq and various domestic initiatives on health care, energy and education follows the failure of House and Senate negotiators [JURIST report] to come up with agreed legislation in the last Republican-dominated session of Congress despite earlier presidential urgings [JURIST report]. Observers suggest bipartisan agreement on key points is more likely under new Democratic leadership, although perhaps without the same emphasis on strict enforcement measures like border fencing [JURIST report] that proved controversial earlier this year, although the President did sign a law [JURIST report] authorizing a 700-mile-long barrier along the Mexican border.

President Bush also called on members of the Senate to give his latest judicial nominees [JURIST report] what he labeled a "fair hearing" and a "prompt up-or-down vote," saying that he and lawmakers have a shared obligation to ensure that vacancies in the federal courts are filled.

[JURIST] State Farm [corporate website] insurance company reached a settlement Tuesday with hundreds of Mississippi policyholders whose claims were denied after Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive], bringing an end to a trial that began [JURIST report] January 9 in the US District for the Southern District of Mississippi [official website]. The agreement between State Farm and Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood [official website] will award $80 million to the more than 600 named homeowners who filed the lawsuit. Hood, who compared negotiations [press conference audio] to "a death roll with an alligator for the last two months," said the settlement also provides for an additional $50 million for thousands of other homeowners in Mississippi who did not sue State Farm after their claims were denied. That $50 million figure however, is just a minimum and could easily reach hundreds of millions, depending on the number of applicants.

Tuesday's settlement only applies to Mississippi litigants and State Farm as additional lawsuits against insurance companies still are pending in other states affected by the Katrina disaster. The settlement does, however, end Hood's investigation into allegations of fraudulent claim denials by State Farm, including allegations the company pressured its engineers to doctor their reports. In Mississippi, Hood also has also brought action against other insurance companies including Allstate and Nationwide [corporate websites]. The Houston Chronicle has more.

[JURIST] The US House of Representatives [official website] unanimously passed a bill [HR 476 summary] Tuesday to deny retirement pensions to any member of Congress "convicted of any of certain offenses," including fraud, bribery and perjury. Currently, federal lawmakers can only be stripped of their benefits for treason or espionage. The new legislation, passed by a vote of 431-0 [roll call], adds to the list the crimes of bribery, acting as a foreign agent, breaking restrictions on becoming a lobbyist, committing perjury, convincing another person to commit perjury, and conspiracy to commit one of these crimes. Some legislators even sought to go further, including Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) [official website] who failed to secure passage of an amendment that would have also put crimes such as tax evasion, wire fraud, and racketeering on the list. The House bill still needs to be reconciled with the Senate's version before a final vote can be held. Neither the House nor Senate version of the bill is retroactive.

Tuesday's unanimous vote signals House lawmakers' desire to improve their image after a year in which several bribery and influence-peddling scandals made headlines. Most notably, former US Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) [official profile; JURIST news archive] was forced to resign [JURIST report] and former US Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) [Wikipedia profile] was sentenced [JURIST report] to prison for their connections to lobbyist Jack Abramoff [JURIST news archive]. Meanwhile, former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) [Wikipedia profile] received a record sentence [JURIST report] in March 2006 for taking bribes from a defense contractor, and Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) [JURIST news archive; official website] came under investigation in a separate bribery investigation. AP has more.

[JURIST] German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier [BBC profile] said Tuesday that he was unaware of a US offer to release Guantanamo Bay detainee Murat Kurnaz [JURIST news archive], a German-born Turk, to Germany in 2002 notwithstanding a finding by a committee of the European parliament investigating CIA activity in Europe [JURIST report] that Germany refused the offer, extending Kurnaz' detention for three years. Kurnaz, arrested by US officials in Pakistan shortly after September 11, was held at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] from 2002 to 2006 and released last August [JURIST report] in response to repeated appeals to US authorities by current German Chancellor Angela Merkel [official website, in German; BBC profile]. According to the committee's findings, US and German intelligence had determined by 2002 that Kurnaz had no terrorist connections.

Steinmeier, who was chief of staff to ex-chancellor Gerhard Schroeder [BBC profile] until November 2005, called the committee's accusations "false" and "disgraceful." A separate inquiry is being conducted by the German parliament, which expects to call Steinmeier to appear between now and March. Deutsche Welle has more.

