In Tuesday's human rights news, Amnesty International has urged the Nigerian government to abolish its death penalty the grounds that it violates human rights and discriminates against women. A new Amnesty report describes cases of women facing the death penalty who have not received a fair trial and due process rights under the Nigerian criminal law system and the Sharia penal codes. See Amnesty for more.

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Here's Tuesday's legal news from the US Department of Justice. The Texas Times Record News reports that Attorney General John Ashcroft has decided to personally oversee the case of Rodi Alvarado, a Guatemalan refugee who fled to the US almost 10 years ago because her country failed to protect her from her abusive husband. Whether or not she can remain in the country will depend on Ashcroft's interpretation of "refugee" in the Refugee Act. Currently the law states that people can seek asylum in the US by arguing persecution or fear of persecution based on either race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Whether or not "gender" is included will depend on Ashcroft's reading of the Act. Alvarado argues that her abuse stemmed from her status as a married woman in a country unwilling to protect women from their husbands.

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In international law news Tuesday, the European Commission has decided to open infringement proceedings against the Netherlands following a decision by the country's Supreme Court to deny social security rights to a Dutch citizen who worked in Germany. The Commission argues that the court's decision violates Council Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71, which deals with the coordination of social security schemes, as well as "fundamental principles of Community law on freedom of movement for workers" found in the EC Treaty. EUObserver.com has more. Read the Commission's press release.... In other EU news, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is "skeptical" of plans to finalize the draft EU Constitution before European elections in June. Blair has said that neither France nor Germany is ready to deal. The Guardian has the full story.

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In Tuesday's federal courts roundup, and as reported late this afternoon on JURIST's Paper Chase, a three judge panel of the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia overturned a redistricting map drawn up by the Georgia legislature. AP reports that Republicans had sued, arguing that the plan unconstitutionally favored Democrats because the districts were not drawn to make them as equal in population as possible. Read the opinion here [PDF].... Judge Clarence Brimmer (US District Court, District of Wyoming) has set aside a pending ban on snowmobiling in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. The temporary restraining order was ruled necessary to prevent companies that rely on snowmobiling in the parks from suffering irreparable harm due to lost business. AP has the full story.... The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that science fiction author Harlan Ellison can pursue a copyright infringement suit against America Online. As reported by AP, Ellison alleged that AOL violated his copyrights by allowing unauthorized copies of his work to remain posted to their web servers even after he notified them of the problem. Read the opinion here [PDF].... As reported earlier on JURIST's Paper Chase, the National Football League has asked Judge Shira Scheindlin of the US District Court, Southern District of New York to suspend her decision allowing Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett to enter the NFL Draft this April. AP reports that the NFL asked that the decision be suspended pending an appeal, to avoid "profound adverse consequences".

The World Trade Organization ruled Tuesday that Canada does not illegally subsidize its wheat exports to the US and other foreign markets contrary to WTO trade rules. At the same time, however, it concluded that Canada unfairly discriminates against wheat imports from the US. The Canadian Wheat Board, which handles the Canadian wheat export trade, offers this press release on the ruling. CWB audio is available here. The North Dakota Wheat Commission offers an American perspective. CBC News has more.

In Tuesday's legal profession news, the American Bar Association, continuing its Midyear Meeting in San Antonio Texas, has voted unanimously to push for a directive requiring law enforcement agencies to videotape their interrogations. The New York Times has more. The ABA has also adopted a resolution allowing states to individually make decisions regarding the ban on gay marriages and calling for the federal government to drop its efforts to make a decision on this issue. Reuters has more.

In Tuesday's judicial news, the Alabama Supreme Court has installed a new display that includes the Ten Commandments in the wake of highly publicized debate that resulted in the removal of a granite monument of the Commandments from the state's Justice Building rotunda. But former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who installed the original monument, is not pleased that the new display includes other old and historical documents such as the Magna Carta and the Constitution. While the Supreme Court insists that displays of the Commandments are constitutional when associated with other historical material, Moore feels that what is now on show de-emphasizes God. Associated Baptist Press has more.... In other judicial news, the Chief Magistrate for the 25th Judicial Circuit of Virginia now finds himself on the other side of the bench. Jeremiah Matthew Walker, a magistrate in VA is facing charges that range from abduction to public drunkenness after an incident in which he is accused of abducting an acquaintance, shooting into an occupied dwelling, brandishing a firearm and shooting in the city. Walker's duties as magistrate ironically included processing arrest papers and setting bail. Fredricksburg.com has more.

