Friday, October 25, 2002

EDITOR'S DESK...
Law faculty recruitment conference
From Thursday through Saturday, JURIST will be originating from the AALS Law Faculty Recruitment Conference in Washington, DC. During this period, regular coverage will be limited. Full coverage will resume Monday, October 28.
MORE ON JURIST: LAW SCHOOL NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 7:00 AM | #

THIS DAY IN LEGAL HISTORY...
Steinberg trial televised
On this day in 1988, the murder trial of Joel Steinberg became the first trial to be televised in New York during a 18-month experiment with televised courtroom proceedings that eventually led to the founding of Court TV in July 1991.
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 6:00 AM | #

Thursday, October 24, 2002

NEW ON THE WEB...
Moscow hostage crisis - latest
Get the latest on the Moscow hostage situation direct from Russia via the English-language Moscow Times, Radio Voice of Russia, and the Interfax news agency. The UN Security Council, world leaders and human rights groups have condemned the action by Chechen terrorists.
MORE ON JURIST: WORLD LAW: RUSSIA
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 10:21 PM | #

NEW ON THE WEB...
Discussion of US Iraq Resolution continues at UN
United States diplomats continued Thursday to lobby for UN Security Council adoption of the US draft resolution on Iraq. A Security Council debate has been scheduled for Monday. Security Council members France and Russia continue to express opposition to the draft as presently worded.
MORE ON JURIST: IRAQ NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 9:54 PM | #

NEW ON THE WEB...
Florida Supreme Court upholds death penalty
The Florida Supreme Court ruled unanimously in two cases on Thursday (Bottoson v. Moore[PDF]; King v. Moore[PDF]) that Florida law under which a death sentence is handed down by a judge, taking into account a jury's recommendation, is constitutional and is not in violation of the Sixth Amendment. The decision effectively allows the resumption of executions in that state. Watch recorded video of the oral arguments in Bottoson and King .
MORE ON JURIST: DEATH PENALTY NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 9:22 PM | #

NEW ON THE WEB...
ICTY report details problems, reforms
In the latest Annual Report of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to the UN released on Thursday, ICTY President Judge Claude Jorda called on all members states to co-operate with the Tribunal and detailed reforms the court has undertaken to cope with an increased workload. The Tribunal says it aims to complete investigations by 2004 and trials by around 2008.
MORE ON JURIST: WAR CRIMES NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 9:05 PM | #

NEW ON THE WEB...
ACLU asks court to order DOJ to account for use of new surveillance powers
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit[PDF] Thursday asking a federal court to order the US Department of Justice to account for its use of the extraordinary new surveillance powers granted to it by Congress last year.
MORE ON JURIST: US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 8:54 PM | #

NEW ON THE WEB...
Senate Judiciary Chairman: cut in SEC funding would weaken corporate reform
In a letter sent Thursday to Harvey Pitt, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy expressed concern that the Bush Administration's reported intent to cut the SEC budget by 27% would weaken enforcement of new corporate reform measures.
MORE ON JURIST: SEC NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 8:44 PM | #

JURIST EXCLUSIVE...
Criminal complaint against DC sniper suspect
JURIST has obtained a copy of the criminal complaint prepared by Seattle prosecutors against DC sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad, arrested early Thursday and brought into federal court in Baltimore Thursday afternoon.
MORE ON JURIST: DC SNIPER NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 5:55 PM | #

EDITOR'S DESK...
Law faculty recruitment conference
From Thursday through Saturday, JURIST will be originating from the AALS Law Faculty Recruitment Conference in Washington, DC. During this period, regular coverage will be limited. Full coverage will resume Monday, October 28.
MORE ON JURIST: LAW SCHOOL NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 8:15 AM | #

BREAKING NEWS...
DC sniper arrests
Two men have been arrested in Maryland in connection with the DC sniper shootings. Watch a Maryland State Police briefing from early Thursday morning; listen to Wednesday night's briefing by Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose announcing the arrest warrants [audio via WTOP]. Read the latest reports in the Washington Post and hear live updates on DC's WTOP Newsradio.
MORE ON JURIST: DC SNIPER NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 8:02 AM | #