[JURIST] The US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] Tuesday postponed the scheduled sentencing of former US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) [official website] commissioner Dr. Lester M. Crawford [official profile] until February 27. Crawford previously pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to misdemeanor charges [criminal information, PDF] of conflict of interest and false writing [US Code text] in October. Crawford's lawyer and representatives from the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia [official website] had reportedly reached a deal providing for Crawford to receive probation and a fine of $50,000 without imposing any jail time, but US Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson [official profile] decided to delay Crawford's sentencing Tuesday because the two sides had not explained to the court why they did not follow federal sentencing guidelines in agreeing upon a punishment. AP has more.

The charges against Crawford stemmed from a grand jury investigation [JURIST report] begun after the New York Times reported [text] in October 2005 that Crawford and/or his wife had failed to disclose their ownership and sale of stock in FDA-regulated companies, such as Embrex, Sysco, Teleflex and PepsiCo [corporate websites]. Crawford resigned [JURIST report] after serving only two months as FDA commissioner in September 2005.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation [official website] has upheld a prior ruling to shut down the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society [advocacy website], a small NGO that reported on human rights violations and disappearances in the Northern Caucasus. The group was first shut down in October [JURIST report] after a lower court applied a controversial law [JURIST report; JURIST news archive] supported by President Vladimir Putin that bans NGOs headed by persons with criminal records. One month after the enactment of the law, RCFS co-founder Stanislav Dmitriyevsky was convicted of inciting racial hatred [JURIST report].

The ruling was immediately denounced by human rights groups such as Amnesty International [press release]. Maureen Byrnes, Executive Director of Human Rights First [advocacy website], commented [press release] that the decision "sends a chilling message to all independent critics of the Russian government’s human rights practices." Dmitriyevsky has already announced plans to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights [official website]. Index for Free Expression has more.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation [official website] has upheld a prior ruling to shut down the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society [advocacy website], a small NGO that reported on human rights violations and disappearances in the Northern Caucasus. The group was first shut down in October [JURIST report] after a lower court applied a controversial law [JURIST report; JURIST news archive] supported by President Vladimir Putin that bans NGOs headed by persons with criminal records. One month after the enactment of the law, RCFS co-founder Stanislav Dmitriyevsky was convicted of inciting racial hatred [JURIST report].

The ruling was immediately denounced by human rights groups such as Amnesty International [press release]. Maureen Byrnes, Executive Director of Human Rights First [advocacy website], commented [press release] that the decision "sends a chilling message to all independent critics of the Russian government’s human rights practices." Dmitriyevsky has already announced plans to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights [official website]. Index for Free Expression has more.

[JURIST] The Iraqi High Tribunal [official website] heard more tapes on Tuesday in which the voice of defendant Ali Hassan al-Majid [JURIST news archive; BBC profile] vowed to "leave no Kurd [alive] who speaks the Kurd language" and to "wipe them out." The genocide trial [JURIST news archive; BBC trial timeline] of al-Majid, a cousin of Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] known to the Western media as "Chemical Ali," resumed last week. Following the December 30 execution of Hussein [JURIST report], the trial has focused on al-Majid and five other former Hussein regime officials alleged to be instrumental in the deaths of some 180,000 Kurds during the so-called "Anfal" campaigns [HRW backgrounder] of the 1980s.

Al-Majid told the court that his anti-Kurdish statements were used as a battle tactic to intimidate the "anti-government forces" against which he fought. In other portions of the tapes, al-Majid was heard referring to current Iraqi President Jalal Talabani [official website, in Arabic; BBC profile] as a "wicked and a pimp" for attempting to reach a truce. After refusing to make an opening statement in the absence of his lawyer, Al-Majid told the court he would face death "with open arms." AFP has more. AP has additional coverage.

[JURIST] A European Parliament (EP) [official website] special committee adopted a report [EP press release, DOC] Tuesday alleging that some EU nations knew about CIA activity in Europe including the existence of secret flights and CIA-operated secret prisons [JURIST news archive]. The European Parliament committee on CIA activities in Europe (TDIP) [official website] concluded according to an EP press release that "over one thousand CIA-operated flights used European airspace from 2001 to 2005 and temporary secret detention facilities 'may have been located at US military bases' in Europe" and criticized "the passivity of some Member States in the face of illegal CIA operations." The report will be presented to the full EP for a vote in February. AP has additional coverage.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] said Tuesday in a new briefing paper [materials] that some of the same EU nations have not complied with international standards to uphold the worldwide ban on torture. HRW said the EU nations had relied on false "diplomatic assurances" when returning suspected terrorists to high-risk countries. Reuters has more.