Here's Tuesday's roundup of major legal stories from countries around the world. In Malaysia, Eric Chia Eng Hock, former chief of the country's state steel firm Perwaja Steel, denied charges of fraud in a court appearance today. His arrest made him the first Malaysian business man indicted for corruption by the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, which is keen on proving anti-corruption credentials ahead of an upcoming election. BBC News has more.... In Russia, a nine-year old girl was stabbed to death by a group of suspected skinheads, an attack which has been widely seen as racist in origin. St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko says the crime is comparable to the terrorist attack on Moscow's underground railway, and she vows to combat any manifestations of nationalism in the city. BBC News has more.... In the United Kingdom, critics are saying that government plans to establish a UK Supreme Court have ignored the implications for of such a court for the Scottish legal system. The Commons Constitutional Affairs Committee today expressed astonishment that in announcing the constitutional changes, the government failed to take into account that Scotland has a distinct legal identity, and MPs have called to delay introduction of the changes. The Scotsman has more.

In environmental law news for Tuesday, UPI reports that over 100 environmental groups have filed a petition with the EPA asking the agency to impose restrictions on dumping waste from power plants in ground and surface water. The petition which was signed by such high profile groups as Clean Water Action and the Natural Resources Defense Council urged the EPA to maintain stricter standards regarding industrial dumping until adequate regulations can be passed... In other news, AP notes that an award of $26 million given to a group of California farmers in December by a federal judge could impact the way the Endangered Species Act is implemented. The decision came as a result of efforts to protect endangered winter-run chinook salmon and threatened delta smelt from 1992 to 1994 by diverting billions of gallons of water away from California farmers. If the decision stands, the government may have to pay millions more to protect endangered fish.

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Leading Tuesday's law school news is yet another update on the fight of Western State University College of Law to retain its national American Bar Association accreditation. After lawyers for the school convinced a federal judge last week to temporarily enjoin any ABA action on its accreditation status, lobbyists have convinced the ABA to withdraw its recommendation to revoke accreditation at the group's annual meeting. The Los Angeles Times carries the full story.

Law school professors have also been making national news in recent days. On Friday, President Bush appointed George Mason University School of Law professor Charles Robb - former Virginia state governor and US Senator - as co-chair of the Commission on Intelligence Operations. The commission is charged with investigating intelligence failures relating to alleged Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. On Monday, the New York Law Journal reported that Professor Francis McGovern of Duke University School of Law has been named fund administrator for a $1.4 billion settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and several prominent brokerage firms. Also on Monday, the University of Wisconsin Law School announced that Professor Stewart Macaulay has been presented with the American Bar Foundation's annual Outstanding Scholar Award. Macauley adds his name to a distinguished list of past winners that includes Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1995) and, most recently, Richard Posner (2003).

Lastly, the winter issue of the Yale Law Report, the biannual alumni magazine of Yale Law School, features a great read on the role of YLS faculty and alumni in the overturning of Bowers v. Hardwick by the Supreme Court last term in Lawrence v. Texas. Read "Yale Law School and the Overruling of Bowers v. Hardwick" here [PDF].

In Tuesday's civil rights news, The Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier reports that US District Court Judge Robert Pratt has ruled unconstitutional an Iowa law banning convicted child sex offenders from living within 2000 feet of a day care center or school. The Iowa Civil Liberties Union had challenged the law, claiming it was over-inclusive and placed an unnecessary burden on offenders because it banished them from most small, rural towns. Lawmakers who sponsored the law oppose the ruling, and will try to compose a new law to help prevent future attacks on children. Read the opinion here [PDF].... KGTV reports that a lesbian couple is appealing a decision that allowed a San Diego country club to deny them the same club benefits as married couples. The couple claims the club has extended marriage benefits to unmarried heterosexual couples in the past, and by not extending those benefits to them, the club is discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation. The Bernardo Heights Country Club says they are denying benefits to the couple because they do not want to appear "gay friendly" to the community at large.

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House lawmakers will consider a "three strikes and you're off" provision for broadcasters who repeatedly violate decency standards that would result in license revocation. Representative Fred Upton, chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Telecommunications, says that the provision may be added to a bill that would increase the $27,500 maximum per incident fine tenfold. On Wednesday, Upton's panel will interrogate a list of witnesses about indecent incidents during the Super Bowl. Reuters has more.

