JURIST - Paper Chase: Law in the major papers ~ Thursday, August 19

Rebecca Wolford is off. Thursday's New York Times details the plight of student Abdullah al Kidd, who was held as a material witness for 16 months after being arrested while on his way to Saudi Arabia to pursue a doctorate in Islamic studies. A former college football standout, Kidd was not charged with a crime nor asked to testify before his release, and as a result of his imprisonment, he lost a scholarship and his marriage has fallen apart. The Times also reports on attempts by Democrats to block presidential candidate Ralph Nader from getting his name on the ballot in crucial swing states by filing lawsuits to keep the candidate in court and off both the ballot and campaign trail.

The Los Angeles Times covers the fining of five journalists, including one of its own reporters, for refusing to reveal sources for stories about the 1999 investigation of Los Alamos National Laboratory nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee, charged and later cleared of selling US nuclear secrets to China. The LA Times also reports that the California Assembly has approved a bill banning fake guns in public, legislation spurred by a number of cases where children and others were shot by police who mistakenly thought the fake guns were actual firearms. Also, the paper covers the 9th Circuit 6-5 ruling that federal parolees may be forced to submit blood samples for a national DNA database, overturning the decision of an earlier three-judge panel.

USA Today reports that a Pentagon official states that a new Army report on prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison implicates military investigators but clears high-ranking Pentagon officials and military commanders of wrongdoing.