[JURIST] Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions [official website], the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website], said Wednesday that he does not anticipate a filibuster [AP report] against US Supreme Court [official website] nominee Sonia Sotomayor [official profile]. Sessions addressed [press release] the Judiciary Committee's process, stressing the importance of Sotomayor understanding that "the proper role of a judge is to act as a neutral umpire of the law, calling balls and strikes fairly without regard to one's own personal preferences or political views." The president of the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) [advocacy website] expressed some concerns [press release] over Sotomayor's nomination and her "apparent embrace" of regulation through litigation. The ATRA pointed to remarks made by Sotomayor several years ago in which she said [Huffington Post report] that "it is the court of appeals where policy is made," and called for a thorough discussion of the judiciary's role in formulating policy. The National Senior Citizens Law Center [advocacy website] applauded the nomination [text], stating that Sotomayor's record shows that she will be a strong voice for enforcing safeguards for older Americans. American United [advocacy website], proponents of separation of church and state, stated [press release] that the Senate Judiciary Committee has an obligation to question Sotomayor thoroughly on her views of church and state separation because she has not written extensively on the issues.

US President Barack Obama [WH profile] announced [press release; JURIST report] Sotomayor as his nomination for the Court on Tuesday. If she receives Senate majority approval, Sotomayor, currently a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [official website], would replace Justice David Souter [official profile, PDF; JURIST news archive] when he retires [JURIST report] at the end of the current term. She would be the first Latino and the third woman to serve on the Court. Earlier this month, Senate Republicans expressed their interests [JURIST report] in having a Supreme Court nominee who would impartially apply the law.

[JURIST] The Spanish Supreme Court [official website, in Spanish] announced Wednesday that it will accept a challenge [order, PDF, in Spanish] accusing Audiencia Nacional Judge Baltasar Garzon [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] of knowingly giving an unjust verdict or resolution. The decision comes as the result of a complaint filed by Manos Limpias [group website, in Spanish], a union of public servants in Spain, which alleged that Garzon acted without jurisdiction in violation of Penal Code Article 446 [text, in Spanish] when he launched investigations [JURIST report] into Civil War-era crimes committed by the regime of General Francisco Franco [BBC backgrounder]. In October 2008, Garzon ordered the exhumation of 19 mass graves in Spain, and ordered government agencies, the Episcopal Conference [church website, in Spanish], the University of Granada [academic website, in Spanish], and the mayors of four cities to produce the names of people buried in mass graves in order to assemble a definitive national registry [JURIST report]. Spanish prosecutors had objected to the probe on the grounds that it ran counter to the country's 1977 amnesty law, and its 2007 condemnation of the Franco dictatorship [JURIST reports].

Garzon is widely known for his high-profile investigations of terrorism and human rights abuses including cases against Osama bin Laden and former Latin American dictator Augusto Pinochet and investigations into detainee abuse at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archives]. In 2005, he called for the creation of a "truth commission" [JURIST report] to uncover Franco-era abuses. Estimates of the number of people killed during the 1936-39 Civil War and the subsequent Franco dictatorship range from 90,000 to 180,000

[JURIST] The Constitutional Court of Moldova [official website] has upheld a recent law barring certain government officials from holding dual citizenship. The controversial law no. 273 [backgrounder, PDF] was passed by the Communist Party in April 2008 and, among other provisions, requires citizens to relinquish foreign passports before taking a seat in parliament. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] ruled [decision, text] in November that the law violated the right to free elections mandated in Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights [text]. The case was referred [text] to the Grand Chamber of the ECHR and will be heard on September 16, 2009. According to the Central Election Commission [official website, in Romanian] of Moldova, about half [RFE report] of the non-Communist candidates who were elected to parliament in April hold dual citizenship.

The population of the area in which Moldova is located lost Romanian citizenship after being annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940. In April, the Constitutional Court ordered [JURIST report] the nation's Central Election Commission to conduct a recount of the controversial parliamentary election in which the Communist Party won a majority of seats. Later that month, the Constitutional Court validated the recount results [JURIST report]. Opposition groups claimed that falsified voter registration rolls allowed government officials to fabricate votes and boycotted the recount [Infotag report], opting instead to check voter lists for irregularities.