Last week, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett [official profile] admitted in a written response to a parliamentary question [text] that Britain was "aware of the existence of a secret US detention program" prior to a September speech [JURIST report] by President Bush acknowledging the existence of the CIA-operated prisons for terror detainees. In November, a report released [JURIST report] by the TDIP committee concluded that 16 EU countries cooperated with the CIA "passively or actively" [AFP report]. The European Parliament investigation was launched after the existence of the secret prisons [JURIST report] was first mooted in press reports in late 2005.

1/29/07 - The committee's final report [DOC text] is now available.

[JURIST] Thirty Democratic members of the North Carolina General Assembly [official website] urged [press release, DOC] Gov. Mike Easley [official profile] on Tuesday to implement an immediate suspension of all state executions until an investigation shows that the state's execution protocol meets constitutional standards so as not to amount to cruel and unusual punishment. State senators are also expected to submit a bill that would create a legislative commission to study lethal injections. According to North Carolina Sen. Eleanor Kinnaird [official profile], the letter to Easley [text, DOC], which references Florida Governor Jeb Bush's recent issuance of a moratorium on executions [JURIST report] in that state, is "in response to the mounting evidence that the procedure used to execute prisoners in North Carolina has the potential to cause undue and excruciating pain."

Earlier this month, a New Jersey State commission recommended [JURIST report] that that state abolish the death penalty completely, replacing it with a life sentence without the possibility of parole. If the commission's report makes its way into law New Jersey will become the first US jurisdiction to ban capital punishment in over 35 years. In December, a federal judge in California effectively suspended capital punishment there [JURIST report] by ruling that that state's lethal injection procedure creates "an undue and unnecessary risk" of cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution. In its 2006 year-end report [PDF text; press release], the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) [advocacy website] noted that the number of death sentences issued in 2006 reached the lowest level in 30 years [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] The office of Israeli Attorney General Menahem Mazuz [official profile] said Tuesday that there is enough evidence to indict Israeli President Moshe Katsav [official website] on various charges, including rape, sexual harassment, abuse of power and obstruction of justice [JURIST report]. Formal charges, however, can only be made once a hearing is held [Reuters report] in which Katsav will be allowed to present his case. Katsav has rejected the allegations against him and maintains that his innocence will be proven once a hearing is held. In October 2006, Katsav declined Mazuz's recommendation that he voluntarily suspend [JURIST report] his presidential duties pending the conclusion of the criminal investigation.

Police initially recommended the indictment following a three-month investigation covering at least 10 complaints against Katsav by former employees. The Israeli presidency, which Katsav has held since 2000, is largely ceremonial with real power vested in the prime minister [official website]. Katsav currently has immunity, but can be impeached or prosecuted after he leaves office. BBC News has more. The Jerusalem Post has local coverage.

[JURIST] The trial of former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby [defense website; JURIST news archive] began Tuesday as the prosecution and defense attorneys delivered opening statements in the CIA leak case [JURIST news archive]. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald [official profile] told the jury in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia that when Libby was asked about an alleged leak to reporters, he lied to the FBI and grand jury [AP report]. Defense attorney Theodore Wells [official profile] countered that the White House was lying about Libby's involvement in order to protect disclosures made by presidential aide Karl Rove, in an attempt to make Libby a scapegoat [AP report]. US District Judge Reggie B. Walton [official profile] also denied a defense motion for jury instructions explaining memory loss and refused to allow the defense to present expert testimony on the subject. AP has more.

Libby is charged with perjury and obstruction of justice [indictment, PDF; JURIST report] in connection with the investigation into the leak of former CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. Libby's defense team has indicated that they plan to call [JURIST report] Libby's former boss, Vice President Dick Cheney [official website], to testify and that Libby also plans to take the witness stand himself. US Judge Walton has denied a request [JURIST report] from several news organizations seeking the daily release of audio recordings of arguments and testimony.

[JURIST] A military judge in Israel on Tuesday ordered the release of Imam Fawaz Damra, former leader of Ohio's largest mosque, the Islamic Center of Cleveland [official website], claiming there was insufficient evidence to hold him. Damra's lawyer told AP that the release order came after the court refused to grant a prosecution request to extend his detention. Damra was arrested by Israeli authorities in early January after he was deported to the West Bank via Jordan [JURIST report].