NEW ON THE WEB...
Juvenile executions, judicial selection, and terrorism insurance
Thursday's New York Times regrets that the US Supreme Court has not taken up the opportunity to end the "disgrace of juvenile executions." The Washington Post calls on President Bush to take the lead in restoring comity to a partisan judicial selection process which threatens harm to the DC Circuit and federal courts in general. The Washington Times says the terrorism insurance bill that has now emerged from a Congressional conference committee is bad legislation and needs more work.
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 7:48 AM | #

THIS DAY IN LEGAL HISTORY...
40 hour week set by federal law
On this day in 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act established the 40-hour work week.
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 6:30 AM | #

Wednesday, October 23, 2002

JURIST EXCLUSIVE...
US Northern Command on Posse Comitatus: "our lanes in the road are clear"
A spokesman for US Northern Command told JURIST Wednesday that NORTHCOM understood the legal limits of its role in providing the FBI with surveillance support for hunting the DC sniper. Major Edward Thomas said that "Every step is being taken in this process to ensure the military complies with Posse Comitatus and other applicable laws. As US Northern Command helps protect the safety of this nation, we also will be diligent to protect the civil liberties of our citizens. Our mission and our lanes in the road are clear." He emphasized that this was not a mission the military had sought, but one they undertook at the request of the FBI and at the direction of the Secretary of Defense. "Military people tend to be some of the strongest supporters of leaving law enforcement actions to law enforcement," Major Thomas told JURIST. "We don't want to be in that business. Our primary role is to fight and win our nation's wars. Where it makes sense and is within the boundaries of the law, we will support our nation's law enforcement officials when it benefits our nation and when we might have specialized assets to offer."
MORE ON JURIST: DC SNIPER NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 7:59 PM | #

NEW ON THE WEB...
Moussaoui trial: flight attendants' union opposes release of cockpit tapes
The 50,000-member Association of Flight Attendants has filed a brief[PDF] with US District Judge Leonie Brinkema objecting to the release of cockpit voice recordings from September 11 flights. Opposing an effort by media groups to have the recordings disclosed at trial free of any protective order, the Association argues that limited disclosure is justified to protect crewmembers' privacy, and to "protect their families and colleagues from the trauma of repeated airings in the media" of the tapes at issue.
MORE ON JURIST: MOUSSAOUI TRIAL NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 7:23 PM | #

NEW ON THE WEB...
9th Circuit: Iranian bank not liable for terrorist bombing judgment
The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled[PDF] Wednesday that an Iranian bank with property in California was not subject to execution of a judgment debt against Iran for $247,513,220 in connection with the 1995 death of an American college student in a bombing orchestrated by Iranian-supported terrorists.
MORE ON JURIST: CASES & STATUTES
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 4:39 PM | #

NEW ON THE WEB...
Harvard Law School announces new IP professorship
Harvard Law School Dean Robert Clark announced Wednesday the establishment of the Hale and Dorr Professorship of Intellectual Property Law, thanks to a major gift from Hale and Dorr LLP of Boston. The Hale and Dorr gift - reported in the Boston Business Journal to be $2.75 million, although the amount is unspecified in Harvard and Hale and Dorr press releases - will also help fund a conference on intellectual property law to be held at Harvard Law School every two years.
MORE ON JURIST: LAW SCHOOL NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 3:06 PM | #

NEW ON THE WEB...
Rights groups want US-China summit to focus on rights issues
Human Rights Watch and other rights groups have called on the American and Chinese governments to give rights issues center stage in the upcoming summit between President Bush and Chinese President Jiang Zemin scheduled for Crawford, Texas on October 25.
MORE ON JURIST: HUMAN RIGHTS NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 2:36 PM | #

NEW LAW BOOKS...
Latest releases; new in paperback
New in bookstores this week:

