[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] granted certiorari [order list, PDF] Friday in six cases. In Forest Grove School District, Petitioner v. T. A. [docket; cert. petition, PDF], the Court will consider whether the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) [text] permits a tuition reimbursement award against a school district and in favor of parents who unilaterally place their child in private school, where the child had not previously received special education and related services under the authority of a public agency. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled [opinion, PDF] that such reimbursement is not barred.

In Safford United School District #1 v. Redding [docket; cert. petition, PDF], the Court will consider whether the Fourth Amendment prohibits public school officials from conducting a search of a student suspected of possessing and distributing a prescription drug on campus in violation of school policy. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit determined [opinion, PDF] that the student's rights were violated.

In Cuomo v. Clearing House Association [docket; cert. petition, PDF], the Court will consider whether the New York State Attorney General is permitted to take certain measures to enforce state fair lending law against national banks by subjecting those entities to "visitorial powers" under 12 U.S.C. § 484 and 12 CFR § 7.4000 [texts]. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held [opinion, PDF] that the Attorney General's actions were not permitted.

In Nijhawan v. Mukasey [docket; cert. petition, PDF], the Court will consider whether convictions for mail, bank, and wire fraud qualify as an aggravated felony under the Immigration and Nationality Act [text], subjecting petitioner to lifetime banishment from the US. The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled [opinion, PDF] that the convictions qualify as an aggravated felony.

In Bobby v. Bies [docket; cert. petition, PDF], the Court will consider whether the Double Jeopardy clause is violated by the holding of a state post-conviction hearing to determine the mental capacity of a capital defendant whose death sentence was affirmed before the 2002 Supreme Court ruling in Atkins v. Virginia [opinion, PDF], which barred the execution of mentally retarded defendants. The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held [opinion, PDF] that there was a Double Jeopardy violation.

In U.S. ex rel. Eisenstein v. City of New York [docket; cert. petition, PDF], the Court will consider whether the 30-day time limit in Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure [text] 4(a)(1)(A) for filing a notice of appeal, or the 60-day time limit in Rule 4(a)(1)(B), applies to a qui tam action under the False Claims Act, where the United States has declined to intervene in that action. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found [opinion, PDF] that the time limits apply.

[JURIST] Outgoing Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website] director Michael Hayden [official profile] during a Thursday press conference defended the controversial interrogation techniques used to gather information in the "war on terror." Hayden strongly defended [AP report] the CIA-termed "enhanced interrogation techniques," including waterboarding [JURIST archive], a practice Hayden banned from use in 2006. While admitting these interrogation tactics were harsh and coercive, Hayden promoted their effectiveness, stating that the CIA was able to obtain valuable information because of their use. Hayden also stressed the legality of the CIA's actions [US News and World Report], reiterating previous assertions that the CIA did not engage in any tactics that were illegal [JURIST report].

Hayden's press conference was held in the midst of a week of increased scrutiny over controversial tactics employed by the US government in the war on terror. The chairman of the US House Judiciary Committee [official website] on Tuesday published a report [text, PDF] urging Obama to open a criminal investigation [JURIST report] into the alleged abuses that have occurred at Guantanamo Bay throughout the Bush administration. On Wednesday, the Military commissions overseer stated that the US military used torture tactics in interrogating a suspect in the 9/11 attacks. On Thursday, Attorney General nominee Eric Holder [JURIST archive] stated in his Senate confirmation hearing [JURIST report] that he believed waterboarding was tantamount to torture.

[JURIST] The Chairman-Designate of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Mary Schapiro [professional profile] on Thursday expressed her commitment to reinvigorate enforcement [testimony, PDF; video] at the SEC during her confirmation hearing [materials] before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs [official web site]. Schapiro said that "it is imperative that the SEC be given the resources and the support it needs to investigate and go after those who cutcorners, cheat investors, and break the law." She said that she will work aggressively to ensure SEC enforcement and to deepen the agency's "commitment to investor protection, transparency, accountability, and disclosure," emphasizing that the SEC once again "must play a critical role in reviving our markets, bolstering investor confidence, and rejuvenating our economy." The committee's approval confirming Schapiro's nomination is pending.