Born in the Palestinian Authority, Damra was indicted [text, PDF] in the US in 2003 on charges of concealing ties to alleged terrorist groups when he applied for US citizenship; he was sentenced [JURIST report] in 2004 by an Ohio district court to two months in federal prison and four months of house arrest. Prosecutors also asked for a revocation of Damra's citizenship, but the judge did not rule on the issue at the time. He was arrested in Ohio in late 2005 as a threat to national security and agreed to deportation in January 2006 rather than face new charges of terrorist ties; the process was delayed [Plain Dealer report] as officials sought a nation to accept Damra. AP has more.

[JURIST] Federal prosecutors have accused lawyers for alleged terrorist Jose Padilla [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] of violating a protective order that bars distribution of sensitive documents after one of the lawyers admitted to leaking classified government wiretap transcripts to the New York Times, which lead to a January 4 report in the newspaper. The defense team has said the leak did not violate the protective order. A federal court hearing is set for Wednesday to address the accusation. The Miami Herald has more.

Padilla, a US citizen initially suspected of planning to set off a radioactive "dirty bomb" [NRC factsheet] in the United States and classified in 2002 as an enemy combatant subject to indefinite detention, was indicted [JURIST report] in late 2005 on unrelated terrorism charges. He was transferred to civilian custody [JURIST report] in January of last year and has pleaded not guilty [JURIST report]. His trial is scheduled for April 16.

[JURIST] The UK Council of Circuit Judges [official website] which represents British judges in England and Wales has dismissed British government proposals [consultation paper, PDF] designed to increase rape convictions in the country, which have hit a record low [BBC report]. The proposals advanced last spring include efforts to help jurors understand rape victims, such as using expert witnesses to dispel rape myths in court and showing the jury videotaped interviews with victims when they first go to the police. The plan also includes a proposal to redefine the capacity to consent in an effort to clarify when a woman is too intoxicated to consent.

The judges say the proposals are too complicated. One circuit judge told The Guardian newspaper: "The line [between capacity and incapacity] is something that is probably best left to a jury to decide on all the evidence. They will hear what the parties say, what happened, and so on. At what point does the law say this person is incapable?" Many government officials in the UK nonetheless believe the reforms are necessary to prevent rape cases from falling apart as was the case in a notorious 2005 Welsh rape case [BBC report] in which the court ruled that the victim had been too drunk to remember whether she had consented to intercourse. Rape convictions in the UK declined from 33 percent in 1977 to 5.29 percent in 2004. The Guardian has more.

[JURIST] The International Court of Justice (ICJ) [official website] Tuesday denied a request by Uruguay [case materials, in Spanish] to force Argentina to put a stop to protestors blocking major roads and bridges between the two nations in an effort to halt Uruguay's construction of two paper mills along the river that separates the states [ASIL case backgrounder]. The court, voting 14-1, ruled [order, PDF; press release] that at present the blockades have not caused an "imminent risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights of Uruguay." Uruguay, however, says its tourism and trade industries will suffer drastically if the blockades remain in place.

In July 2006, the ICJ voted against forcing Uruguay to stop construction [JURIST report] of the two papers mills, saying then that Argentina failed to prove that the construction of the mills "constitutes a present threat of irreparable economic and social damage." Argentina claims Uruguay's construction of the paper mills breaches the international Statute of the River Uruguay, which calls for prior consultation and mutual agreement about actions that could affect the river. Both countries signed the treaty in 1975. Uruguay has a significant economic stake in the $1.9 billion project, which officials hope will create 600 jobs and increase exports by 15 percent. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A coalition of businesses and environmental groups on Monday called for federal legislation to limit emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. In a letter to President Bush a day before his State of the Union Address [White House materials], the US Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) [advocacy website] advocated a "cap and trade" system [press release], in which companies whose emissions exceed mandatory limits could buy credits from companies that produce less pollution. "This approach will ensure emission reduction targets will be met while simultaneously ... stimulat[ing] investment and innovation in the technologies that will be necessary to achieve our environmental goal," USCAP wrote in A Call for Action, a 16-page report [PDF text] released by the group Monday. Specifically, USCAP recommended that Congress set short-term and long-term targets for cutting emissions, ranging from a 10 percent reduction within 10 years to as much as 80 percent by 2050.