International officials in Bosnia have announced a freeze on the financial assets of 10 Bosnian Serbs, including several members of Radovan Karadzic's family, suspected of helping the country's most wanted war crimes suspects evade arrest. Karadzic has been indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for war crimes, crimes against humanity, violations of the Geneva Convention, and violations of the laws and customs of war. The United States ambassador to Bosnia, Clifford Bond, says there was credible information that the suspects had been providing financial and logistical support, protection and communications for indicted war criminals, including Radovan Karadzic. AP has more.

A three-judge panel of the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia has rejected a proposed redistricting of electoral maps for the Georgia House and Senate and has given state legislature until March 1 to draw new maps that do not infringe the principle of one man, one vote. Read the opinion here [PDF]. The Georgia House Republican Caucus has case briefs and documentation here. Background information on the Georgia redistricting imbroglio is provided by the National Committee for an Effective Congress here. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has more.

JURIST is pleased to announce that legal news headlines from our Paper Chase weblog are now available for law library websites. Recent adoptions include the University of Idaho College of Law Library and the University of South Dakota Law Library. Paper Chase legal news is also carried on the website of the New Jersey Law Librarians Association. To get the single line of HTML code required to display our continually-updated newsblocks, click here.

The National Football League asked a District Court judge Tuesday to suspend her ruling that allows young athletes to sacrifice college scholarships and eligibility to enter the NFL draft. The ruling [PDF], issued late last week, arose out of an antitrust suit brought by Maurice Clarett, an Ohio State college student. AP has more here.

The Italian parliament has adopted legislation that serious limits artificial insemination for married couples and bans artificial insemination for gay couples and single woman. The legislation, approved by the Italian Senate in December and now approved by the Chamber of Deputies, is the result of debate that pitted liberals against Roman Catholics, and its passage makes Italy the only European country to ban third party insemination. AFP has more.

Tuesday's Boston Globe reports that Nicholas Doman, an attorney who was on the prosecution's staff at the Nuremberg war crimes trials and was also responsible for helping citizens to reclaim property seized by Nazi and Communist regimes in Europe, has passed away at the age of 90. Doman received his law degree from the University of Budapest and had a chair in international law at the University of Colorado Law School named after him; the law school's International Law Society also bears his name. The NY Times also reports.

In family law news for Tuesday, the South Dakota House State Affairs Committee has defeated a bill that would have made domestic partnerships and civil unions illegal in South Dakota. Legislators concluded the measure was too vague. South Dakota already has a law defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman, but the proposed bill would have gone further to specifically ban civil unions. The Sioux Falls Argus Leader has more.

In Tuesday's corporations and securities law news, three members of the US Senate are proposing a new bill aimed at reforming the mutual fund industry. Among other things, the bill would prohibit fund companies from paying brokers to promote their products and outlaw funds from charging investors for distribution and marketing expenses. Read a press release about the introduction of the bill here. AP has more.... According to an SEC filing, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has subpoenaed Peoples Gas for documents relating to transactions with Enron Midwest, an affiliate of Enron Corp. Enron Midwest has documents which show that the company shared profits on gas trading with Enovate, an unregulated joint venture of Enron and Peoples Energy. Read the SEC filing here [PDF]. AP has more.... The office of New York District Attorney Robert Morgenthau has executed a search warrant as part of the ongoing investigation into food giant Parmalat's operations in the United States. Prosecutors are trying to determine whether banks that have helped Parmalat sell 8 billion euros in bonds since 1995 knew about the state of the company's finances. Reuters has more.... US District Court Judge Vanessa Gilmore has quashed a subpoena issued by lawyers defending former Enron executives who wanted to obtain documents from Neal Batson, the Enron bankruptcy examiner. The Houston Chronicle has more.... An assistant to Martha Stewart has testified that Stewart altered the log of a phone call from her stockbroker about the sale of ImClone Systems stock, then ordered the assistant to change it back. AP has more.

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In Tuesday's criminal law and punishment news, a federal judge from the Southern District of Iowa struck down an Iowa sex-offender law on Monday. The law made it illegal for convicted sex-offenders to live within 2,000 feet of day-care centers and schools. AP has more. Read Monday's opinion here [PDF].... Late Monday night the United States Supreme Court denied an appeal by the state of California to vacate Kevin Cooper's stay of execution, according to SFGate.com. As reported yesterday on JURIST's Paper Chase, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted Cooper a stay of execution pending an en banc rehearing of his case. Read the Supreme Court's order denying the state's appeal here [PDF - scroll to page 3].