President-elect Barack Obama named [JURIST report] Schapiro as the new SEC chairman last month. Schapiro is currently the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Financial Industrial Regulatory Authority (FINRA) [organization website], an independent regulator of US securities firms. Schapiro's appointment comes at a time of financial turmoil in the US and concern about the SEC's regulatory process in the wake of charges filed [complaint, PDF; JURIST report] against Bernard Madoff [JURIST news archive] and his securities firm for an alleged $50 billion fraud scheme. On Thursday, Attorney General nominee Eric Holder [professional profile; JURIST news archive] expressed his commitment to investigate and prosecute financial fraud [JURIST report] to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary [official website] during his confirmation hearing [materials].

[JURIST] The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] on Thursday ruled [judgment, in French; press release] in favor of French publishers Olivier Orban and Xavier de Bartillat who were convicted in France in 2002 of defending war crimes and aiding and abetting that offense, respectively. The court held that their prior conviction, based on the publication of the book Services Spéciaux Algérie 1955-1957, was a violation of their freedom of expression as per Article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights [text, PDF]. The court awarded the publishers €38,041 in damages and costs.

The book, written by General Aussaresses about the Algerian War, describes torture and summary executions carried out by the author and implicates government officials. The original criminal case also resulted in the conviction of Aussaresses and the publishing house, Editions Plon [company website]. The ruling may be embarrassing for France but is not the first of its kind. In 2007, the ECHR ruled [JURIST report] that Belgium had violated Article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights for the search and seizure of a journalist's home after he reported on alleged fraud in the EU.

[JURIST] The US federal government acted within the Constitution when it compelled a telecommunications company to assist in warrantless surveillance [JURIST news archive] of certain customers, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review (FISC) [official backgrounder] said in a ruling [opinion, PDF] released Thursday. The redacted decision, dated August 22, 2008, was a response to the unnamed firm's challenge to government demands made under the since-expired Protect America Act (PAA). The court asserted a national security exception to the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement for surveillance "directed at a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power reasonably believed to be located outside the United States." The court also rejected an argument that the government failed to comply with the Fourth Amendment's reasonableness requirement, finding sufficient safeguards in the Attorney General's finding of probable cause and a 90-day limit on surveillance. The court stressed that it was ruling on the particulars of the case:

[W]e caution that our decision does not constitute an endorsement of broad-based, indiscriminate executive power. Rather, our decision recognizes that where the government has instituted several layers of serviceable safeguards to protect individual against unwarranted harms and to minimize incidental intrusions, its efforts to protect national security should not be frustrated by the courts. This is such a case.

[JURIST] The US has not formally asked the European Union (EU) [official website] to accept detainees from Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] following US President-elect Barack Obama's planned closing [JURIST report] of the facility, according to a Thursday statement from European Commission vice president Jacques Barrot [official profile] during the Informal Meeting of Ministers for Justice and Home Affairs [press release] in Prague. Closing the facility will require relocating the prisoners to avoid persecution from their home countries. Barrot has pledged [AP report] to discuss the issue with US officials. Czech Interior Minister Ivan Langer [official website] said Thursday that the EU needs to know the expectations of the new US administration. Although Germany [JURIST report] previously expressed an interest in accepting detainees, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble rejected this notion [Deutsche Welle report] on Thursday, saying that the prisoners are the responsibility of the US.

On Sunday, activists in Prague held a protest [?TK report] to urge the EU to aid in the closing of the Guantanamo facility. Britain, Ireland and Portugal [JURIST reports] have all expressed an interest in accepting detainees although the EU has yet to reach a unified stance [JURIST report] on the issue. Australia recently rejected [JURIST report] a second request from the Bush administration to accept Guantanamo detainees.