JURIST - Paper Chase: AM legal news brief - Jackson to appear in court amid media frenzy

Leading this morning's legal news, Reuters reports: "Michael Jackson will plead not guilty to child molestation charges on Friday, his lead attorney said, amid a growing frenzy over the pop star's first court appearance in a case that could leave his remarkable career in ruins and send him to prison for years." Reuters has more. Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville has issued an order on appropriate courtroom decorum [PDF]. Cameras have been barred for the proceeding, except for a camera providing closed-circuit feed to an overflow observation room.

In other legal news this morning...

Report: Illegal music downloading began climbing in October
AP reports: "The number of people downloading music illegally surged a month after recording companies began suing music fans, a marketing research firm said Thursday."
Jewish group OK's same-sex marriage
The Boston Globe reports: "The Jewish Community Relations Council, the major public policy voice of the Jewish community in Greater Boston, has voted overwhelmingly to endorse same-sex marriage. The endorsement, by an umbrella organization representing 42 Jewish groups, is part of a growing effort by liberal religious voices to counter the strong opposition to same-sex marriage voiced by the state's Catholic bishops. The bishops of the state's four Catholic dioceses today plan to announce a major campaign to defeat same-sex marriage."
Judicial Nominating Questions out of Line?
The Miami Business Review reports: "A Florida Bar panel will consider this morning whether members of a judicial nominating commission appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush asked judicial candidates in Broward County questions that were sexually discriminatory or were political or religious litmus tests."
Church Trial Ordered for Lesbian Pastor
AP reports: "A United Methodist minister who told her bishop she is a lesbian will face a church trial that could lead to her removal from the pulpit."

In international legal news this morning...

NATO chief urges Bosnian Serbs to arrest war crimes fugitives
AFP reports: "New NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, on his first official visit to Bosnia, urged Bosnian Serbs to arrest war crimes fugitives, days after another failed bid by NATO-led troops to capture wartime Serb leader Radovan Karadzic."
Mexico Awaits Hague Ruling on Citizens on U.S. Death Row
The New York Times reports: "[Osbaldo Torres] is one of 52 Mexican citizens in eight states whose convictions and death sentences are being challenged by Mexico in the International Court of Justice in The Hague."
Chinese court upholds death sentence
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports: "A Chinese court has upheld a death sentence given to a former high level Communist official convicted of corruption and receiving bribes."
Women in Iraq Decry Decision To Curb Rights
The Washington Post reports: "For the past four decades, Iraqi women have enjoyed some of the most modern legal protections in the Muslim world, under a civil code that prohibits marriage below the age of 18, arbitrary divorce and male favoritism in child custody and property inheritance disputes."

That's all for now. Check back after 4 PM this afternoon for the PM legal news brief on JURIST's Paper Chase.