• Carol Berkin, A Brilliant Solution : Inventing the American Constitution [review]
  
• M. Anne Brown, Human Rights and the Borders of Suffering: The Promotion of Human Rights in International Politics
  
• Peter Jaffe et al., Child Custody and Domestic Violence: A Call for Safety and Accountability
  
• Samuel Leiter & William M. Leiter, Affirmative Action in Antidiscrimination Law and Policy
  
• Sandra Petronio, Boundaries of Privacy: Dialects of Disclosure
  
• [paperback] Lawrence Lessig, The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World [review]
  

BOOK REVIEWS...
Latest issue: Law & Politics Book Review
Suffolk law professor Marie Ashe reviews Stephen V.
Monsma, ed. Church-State Relations in Crisis: Debating Neutrality; Rob Henig reviews Yuval Merin, Equality for Same-Sex Couples: The Legal Recognition of Gay Partnerships in Europe and the United States, and John Paul Reyan reviews Cathleen Burnett, Justice Denied: Clemency Appeals in Death Penalty Cases.
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 12:10 PM | #

NEW ON THE WEB...
ICTY to UN Security Council: Yugoslavia has failed to co-operate
In a letter to the UN Security Council Wednesday, Judge Claude Jorda, President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, reported that Yugoslavia has failed to comply with its obligation to co-operate with the Tribunal. The letter asserts that Yugoslavia has failed to arrest or transfer accused persons in its territory, and has adopted a law saying that any individual charged by the Tribunal subsequent to the entry into force of that law shall be tried by the Yugoslav courts.
MORE ON JURIST: WAR CRIMES NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 10:53 AM | #

OPINION WATCH...
Juvenile death penalty, the SEC, and military recruiting in law schools
In the context of a recent US Supreme Court ruling that declined to consider the matter, Wednesday's Washington Post says that the "juvenile death penalty" - the practice of executing persons for crimes committed while they were juveniles - is "one of the least defensible aspects of American capital punishment." The Washington Times has a different view. In USA Today, recording artist Janis Ian says that the efforts of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to personally target Internet users in lawsuits for trading music files online reflects a "crazy logic." The LA Times says that the Securities and Exchange Commission needs funding to perform proper oversight and restore investor confidence, and the Christian Science Monitor advocates restoring full citizenship - and voting rights - to ex-felons who have paid their debt to society. In the Wall Street Journal, Dorothy Rabinowitz suggests that allowing Air Force recruiters into law schools may not be so bad after all, and that objections by Columbia law dean David Leebron and others may be overstated.
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 8:06 AM | #

THIS DAY IN LEGAL HISTORY...
Bork nomination rejected
On this day in 1987, the US Senate rejected the Supreme Court nomination of Robert H. Bork by a vote of 58-42.
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 6:30 AM | #

Tuesday, October 22, 2002

NEW ON THE WEB...
US: Iraq Resolution talks "messy", but moving forward
At a press briefing in Washington Tuesday, US State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher characterized the current discussions among the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council on the text of a resolution concerning Iraq as "messy" and "complicated," but moving forward. Watch the complete press briefing . Russia and France have expressed disagreement with aspects of the new American text; Radio Voice of Russia, Russia's official international broadcaster, said Tuesday that "Moscow is disappointed with the new draft," some clauses of which "are different in no way from the earlier submitted British-American suggestions and are unacceptable for Russia."
MORE ON JURIST: IRAQ NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 9:04 PM | #

NEW ON THE WEB...
9-11 trial begins in Germany
German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle reports in English on Tuesday's opening of the Hamburg trial of Mounir El Motassadeq, indicted by the German Federal Prosecutor's Office for aiding the Hamburg terrorist cell led by Mohammed Atta that was involved in the September 11 attacks. More from VOA . The BBC has interviewed Motassadeq's former lawyer .
MORE ON JURIST: TERRORISM NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 5:21 PM | #

