[JURIST] The US Senate [official website] confirmed Sonia Sotomayor [WH profile; JURIST news archive] for the Supreme Court by a vote of 68-31 Thursday. The vote split mainly along party lines, with only nine Republicans voting to confirm. Senate Judiciary Committee ranking Republican Jeff Sessions [official website] (R-AL) delivered closing remarks before the vote, repeating his previous concerns [press release] that Sotomayor would be guided by personal bias. President Barack Obama [official website] said that he was pleased with the 68 votes [press release], stating:

The members of our Supreme Court are granted life tenure and are charged with the vital and difficult task of applying principles set forth at our founding to the questions and controversies of our time. Over the past 10 weeks, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the full Senate have assessed Judge Sotomayor's fitness for this work. They've scrutinized her record as a prosecutor, as a litigator, and as a judge. They've gauged her respect for the proper role of each branch of our government, her commitment to faithfully apply the law to the facts at hand, and her determination to protect our core constitutional rights and freedoms.

And with this historic vote, the Senate has affirmed that Judge Sotomayor has the intellect, the temperament, the history, the integrity and the independence of mind to ably serve on our nation’s highest court.

[JURIST] Former American International Group (AIG) [corporate website] executives on Thursday agreed to settle [press release] a suit [complaint, PDF] brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] alleging their involvement in inflating the company's reported financial records. The SEC accused former CEO Maurice Greenberg and former CFO Howard Smith of being "control persons" under the Securities Exchange Act [text], making them liable for AIG's securities law violations. The SEC claimed that the two executives made false statements which allowed the company to misrepresent key earnings between 2000 and 2005. Greenberg will pay $15 million in disgorgement and penalties without admitting any charges [statement, PDF] to "put these issues behind him," while Smith will settle for $1.5 million.

The recent economic downturn has led to numerous SEC financial fraud suits and improved legislation. On Tuesday, General Electric Co. (GE) agreed to settle [JURIST report] for $50 million an SEC suit which alleged that the company misled investors in regards to its financial statements. Earlier this week, Bank of America (BOA) settled an SEC suit [JURIST report] for $33 million after being accused of misleading investors about billions of dollars paid to Merrill Lynch executives during the acquisition of the firm. Like Greenberg, BOA and GE did not admit to the allegations. In May, the US House of Representatives [official website] approved the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act [S 386 materials] to investigate the economic crisis and to allocate additional resources [JURIST report] for federal prosecutors to pursue financial fraud cases. In response to large bonuses paid to AIG employees, the House passed a bill [HR 1586 materials, JURIST report] in March that would set a 90 percent tax for employee bonuses of companies which received government stimulus money.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] on Wednesday ruled [opinion, PDF] that the US Navy did not have to disclose the locations and potential blast ranges of explosive artillery stored at a Puget Sound military base. On appeal from a district court's denial of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) [text] request, the court reasoned that the government's need to preserve sensitive information prevailed over the public's right to access government files. The Naval Magazine Indian Island base is used to store various munitions, weapons and explosives for the Navy, the Department of Homeland Security [official websites] and other federal agencies. Among other documents, the FOIA request sought files regarding Explosive Safety Quantity Distance [backgrounder] information, referred to as "arc maps," which display the maximum area at risk from a potential explosion. The majority found the request to fall under Exemption 2 of the FOIA which covers information "related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency." One dissenting member of the three-judge panel argued that the majority's interpretation of Exemption 2 was inconsistent with the statute and existing case law, and found that the request did not fall within any of the other claimed exemptions.

Earlier this year, US Attorney General Eric Holder [official profile] announced new FOIA guidelines [JURIST report] designed to increase transparency. The new guidelines rescinded a 2001 FOIA memorandum which stated that the Department of Justice would defend decisions to withhold information "unless they lack a sound legal basis or present an unwarranted risk" in the ability to protect other important records. Holder's directive addressed a memorandum [text; JURIST report] issued by President Barack Obama in January which called for all agencies to "adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure" in regard to FOIA requests.

[JURIST] A bill [S 1584 materials] aimed at banning workplace discrimination motivated by an employee’s sexual orientation or gender identification was introduced in the US Senate [official website] on Wednesday by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) [official website]. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), if passed, would protect employees from discriminatory hiring and firing practices, and from segregation or classification on the basis of sexual preference or gender identity. The bill would be the first aimed at ensuring workplace equality for individuals who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer (GLBTQ). Expressing the support of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) [official website], HRC president Joe Solmonese said:

We are a nation predicated on equality. And over the years, we have embraced an increasingly broader and more inclusive vision of what that means. By passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, we will simply be adding another proud chapter to the amazing American story of opportunity.

[JURIST] A specially-mandated Indian court on Thursday sentenced three convicted terrorists to death [VOI report] for their roles in the 2003 Mumbai bomb attack [BBC backgrounder] that killed 52 people. Late last month, Ashrat Ansari, Hanif Sayed, and Fehmida Sayed were found guilty [JURIST report] of conspiracy, murder, and attempted murder, and their defense lawyers plan to appeal [NYT report] the decision. They have been linked to Pakistan's religiously-motivated terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) [CFR backgrounder], and India has pushed for the prosecution of its leaders [Reuters report], but Pakistani officials on Thursday stated that Indian evidence does not further the case against the group.