[JURIST] Former US solicitor general Ted Olson and prominent litigator David Boies [professional profiles] announced [video] Wednesday that they have filed suit [complaint, PDF; motion for injunction, PDF] challenging California's constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive], Proposition 8 [text, PDF], on federal constitutional grounds. The complaint, filed Friday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California [official website], seeks to enjoin enforcement of the ban on the grounds that California state officials, including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Edmund Brown [official websites], would be liable under 42 USC § 1983 [text] for violating the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment [text] if they were to restrict civil marriages to those "between a man and a woman." The complaint alleges that denying same-sex couples the right to marry is a Fourteenth Amendment violation because it stigmatizes gay and lesbian couples by creating "separate but unequal" domestic partnerships designation, and because it "treats similarly-situated people differently by providing civil marriage to heterosexual couples, but not to gay and lesbian couples." Quoting the Supreme Court's landmark interracial marriage ruling in Loving v. Virginia [opinion], the complaint says that the:

Plaintiffs’ inability to have their relationship recognized by the State with the dignity and respect accorded to married opposite-sex couples has caused them significant hardship, including but not limited to the deprivation of rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment and severe humiliation, emotional distress, pain, suffering, psychological harm, and stigma. Marriage is a supremely important social institution, and the "freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men."

[JURIST] Mexican security forces arrested 27 government officials in Michoacan Tuesday on corruption charges related to the illegal drug trade [Los Angeles Times backgrounder]. Those arrested include [Houston Chronicle report] 10 mayors, the chief adviser to the Michoacan attorney general, the director of the Michoacan police academy, and the top public security aide to Governor Leonel Godoy [official profile, in Spanish]. Michoacan is the home state of the La Familia drug cartel [NPR backgrounder] and has been the site of rival gang violence. Tuesday's arrests represent the largest number of elected officials [Los Angeles Times report] arrested for drug-related corruption offenses.

Last month, the Mexican Senate passed an amendment [JURIST report] to the country's constitution that would permit the government to seize property from suspected drug traffickers and other criminals prior to conviction. In October, reports indicated that both the Assistant Attorney General’s Office Specializing in Organized Crime (SIEDO) and the US Embassy in Mexico had been infiltrated [JURIST report] by a branch of the Sinaloa drug cartel, which paid officials to turn over confidential information. The chief of Mexico's Federal Preventative Police resigned [JURIST report] in connection to the investigation.

[JURIST] A Tasmanian anti-discrimination court Wednesday upheld [decision text] an Australian Red Cross [organization website] policy [text] to refuse blood donations from sexually active homosexual males. Petitioner Michael Cain tried to donate blood in 2004 but his offer was refused after he affirmatively answered an inquiry into whether he "had male-to-male sex" in the past 12 months. Cain challenged the policy before the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Tribunal [official website], claiming that the Red Cross discriminated against him as a homosexual and in regards to his lawful sexual activity. The Red Cross maintained that homosexual sex is grounds for deferral because of the risk of an undiagnosed HIV infection. Cain argued that the risk of HIV transmission does not lie with homosexual sex but rather with unsafe sexual practices and that homosexual men in stable, monogamous relationships who practice safe sex should be allowed to donate. The tribunal held that Cain's complaint was unsubstantiated and that the conduct of the Red Cross did not amount to direct or indirect discrimination under the Anti-Discrimination Act of 1998 [text].

Last year, Canadian prosecutors dropped charges [JURIST report] against former Canadian Red Cross national medical director Dr. Roger Perrault, who had been implicated in Canada's tainted blood scandal [CBC backgrounder]. The charges were related to the use of tainted blood products by the Canadian Red Cross in Canada in the 1980s and 1990s, a public health disaster that infected more than 20,000 people with hepatitis C and more than 1,000 people with HIV. Perrault and three other defendants were acquitted [JURIST report] in October 2007 of charges associated with distributing the tainted blood.