NEW ON THE WEB...
European Court overturns antitrust block
The European Court of First Instance Tuesday overturned a controversial decision by EU antitrust regulators in the European Commission to block a $7.7 million takeover of French electrical equipment maker Legrand by rival Schneider Electric. This is the second such reversal in two years and signals a crisis in EU antitrust regulation.
MORE ON JURIST: EUROPEAN UNION NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 3:57 PM | #

NEW ON THE WEB...
UN report confirms aid workers' sexual abuse of refugees
The UN Office for Internal Oversight Services, acting in response to a consultants' report which found "widespread" sexual exploitation of refugees by aid workers in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, released a 37-page set of findings[PDF] Tuesday. Although it could not substantiate any of the 12 cases mentioned in the consultants' report it was able to substantiate 10 other cases.
MORE ON JURIST: UNITED NATIONS NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 3:26 PM | #

NEW ON JURIST...
Latest law reviews
Tables of Contents of the latest law reviews received, plus what's catching our eye in the latest weekly edition of the Current Index to Legal Periodicals.
MORE ON JURIST: LAW REVIEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 1:00 PM | #

NEW ON THE WEB...
DC Circuit strikes down EPA vehicle testing regs
The US DC Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday struck down EPA regulations that allowed motor vehicle emission compliance test procedures and methods to be approved by the EPA in individual closed proceedings rather than through public notice-and-comment rulemaking.
MORE ON JURIST: CASES & STATUTES
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 12:29 PM | #

NEW ON THE WEB...
War crimes court unseals three more indictments
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at The Hague unsealed three more indictments Monday against Bosnian Serbs Drago Nikolic, Vujadin Popovic and Ljubisa Beara for crimes committed after the takeover of the Srebenica enclave in 1995.
MORE ON JURIST: WAR CRIMES NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 8:05 AM | #

OPINION WATCH...
Drugs, water, gas, and affirmative action
Tuesday's New York Times praises President Bush for ending a "drug patent scam" by making it harder for drug companies to keep generics off the market, but expresses concern that on another legal front the Bush administration may be weakening the Clean Water Act. The Washington Post agrees that President Bush "moved in the right direction" with his proposed drug patant changes but notes that his apparent conversion to a consumerist position will have to be monitored, as it seems to have been made with "an eye to midterm elections." The Boston Globe slams the Bush administration for attacking California regulations that would encourage greater use of hybrid gasoline-electric cars and other low-emission vehicles, and in the Washington Times, Curt A. Levey calls on the University of Michigan to support, and not oppose, Supreme Court review of the case involving affirmative action admissions policy at its law school.
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 7:54 AM | #

THIS DAY IN LEGAL HISTORY...
First US political prisoners
On this day in 1917, 168 members of the National Woman's Party convicted for blocking traffic on a sidewalk became the first US citizens to claim that their government was holding them as political prisoners.
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 6:30 AM | #

Monday, October 21, 2002

NEW ON THE WEB...
DOJ seeks stay in Cheney case
The US Justice Department sought a stay[PDF] Monday of a previous federal court order that would have required the Bush administration to turn over documents from Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force by November 5, Election Day. The DOJ motion argued that a stay should be granted in order to permit an appeal of the important constitutional and statutory issues in a lawsuit against the Cheney task force.
MORE ON JURIST: US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 7:10 PM | #

NEW ON THE WEB...
Amnesty International: Iraq prisoners release welcome, but much more required
Amnesty International said Monday that it welcomed the recent release of prisoners authorized by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, but called for the names of the released political prisoners and the repeal of all laws and practises "that have led to the mass human rights violations in the country."
MORE ON JURIST: IRAQ NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 1:34 PM | #

NEW ON THE WEB...
Former Michigan law prof among newly-elected World Court judges
The UN Security Council met Monday to elect[PDF] five judges to the International Court of Justice at The Hague from a slate of ten nationally-appointed candidates. A similar election was held in the General Assembly. The successful candidates in both bodies were Shi Jiuyong (China; current term extended), Abdul G. Koroma (Sierra Leone; term extended), Hisashi Owada (Japan), former University of Michigan law professor Bruno Simma (Germany), and Peter Tomka (Slovakia).
MORE ON JURIST: UNITED NATIONS NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 12:54 PM | #