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The trial of former NBA star Jayson Williams is expected to begin today. Jury selection in the case has been completed and the trial is scheduled to begin after the lunch break. Williams, a former player for the New Jersey Nets faces seven charges including aggravated manslaughter in connection with the shooting death of his limousine driver in the early hours of February 14, 2002. AP has more.

An Argentine judge investigating possible connections between arms trafficking, a 1994 Jewish community center bombing in Buenos Aires, and bank accounts held by former Argentine President Carlos Menem and his associates said Tuesday he would go to Switzerland to ask Swiss authorities to find and freeze any Menem-related accounts in Switzerland. Menem has denied holding any overseas accounts, but has already been charged by authorities with failing to declare a Swiss account. EFE has more.

An $11.9 billion jury verdict won by the state of Alabama againt ExxonMobil was the biggest of 2003, and larger than the rest of the year's top 100 jury awards combined according to a list released by National Journal and Verdictsearch. AP has more.

CNN reports that the French National Assembly, the lower house of the French Parliament, has just voted overwhelmingly to support the government's proposed ban on religious symbols, including head scarves, in state schools.

UPDATE: The bill passed 494 votes to 36, and now goes to the French Senate. BBC News has more in English, Le Monde reports in French. Read the bill text here [PDF; in French].

After hearing oral arguments yesterday the Israeli Supreme Court has promised a speedy ruling on a petition by human rights groups to stop construction of a controversial security fence. AP has more. The legality of the fence is also being challenged in the International Court of Justice. Read the request for an ICJ advisory opinion here.

Figures released by the University of Michigan show that the number of minority applicants for admission to the freshman class is disproportionately down in the wake of a US Supreme Court ruling last year that directed the University to scrap a system that awarded points toward admission based on race. Minority applications are off 23%, while general admissions applications are down 18%. Today's Detroit News has more.

A well-known South Korean human rights activist says he has obtained letters authorizing the transfer of political prisoners held by North Korean to a North Korean chemical complex for "the purpose of human experimentation for liquid gas." The letters are scheduled to be released at a press conference in London later today. Their existence was first reported by the BBC earlier this month - see their press release. Today's Los Angeles Times has more. North Korea has denied the allegations.

Germany unveiled Tuesday its first maximum-security court designed especially for terror trials as three members of a Jordanian-based group affiliated with al Qaeda appeareed before judges in Dusseldorf accused of plotting attacks on Jewish targets. Deutsche Welle has more.

In Tuesday's media and information law news, a federal judge has removed a temporary restraining order on a Missouri television station that barred it from airing the identity of a man caught in an Internet chat room sex sting, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press reports. The judge issued the original restraining order the day before, but then reversed his decision, saying it was a prior restraint prohibited by the First Amendment. RCFP has more.... The US Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked the release of grand jury transcripts, saying the release of the materials could help the suspect in a kidnapping avoid arrest, RCFP reports. The Court ruled that because much of the information was already in the public domain, the transcripts did not need to be released, but an attorney for the Tampa Tribune said the ruling violated the public's right to know. The Court's opinion is here.... Palestinian journalists yesterday protested increased attacks and harassment against them in the Gaza Strip, according to the Jerusalem Post. The journalists also planned a sit-in to urge the Palestinian Authority to take action to protect the journalists.... The Minnesota Court of Appeals has ruled that government agencies do not need to provide public access to documents when a private company performed work for the public and holds the related records, according to RCFP. Under the state's open-records laws, records from outsourced work must be sought from the private companies that possess them, the appeals court ruled. According to the Minnesota Newspaper Association, the ruling could prevent access to some records.... Several press groups in an open letter urged the Ukrainian general prosecutor to open access to tapes that could implicate several officials in the November 2000 murder of a online newspaper editor. Reporters Without Borders has more.

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A Thailand army general said Tuesday that martial law allowing the detention of individuals without charge would continue in force in the mainly-Muslim southern region of the country despite objections from religious leaders. Unrest in the south over the past several months has resulted in killed or injured various government officials, Buddhist monks, police and civilians. Reuters has more.