Mumbai has suffered a number of terrorist attacks allegedly linked to the LeT in recent years, leading the government to consider controversial terrorism laws and institute special courts [JURIST reports] to try suspects. In July, India announced that it would continue the trial [JURIST report] of a man suspected in a 2008 hotel attack [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] that killed more than 100 people, despite his mid-trial confession [JURIST report]. Pakistan has postponed the trial of five others [JURIST report] allegedly connected with the 2008 attack.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] on Wednesday affirmed [opinion, PDF] a district court ruling reinstating the Roadless Rule [text], which prohibited the building of roads or the use of roadless lands in National Parks for timber production. The Clinton administration measure was effectively overturned in 2005 by the State Petitions Rule [text], enacted by the US Department of Agriculture [official website] under President George W Bush. The State Petitions Rule allowed governors to petition for Roadless Rule protections, depending on their individual state needs, in lieu of blanket protection. Affirming the ruling, Judge Robert Beezer [official profile] wrote that the State Petitions Rule violated the National Environmental Policy Act because it was enacted without an environmental impact statement [EPA materials]:

In the context of this case, we cannot condone a marked
change in roadless area management without environmental analysis because it was the USDA’s preferred response to an untested district court injunction that was subject to possible reversal in a pending appeal.

[JURIST] Human rights advocates on Wednesday accused Italy of disregarding its obligations under past European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] judgments by deporting terror suspect Ali Ben Sassi Toumi to his native Tunisia. Human Rights Watch (HRW) called the deportation [HRW report] "the latest example of how [Italy] flouts the absolute ban on such returns." Toumi's deportation was ordered despite numerous calls [AI report] on behalf of the ECHR to hold him in Italy due to the potential for torture and bodily harm upon his return to Tunisia. Amnesty International (AI) and other groups have heavily criticized [AI memo] Tunisian prisons, describing serious instances of detainee mistreatment:

Over the years, Amnesty International has received numerous reports of torture and other ill-treatment by the Tunisian security forces. In virtually all cases, allegations of torture are not investigated and the perpetrators are not brought to justice. Individuals are most at risk of torture when in incommunicado detention. The most commonly reported methods of torture are beatings on the body, especially the soles of the feet; suspension by the ankles or in contorted positions; electric shocks; and burning with cigarettes. There are also reports of mock executions, sexual abuse, including rape with bottles and sticks, and threats of sexual abuse of female relatives.

[JURIST] Former Congressman William Jefferson (D-LA) [official profile; JURIST news archive] was found guilty [press release] on Wednesday of 11 counts of public corruption. Jefferson was convicted of using his position on the US House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee [official website] to promote the interests of companies involved in development projects in Africa, seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes for himself and African government officials. While Jefferson faces a maximum of 150 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines for bribery, racketeering and money laundering, he was acquitted on five other counts of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act [DOJ materials] and obstruction of justice. The US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Dana Boente [official profile], said that the conviction "should be a clear signal that no public official – and certainly not a US Congressman – can put their office up for sale and betray that office." Judge T S Ellis III allowed Jefferson to remain free on bond until his sentencing, scheduled for October 30, over the objections of prosecutors who cited his ties to Africa in labeling him a flight risk. The jury will decide Thursday whether Jefferson is required to forfeit $456,000 and stock allegedly acquired through corruption.

In November, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit dismissed [JURIST report] Jefferson's appeal seeking to have bribery charges against him dropped. He had argued the charges were based on evidence protected by the US Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause [text; backgrounder], which makes certain information relating to legislative action privileged. In March, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said it planned to pursue the case against Jefferson despite an appeals court ruling [JURIST reports] that other evidence confiscated from his office during an FBI raid was protected by the Speech and Debate Clause. Jefferson pleaded not guilty to the charges [JURIST reports] against him in June. In January 2007, former Jefferson aide Brett Pfeffer pleaded guilty [DOJ press release] to bribery charges for his role in the scheme.

[JURIST] The Illinois Department of Finance and Professional Regulation (DFPR) [official website] on Wednesday granted doctors a 90-day grace period [statement, PDF] for enforcement of the state's parental notification requirement for minors obtaining abortions. The grace period came at the recommendation of the state Medical Disciplinary Board who voted unanimously to forgive "willful" failure to provide notice to a legal guardian under the Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995 [text]. The DFPR's announcement follows a decision [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] last month by the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit [official website] that reversed a district court injunction [JURIST report] barring the law's enforcement. The statute authorizes state judges to waive the notice requirement if doing so would be in a minor's best interest.

The US Supreme Court ruled in Planned Parenthood v. Casey [opinion] that a spousal notification requirement violated a woman's right to privacy in choosing to have an abortion. Statutory restrictions on this right are unconstitutional if they are found to impose an undue burden. Pro-life groups had argued prior to the Seventh Circuit's ruling that minors from surrounding states travel to Illinois to obtain abortions. Thirty-five other US states have enforceable parental notification or permission laws. In June 2007, the governor of New Hampshire signed a repeal of the state's parental notification law [JURIST report], which never took effect. In 2006, voters in Oregon and California rejected statutes that would have required notification [JURIST report], although those measures allowed minors to request a judge to bypass the requirement.