SUPREME COURT WATCH...
Justice Stevens doubts lower court rulings on criminal speech
In a statement on the US Supreme Court's denial of cert. Monday in the Arizona case of Stewart v. McCoy, Justice John Paul Stevens cast doubt[PDF] on lower federal court rulings that giving advice to gang members on criminal activity was speech protected by the First Amendment, and explicitly said that the Supreme Court's denial to hear the case should not be taken as an endorsement of the lower federal courts' reasoning.
MORE ON JURIST: US SUPREME COURT NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 12:43 PM | #

SUPREME COURT WATCH...
Court declines to consider whether death row wait is "cruel and unusual"
In another split death penalty ruling Monday, the Supreme Court denied cert. in the case of Foster v. Florida where an inmate who had spent more than 27 years on death row had argued that execution after all this time would violate the Constitutional prohibition against "cruel and unusual punishment." Separate opinions were filed by Justices Thomas[PDF] (concurring), Stevens[PDF] and Breyer[PDF] (all dissenting).
MORE ON JURIST: US SUPREME COURT NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 12:31 PM | #

SUPREME COURT WATCH...
Split Court rejects teen execution case
A sharply-divided Supreme Court Monday refused to hear the case of Kevin Nigel Stanford, which had potentially raised the question of whether the Constitution permits the execution of persons for crimes they committed while juveniles. Justice Stevens wrote a dissent[PDF] to the Court's denial to issue a writ of habeas corpus, in which Justices Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer concurred.
MORE ON JURIST: US SUPREME COURT NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 12:21 PM | #

SUPREME COURT WATCH...
Cert. granted
The US Supreme Court granted cert. Monday in Jinks v. Richland County, raising the question of whether the limitations provisions of 28 USC 1367(d) are unconstitutional as regards the states. Read the South Carolina Supreme Court decision, handed down April 22, 2002. The full US Supreme Court Order List[PDF] for Monday is now online.
MORE ON JURIST: US SUPREME COURT NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 11:38 AM | #

NEW ON THE WEB...
Further reflections on Eldred
Stanford law professor Larry Lessig offers some further reflections on Eldred on his blog.
MORE ON JURIST: LAW BLOGS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 11:25 AM | #

NEW ON THE WEB...
President moves to block patent suits, speed generic drugs to market
[UPDATED] President Bush Monday announced the federal government's intention to block pharmaceutical companies from filing multiple patent-protection lawsuits that can stall the release of cheaper generic drugs. A White House fact sheet is now available.
MORE ON JURIST: IP & PATENTS NEWS
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 10:17 AM | #

OPINION WATCH...
Florida brothers, art collections, and sex in Texas
The New York Times calls the case of the two young brothers convicted in Florida last month of bludgeoning their father to death "surreal" and applauds a judge's decision last week to toss out their convictions. Also in the Times, Gabriella Ferrari considers the current problems besetting the Barnes Foundation art collection and suggests that states adopt new laws that would limit the period during which donor restrictions are enforceable. In the Washington Times, Nat Hentoff reflects on the recent 9th Circuit ruling that the phrase, "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional, while in the LA Times George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley says an upcoming Supreme Court case in which two Texas men are challenging their criminal convictions for having consensual sex in the home of one of them is really about "the right to be left alone."
MORE ON JURIST:
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 9:50 AM | #

THIS DAY IN LEGAL HISTORY...
First West law reporter
On this day in 1876, the West Publishing Company, founded by John B. West, publishes its first law reporter, The Syllabi, which promised to provide Minnesota lawyers with legal intelligence that was "prompt, interesting, full, and at all times thoroughly reliable." The Syllabi eventually became the Northwestern Reporter, which later evolved into West's National Reporter System.
Posted by Bernard Hibbitts at 6:30 AM | #