[JURIST] Tunisian Minister of Justice and Human Rights [official website, in French] Bechir Tekkari announced Tuesday that the country is prepared to accept the return of 10 Tunisians currently detained at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. Tekkari said [AFP report] that Tunisia is capable of conducting fair trials and is "entirely happy to welcome [the detainees] and examine their penal situation according to legal procedures and under the principle of the presumption of innocence." The US has asked Italy to consider [AGI report] taking custody of two Tunisians currently held at Guantanamo and charged in Italy with connection to the Salifist Group for Preaching and Combat [GlobalSecurity backgrounder] rather than returning them to Tunisia. Italy has previously refused to accept [JURIST report] any Guantanamo detainees.

There has been some concern about the treatment the detainees would potentially face in Tunisia. In December, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) [advocacy website] release a report criticizing [JURIST report] worsening human rights situations in 12 Arab countries, including Tunisia. In June 2008, Amnesty International [advocacy website] released a report [text; press release] accusing Tunisia of committing wide-spread human rights abuses under overly-broad anti-terrorism legislation, and criticizing the US, European and Arab countries for turning over terror suspects to Tunisian authorities [JURIST report] despite allegations of torture. In February 2008, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against the deportation [text, DOC] of a former Tunisian terrorism suspect, finding he would likely be subjected to torture [JURIST report] if returned to Tunisia. In September 2007, Human Rights Watch released a report [text; press release] accusing Tunisian officials of mistreating two former Guantanamo detainees [JURIST report] after they were returned to the country.

[JURIST] A federal judge ruled [order, PDF] Wednesday that recorded conversations [transcript, PDF] between the brother of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich [JURIST news archive], Robert Blagojevich, and Illinois Senator Roland Burris [official profile] could be released to the US Senate Ethics Committee [official website] to be used in the committee's investigation into the appointment of Burris. The recordings, intercepted by the FBI in November during an investigation into Rod Blagojevich, capture Burris offering to write a check to Blagojevich's campaign and discussing how to do it in the name of a third party so as to not raise suspicion. Based on the committee's request, the government applied for authorization to disclose the recordings pursuant to federal law [18 USC § 2517]. Holding that the Ethics Committee members are investigative officers under the statute, the court ruled the disclosure to be proper.

Roland Burris was appointed to the Senate by former-Governor Blagojevich to replace Barack Obama. Democratic Senate leaders protested [Chicago Tribune report] Burris's seating, reasoning that anyone appointed by Blagojevich could not effectively serve the people of Illinois. Rod and Robert Blagojevich and four associates were indicted [JURIST report] on corruption charges in April by a federal grand jury. In January, the Illinois State Senate voted unanimously [JURIST report] to convict Blagojevich of abuse of power and remove him from office. Blagojevich is the first Illinois governor to be impeached and removed from office.

[JURIST] Jordan should restore its rule of law by ending extrajudicial detentions of crime victims, personal enemies, and persons freed by the courts, according to a report [text] released Tuesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website]. Per the 1954 Crime Prevention Law [DOS backgrounder], which is currently in effect, government officials have the power to order administrative detentions on mere suspicions of improper behavior rather than on the showing of evidence that a crime has been committed. The report alleges that Jordan officials frequently employ this power to circumvent the judicial system under which potential defendants are afforded due process and also that the subjects of such extrajudicial detentions are often the victims of crimes rather than the perpetrators themselves. For example, victims of domestic abuse have allegedly been detained for years under the pretext of protection from their aggressors. In addition, women suspected of immoral behavior are reportedly frequently detained in such extrajudicial manner. HRW asserts that the formulation and application of Jordan's Crime Prevention Law violates international standards as well as Articles 7 and 8 of the Jordan Constitution [text], which state that “Personal freedom shall be guaranteed,” and that “No person may be detained or imprisoned except in accordance with the provisions of the law." Although administrative detentions are not per se illegal under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) [text] and are permitted in situations of organized mass violence and emergency contexts, HRW analogizes Jordan's practices to the prolonged preventive detentions that took place under US auspices in Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], and which were found to be illegal, arbitrary, and contrary to the ICCPR by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention [official website]. As a remedy, HRW proposes the examination of all administrative detentions and the unconditional "release all persons who are not suspected of having committed a criminal offense", followed by the absolute suspension of administrative detentions.