A committee of British Members of Parliament reviewing the UK government's plan to abolish the traditional office of the Lord Chancellor and replace the judicial panel of the House of Lords with a US-style Supreme Court has issued a report saying that the reforms were drawn up in a overly-hurried way and that the aboliton of the Lord Chancellor's ofice in particular should be delayed until the new Supreme Court and an accompanying judicial appointmemts commission are in place. The full text of the report by the House of Commons Constitutional Affairs Committee should shortly be available here. The original Consultation Paper from the UK Department of Constitutional Affairs on reforming the office of Lord Chancellor is here; the Consultation Paper on developing a new UK Supreme Court is here. BBC News has more. According to the Guardian, Lord Falconer, the UK Constitutional Affairs Secretary, has vigorously defended the reforms.

Lawyers for convicted DC sniper John Allan Muhammad filed motions for a new trial of his case Monday, saying that information from medical reports about their client's "abnormal brain" and "neurological deficits" were not allowed into evidence. AP has more.

The President of the Florida Senate, Republican Tim King, says he now regrets his support for legislation passed late last year which authorized Governor Jeb Bush to have a feeding tube reconnected to Terry Schiavo to keep her alive despite a court finding that she was in a permanent vegatative state and her husband's statement that she would not want to continue living in those circumstances. He said he bowed to "unbelievable" pressure from religious conservatives. The St. Petersburg Times has more.

The current President of the US-selected Iraqi Governing Council has said that he favors Islamic law as the basis for a new post-Saddam Iraqi legal system. Abdel-Hamid, a Sunni legal scholar, says he wants "a constitution that represents the Islamic identity of the majority of the Iraqi people, with all the respect due to other identities." His statement runs counter to a previous agreement among the framers of Iraq's interim constitution, and if implemented by the Council as a whole could prompt a veto from US Administrator Paul Bremer. The propect of the Islamization of Iraq's family law has already spawned demonstrations and complaints by Iraqi women. AP has more.

Here’s a run-down of law-related events scheduled for Tuesday, February 10…

The seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity takes place today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The meeting runs until February 20.

The US Senate will convene at 9:30 AM ET and will resume consideration of S.1072, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act.

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs will meet at 10 AM ET to hold a hearing on Proposals to Improve the Regulatory Regime for Government Sponsored Enterprises. The hearing will be webcast live.

The US House will meet at 12:30 PM ET.

The House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law will meet at 3 PM ET to hold a legislative oversight hearing on "Privacy in the Hands of the Government: The Privacy Officer for the Department of Homeland Security." The Hearing will be immediately followed by markup of H.R. 338, the “Defense of Privacy Act.” The hearing will be webcast live.

Presidential primaries will be held today in Virginia and Tennessee. The Virginia State Board of Elections offers information on the Democratic Presidential Primary Election.

In Tuesday's US law and business press, the ABA Journal reports that a unanimous three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a broad reading of Lawrence v. Texas and upheld a FL statute prohibiting gays and lesbians from adopting children in the state.... The St. Louis Business Journal reports that an Emerson subsidiary has sued American Power Conversion Corp., alleging conspiracy and tortious interference with contract.... The Connecticut Law Tribune reports that a CT federal judge has thrown out the conviction of a man charged with unlawful weapons possession by a felon due to concerns about police truthfulness.... The Legal Intelligencer reports that a unanimous three-judge panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated a class action suit by Kia Sephia buyers because the buyers' individual claims may not satisfy the $75,000 amount-in-controversy requirement to establish federal jurisdiction.... FindLaw's Writ features Hastings law professor Vikram D. Amar's commentary on what's wrong with the modern jury, as well as religion scholar Shahriar Hafizi's guest column on US-VISIT, the digital program to finger scan and photograph visitors to the US.

click for the previous US law and business press review

Legal stories featured in Tuesday's foreign press... Israel's Haaretz covers the drafting of a law to define the powers of the Mossad. The law will establish mechanisms for oversight and leadership of the secretive intelligence organization.... In Russia, The Moscow Times reports Defense Minister Ivanov is suggesting that Russia may pull out of the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty. Ivanov complained that the CFE, negotiated during the cold war stand off between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, did not address Baltic states which are set to join NATO later this year. The CFE limits the deployment of conventional weapons and troops throughout Europe.... Singapore's Today reports the Myanmar Junta is to ease restrictions on democracy proponents. The policy change comes amid plans to initiate multi-party talks on drafting a new constitution.

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On February 10, 1967, the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution, pertaining to Presidential disability and succession, took effect. Learn more about Presidential succession from the AEI/Brookings Continuity of Government Commission.