[JURIST] Former Fannie Mae [corporate website] CEO Franklin Raines has agreed to pay $24.7 million [press release] to settle a civil lawsuit [JURIST report] brought by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) [official website], OFHEO said Friday. In 2006, OFHEO filed the lawsuit [PDF text; press release, PDF] against Raines, former Vice Chairman and CFO J. Timothy Howard, and former Senior VP and Controller Leanne G. Spencer based on allegations that the three "improperly manipulated earnings to maximize their bonuses, while knowingly neglecting accounting systems and internal controls." Howard and Spencer also settled for $6.4 million and $275,000 respectively. AP has more.

In October 2004, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) began an investigation into whether Fannie Mae broke accounting rules to smooth earnings and boost executive bonuses; the DOJ dropped [JURIST reports] the investigation in August 2006. In May 2005, Fannie Mae settled for $400 million [JURIST report] with regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission and OFHEO for fraudulently reporting future earnings so that top executives would receive maximum performance bonuses. A derivative lawsuit filed by shareholders, which sought to force former executives and board members involved in the scandal to repay their bonuses and severance packages to the corporation, was dismissed [JURIST report] in June 2007.

[JURIST] The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) [official website] is currently investigating 2,500 cases of public corruption, a 50 percent increase from five years ago, FBI Director Robert Mueller [official profile] said in a Thursday speech [text] to the American Bar Association. Mueller also said that corporate fraud cases had increased by more than 80 percent from five years ago, due in large part to recent mortgage fraud cases. The FBI currently has over 1,300 mortgage fraud cases under investigation, including 19 corporate fraud matters related to the sub prime-lending crisis [FBI report]. AP has more.

The number of criminal cases pursued by the FBI has drastically decreased since the 9/11 attacks, according to statistics released by the Department of Justice [official website] in 2006. Those statistics revealed that the FBI has shifted its traditional focus [FBI backgrounder] on drugs and white collar crimes to terrorism.

[JURIST] Protecting human rights is vital to bridging inequalities between countries, Pope Benedict XVI [official profile] said Friday in a speech [text] to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on the third day of his visit to the United States [official websites]. The Pope said:

Experience shows that legality often prevails over justice when the insistence upon rights makes them appear as the exclusive result of legislative enactments or normative decisions taken by the various agencies of those in power. When presented purely in terms of legality, rights risk becoming weak propositions divorced from the ethical and rational dimension which is their foundation and their goal. The Universal Declaration, rather, has reinforced the conviction that respect for human rights is principally rooted in unchanging justice, on which the binding force of international proclamations is also based. This aspect is often overlooked when the attempt is made to deprive rights of their true function in the name of a narrowly utilitarian perspective. Since rights and the resulting duties follow naturally from human interaction, it is easy to forget that they are the fruit of a commonly held sense of justice built primarily upon solidarity among the members of society, and hence valid at all times and for all peoples. This intuition was expressed as early as the fifth century by Augustine of Hippo, one of the masters of our intellectual heritage. He taught that the saying: Do not do to others what you would not want done to you "cannot in any way vary according to the different understandings that have arisen in the world" (De Doctrina Christiana, III, 14). Human rights, then, must be respected as an expression of justice, and not merely because they are enforceable through the will of the legislators.

[JURIST] European Commission [official website] ministers Friday agreed [press release] on implementation of a new counter-terrorism package, including a proposal to amend the Framework Decision on combating terrorism [press release] to criminalize recruitment and training for terrorism, particularly when committed through the Internet. Despite recent criticism [JURIST report] by Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Rapporteur Dick Marty [personal website; JURIST news archive], the Commission said that the measures respect human rights and free speech concerns. AP has more.

EU Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security Franco Frattini introduced [JURIST report] the proposed anti-terror measures on behalf of the European Commission last November.

[JURIST] Maine Gov. John Baldacci [official website] signed a bill into law late Thursday that would require an applicant to show proof of US residency before being issued a state driver's license or ID card [JURIST news archive]. Forty-three other states already require proof of legal US residency to get a driver's license. The new law brings Maine closer to compliance with the REAL ID Act of 2005 [PDF text; JURIST news archive].