In May 2007, HRW urged the Jordanian government [press release] to free Dr. Ahmad Oweidi al-Abbadi [advocacy website], a former member of parliament and head of the Jordanian National Movement [party website], after a Jordan court sentenced him to two years in prison [JURIST report] for sending a slanderous e-mail to a US Senator. HRW argued that the court should not rely on laws that curb free speech and violate international human rights standards. Reporters Without Borders has also condemned [press release] Jordan for detaining al-Abbadi.

[JURIST] Nobel Laureate and pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] on Tuesday told a Myanmar court that she did not violate the terms of her house arrest when an American man swam to her house. While Suu Kyi did not deny the fact that she allowed the man to stay after he swam to her house, she did deny responsibility [AP report], saying instead that the Myanmar authorities are responsible, because they are in charge of guarding her house. The contentious trial, which began on May 18th [JURIST report], has been opened to, and subsequently closed to journalists [JURIST reports] in the past week. If convicted, Suu Kyi faces up to five years in prison.

Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy, has spent 12 of the past 18 years in prison or under house arrest for alleged violations of an anti-subversion law [text]. In 2007, the military government had implied that she might be released [JURIST report] after the country's new constitution was approved. In May 2008, the junta announced that Myanmar's draft constitution had been overwhelmingly approved [JURIST report], but the ruling junta at the same time extended Suu Kyi's house arrest for another year [JURIST report].

[JURIST] The Eastern High Court of Denmark [official website, in Danish] ruled Tuesday that the Copenhagen counterculture group Christiana [community website, in Danish] had not acquired permanent property rights [press release, in Danish] to the abandoned Copenhagen navy base and that the Danish government [official website] was within its rights to cancel the group's use of the property. The court found that from 1971 until the creation of the 1991 Framework Agreement, which specified the property rights of the self-governing community, Christiana had acquired rights of use, but no absolute ownership status of the property occupied by the community's 900 residents. Furthermore, since there existed a contractual agreement between the parties after 1991, no subsequent squatters' rights were accrued by the community. Conceding that the community had not acquired absolute ownership status, Christiana representatives nonetheless maintained that the 2004 Christiana Act [text, in Danish], which terminated the group's use of the specified land, was void and cited the government's long-standing acceptance of the community and the various extensions to the 1991 framework agreement as supporting evidence of their claim. The court ruled against the community because it determined that all formal agreements between the community and the government were for specifically limited periods, the agreements contained no safeguards against dismissal, and that the government gave ample notice to the community before terminating its rights of use in 2004. The businesses and residents affected by the ruling plan to appeal [Politiken report] the decision in the Denmark Supreme Court.

The Christiana community has become a cultural and touristic attraction within Copenhagen, and a symbol of counterculture. The Danish government tolerated the existence of the community until intensifying its efforts to combat the illicit drug trade in 2004. No cars are allowed within the boundaries of the community and the community also serves as a center for gay rights activism.

[JURIST] The Pentagon said Tuesday that it has evidence that confirms that 27 released Guantanamo Bay detainees [fact sheet, PDF] have engaged in combat or terrorism against the US. The evidence, implicating five percent of ex-detainees, includes "fingerprints, DNA, and reliable, verified, or well-corroborated intelligence reporting." The five percent who have been confirmed is less than the fourteen percent of detainees, or 74 overall, who are suspected to have returned to the battlefield, according to the US Department of Defense [official website].

The Pentagon has made numerous claims regarding the number of former detainees that engage the US in combat or terrorist activities following release. In January, the Pentagon reported that 61 former detainees had returned to terrorism [Telegraph report]. In June 2008, the Pentagon reported that seven percent [fact sheet, PDF] of released detainees were suspected of or confirmed to have returned to combat. Earlier this month, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates [official profile] said that the US is considering sending Yemeni Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees to Saudi Arabia for rehabilitation [JURIST report] as part of the efforts to close the prison facility, despite reports that two former prisoners have joined al Qaeda in Yemen. In January, a spokesperson for the DOD said that the US would not change its policy [JURIST report] on the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to Saudi Arabia.