Scientific research suggests [NYT report] that man-made greenhouse gases contribute to global warming [EPA backgrounders]. USCAP's 14 members include large corporations such as Alcoa, BP America, DuPont and General Electric [corporate websites] as well as the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and the World Resources Institute [advocacy websites]. Its report is the culmination of a year-long effort. White House press secretary Tony Snow responded to the USCAP proposal [Bloomberg News report] during his daily briefing [transcript], noting that although Bush opposes mandatory CO2 limits, he will discuss alternatives to fossil fuels in his address to Congress on Tuesday. AP has more. C-SPAN has recorded video of the USCAP press conference.

In September, California became the first US state to restrict greenhouse gas emissions [JURIST report] when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill [text] authorizing a state board to set emissions targets for various industries. The law is intended to cut emissions 25 percent by the year 2020. Among other efforts to address the problem, several Northeastern states have joined [Providence Journal report] the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative [group website], which aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants through a regional cap-and-trade program. Meanwhile, Iowa last week became the latest Midwestern state to sign on [Radio Iowa report] to the Lake Michigan Air Directors Consortium [group website], which hopes to establish a voluntary registry for companies to report their emissions-reduction efforts.

At the federal level, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments [PDF transcript; JURIST report] in November in Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency [docket; merits briefs; Duke Law case backgrounder], which presents the question of whether the federal Clean Air Act [text] requires the EPA to regulate automobile emissions. A decision is expected later this year.

This report was prepared in partnership with the Pittsburgh Journal of Environmental and Public Health Law.

[JURIST] The city council of Farmers Branch, Texas [official website] Monday unanimously approved revisions to a city ordinance requiring apartment renters to show proof of US residency and penalizing landlords who rent to illegal immigrants [JURIST news archive]. The original ordinance was set to take effect earlier this month, but a judge issued a temporary restraining order after the Dallas suburb was sued [JURIST reports] by civil rights organizations, property owners and residents. The revised ordinance [text, DOC] will not require minors and tenants who are 62 years of age and older to prove their immigration status, and will allow lease renewals if the renters are currently tenants, the head of household or spouse is in the US legally, and the family includes only the spouse, their minor children or parents.

Before taking effect, the revisions will be subjected to a May 12 vote by citizens of Farmers Branch, according to a petition submitted by opponents of the original ordinance. A spokesman for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund [advocacy website], a civil rights group suing the city, said the revisions do not change the overall effect of the anti-immigration measure. AP has more.

[JURIST] The head of Catholic bishops in Italy Monday denounced a plan by the Italian government to give same-sex couples [JURIST news archive] many of the rights that heterosexual couples enjoy. Cardinal Camillo Ruini [Wikipedia profile] spoke to a conference of Italian bishops and said same-sex unions went against the basic purpose of marriage - to produce children. The proposed legislation [JURIST report] is being offered by party members of Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi [official website; BBC profile] and would give same-sex couples combined medical insurance, the right to visit their partner in prison or hospitals, inheritance rights, and decision-making authority should one partner become sick.

Ruini was criticized by leftist party members for seemingly creating his own "political agenda," but conservative politicians lauded his remarks as protecting rights due only in traditional marriages. Ruini also spoke against allowing living wills in Italy [JURIST news archive], saying it would lead the way for increased instances of euthanasia, and defended the Catholic Church's decision to deny a church funeral [BBC report] to Piergiorgio Welby [profile, in Italian; JURIST report] who asked a doctor to remove his respirator. AP has more.

[JURIST] US Army Col. Michael Steele has been formally reprimanded for giving improper orders to soldiers in Iraq, leading to the deaths of four unarmed Iraqi civilians [JURIST report] near Samarra last May, according to recent reports by two US Defense Department officials. Military documents indicate that Steele, a subject of the book and movie Black Hawk Down [Wikipedia backgrounder], led his soldiers in the Third Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division [GlobalSecurity backgrounder] to believe that they did not need to distinguish enemy combatants from non-combatants during a raid. The investigative report by Brig. Gen. Thomas Maffey did not suggest that formal charges be filed against Steele in the four deaths, including that of a 70-year old Iraqi man, because of Steele's "honest belief" that the soldiers would face hostile fire in the mission, even though that did not occur.

Steele was formerly reprimanded in private for not reporting the deaths or details of the mission and was reassigned to an administrative position. The reprimand essentially prevents him from being promoted to general. Four soldiers of Steele's brigade were charged [JURIST report] with premeditated murder in the incident, but two have since pleaded guilty to lesser charges [JURIST report]. The New York Times has more.