Initially drafted after the Sept.11, 2001 attacks and designed to discourage illegal immigration, the REAL ID Act attempts to make it more difficult for terrorists to fraudulently obtain US driver's licenses and other government IDs by mandating that states require birth certificates or similar documentation and also consult national immigration databases before issuing IDs. After controversy and strenuous opposition from civil libertarians [FindLaw commentary], it finally passed in 2005 [JURIST report] as part of an emergency supplemental appropriations defense spending bill. State lawmakers had previously expressed concern [JURIST report] about possible problems expected to accompany the implementation of the REAL ID Act, fearing that they would not be able to comply with the law's requirements before the May 2008 deadline. In March, Homeland Security responded to these concerns by extending the deadline for compliance by 18 months [JURIST report]. In January, the Department of Homeland Security issued a final rule [text; DHS backgrounder] establishing the new minimum standards [press release; JURIST report] for state-issued identification cards. AP has more.

[JURIST] US Army Col. Lawrence Morris, chief prosecutor for the Guantanamo Bay military commissions, has said that the trials of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [BBC profile, JURIST news archive] and other Sept. 11 suspects will be broadcast live via closed-circuit television to several military bases so that victims' families can watch, according to Friday media reports. Some family members applauded the decision, while others said justice would be better served if the trials were held in regular courts and open to the public at large, thereby countering any accusations of unfairness. Reuters has more.

Last September, the US Department of Defense released censored audio recordings [MP3 file] of Mohammed's Combatant Status Review Tribunal [DOD backgrounder]. The recording eliminated 10 of about 40 minutes of Mohammed's testimony [transcript, PDF], in which he said he masterminded the 9/11 attacks [JURIST report] and claimed responsibility for 29 other planned terror attacks.

[JURIST] Former Supreme Court of Pakistan [official website] justice Rana Bhagwandas [JURIST news archive] Thursday told the Lahore High Court Bar Association that the Supreme Court as currently constituted is unconstitutional, and that its ruling [JURIST report] supporting Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's November 3 declaration of emergency rule [JURIST report] is invalid. Bhagwandas said only a two-thirds majority by both houses of parliament would validate the declaration of emergency.

Bhagwandas and other justices were ousted from the court and detained under effective house arrest [JURIST reports] last November for refusing to take oaths under the Provisional Constitution Order [text as amended]. Musharraf subsequently named other justices and a new chief justice to take their place. The Khaleej Times has more.

[JURIST] A judge in Zimbabwe on Friday dismissed an attempt by opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai [BBC profile] and his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) [party website] to block a partial recount of Zimbabwe's March 29 elections [JURIST report]. Official election results have not yet been released, but independent tallies suggest that Tsvangirai won the presidential election and that the parliamentary vote gave the opposition control of parliament. A recount is scheduled for Saturday because electoral officials have found problems with 23 constituencies. Tsvangirai and MDC accuse current Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe [BBC profile] of refusing to release official election results in an effort to maintain power. On Monday, the High Court of Zimbabwe rejected a bid by the MDC to compel the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission (ZEC) to immediately release the results of the election [JURIST reports]. AP has more.

On Thursday, Mugabe and his Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) [party website] accused [JURIST report] Tsvangirai of treason, saying that Tsvangirai and Britain are conspiring to overthrow Mugabe. Zimbabwean police arrested at least 30 MDC members [JURIST report] this week after the party called for a strike to protest the nondisclosure of the election results. The police said that the MDC supporters were arrested for blocking roads and traffic and attempting to intimidate people from going to work after police announced a ban on all political rallies [JURIST report].

[JURIST] The US Senate voted 64-28 [roll call] Thursday to direct the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to open an investigation into discrepancies between the 2005 Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act (SAFETEA-LU) [text; press release] as approved in Congress and the version that was sent to the president for signature. The 2005 highway spending bill contained more than 6,000 earmarks, including $10 million earmarked for I-75 in southwestern Florida. The version that reached President George W. Bush's desk redirected the I-75 money to the "Coconut Road Interchange" in Florida. Former House Transportation Committee Chairman Don Young (R-AK) [official website] has acknowledged that he supported the Coconut Road project at the request of Florida community residents, but the specifics of how the money was redirected to Coconut Road remain unclear. Also Thursday, the Senate voted 88-2 [roll call] to pass a bill [HR 1195] amending SAFETEA-LU.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) supported [press release] the decision to urge the DOJ to investigate whether any violations of federal criminal law occurred, while Republicans raised separation of powers concerns about having Congress direct the DOJ, an executive branch agency, to open an investigation. A 2007 House bill [HR 3248 materials] returned the $10 million earmark to the original I-75 project. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Bush administration has asked the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to set aside a decision [PDF text; JURIST report] by a federal judge sitting in Vermont that allowed Vermont to regulate automotive greenhouse gas emissions. In Green Mountain Plymouth Dodge Jeep v. Crombie, the US District Court for the District of Vermont held that the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) [text] does not preempt state regulation of emission standards. The US Justice Department filed an amicus brief late Wednesday urging the appeals court to overturn the district court's ruling, as it was dependant on a California waiver [JURIST news archive] to reduce vehicle greenhouse gas emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied [PDF rejection letter; JURIST report] California's waiver request in December. In the Vermont case, the DOJ argued that the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA) [text] preempts state laws in the regulation of fuel and economy.

Vermont's standards require a 30 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2016. The California standards would have required car manufacturers to cut emissions by 25 percent for cars and light trucks, and 18 percent for SUVs, starting with the 2009 model year. California's Air Resources Board [official website] adopted the greenhouse gas standards in 2004 [press release], but it could not mandate them unless the EPA granted a waiver for the lighter CAA standards. California is the only state permitted to seek a waiver under the CAA, and other states would have had the option of choosing between the federal standards and the California standards if the California waiver had been granted. At least 11 states indicated that they would have followed the California standard. AP has more.

[JURIST] The UN-backed International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] swore in Silvana Arbia [press release] as new registrar in a ceremony at The Hague on Thursday, during which Arbia said [speech, PDF] that she intends to make protecting witnesses a priority as the ICC prepares for its first trial this year. Arbia was elected by the judges of the ICC in February, and will serve a five-year term as registrar. She will serve as the chief administrative and operational manager of the ICC.

The upcoming trial [JURIST report], scheduled for June, of former Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga [ICC materials; BBC profile] will be the first trial for the ICC since it was established six years ago. The UN News Centre has more.

[JURIST] Canada requested in 2002 that the United States not send detainee Omar Khadr [DOD materials; JURIST news archive] to Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] after his capture in Afghanistan, according to a letter submitted with court documents filed by Khadr's lawyers Thursday. Khadr's lawyers have argued that Guantanamo was an inappropriate place to detain Khadr because he was 15 years old at the time of his capture. The 2002 letter, from the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC to the US State Department, notes that both Canada and the US have laws designed for minor suspects and that those laws should prevent Khadr's transfer to the military prison. Last month, Khadr's lawyers argued [JURIST report] before the Supreme Court of Canada that the Canadian government should be compelled to turn over confidential documents [JURIST report] that they say led to Khadr's charges and are therefore necessary for a fair trial. Khadr is seeking documents that Canada allegedly provided to US authorities, along with videotapes of Khadr's 2003 interrogations at Guantanamo and uncensored transcripts.

Earlier this week, Khadr's lawyers argued [JURIST report] before a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit that the court has jurisdiction to intervene in Khadr's case to determine whether only detainees found to be "unlawful enemy combatants" may be subject to a military commission [DOD materials], or if such hearings also apply to "enemy combatants." Khadr, now 21, faces life imprisonment after allegedly throwing a grenade that killed one US soldier and wounded another while fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2002. He was charged [charge sheet, PDF; JURIST report] in April 2007 with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism, as well as spying. Khadr's trial was originally scheduled to begin May 5, but last month US military judge Col. Peter Brownback postponed the trial [JURIST report] and instead scheduled a May 8 hearing in order to hear arguments on a number of evidence issues that must be reconciled before the trial can begin. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice has opened an internal probe into whether DOJ lawyers acted improperly when advising the US Department of Defense [official websites] in a 2003 memorandum [PDF text; JURIST report] that military interrogators could employ a wide range of interrogation methods when questioning foreign detainees outside the United States without fear of criminal liability or constitutional sanction, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) [official website] said Thursday. While the DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility declined to speak about the investigation, Whitehouse said the investigation will help explain how DOJ lawyers reached the conclusion to authorize harsh interrogation methods.

The 2003 memo was released publicly earlier this month, showing that the DOJ approved a wide range of interrogation methods for the military to use - the same broad limits that the DOJ had earlier approved for the CIA. The 81-page memo was later rescinded by the DOJ. AP has more.