In Thursday's immigration law news, two state legislatures took different paths today to clear the way for unlawful immigrants to get in-state tuition rates at state schools. In Kansas, the state Senate approved a measure that would entitle students in the country illegally who had been living in Kansas for at least three years and are seeking permanent resident status to get in-state tuition rates at Kansas colleges and universities. The text of the bill [PDF] is available online. Meanwhile, a Utah bill designed to prevent similarly situated students from getting in-state tuition rates died in a state House committee. The bill would have repealed a measure passed in 2002 that would have allowed for the in-state tuition rates to be granted to unlawful immigrants, had federal law allowed.

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Leading Thursday's law school news, the Roanoke Times reports today that lawyers for a former student charged in a shooting rampage at the Appalachian School of Law are close to a plea agreement that would avoid a death sentence. One-time student Peter Odighizuwa, who was expelled for failing grades, is charged with killing the school's dean, a professor, and a student, as well as injuring three more people, in January 2002. In the wake of their murders, JURIST collected condolences for Dean L. Anthony "Tony" Sutin (editor of JURIST's coverage of the 2000 Presidential recount) and Professor Thomas Blackwell. The Times notes that the family of the third victim has filed a lawsuit charging Appalachian administrators with maintaining lax security and ignoring warning signs in advance of the shootings.

In happier news, the Case Western Reserve University School of Law announces that Professor Jonathan Adler has been named the recipient of the Paul M. Bator Award, given annually by the Federalist Society to an academic under the age of 40 who embodies the life and work of the award's namesake. Adler's prolific scholarship focuses on issues of environmental and regulatory policy. Case Western's press release has the full story here.

Also making headlines are students and faculty in the Jim Crow Study Group at the University of Arizona's James E. Rogers College of Law. Today the group released a report called "Still on the Books: Jim Crow and Segregation Laws Fifty Years After Brown v. Board of Education," revealing that a half-century after the landmark Brown decision, laws ensuring school segregation are still on the books of at least eight Southern states. Even if most of the laws are no longer enforced, Professor Gabriel "Jack" Chin contends, their continued presence on the books is an affront and an indicator of persistent attitudes. Read the group's report, which concludes with a call for repeal of identified legislation, here [PDF].

Lastly, Thursday brings news about the future directions of three law schools. According to the Daily Helmsman, representatives of the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis have met with local officials to discuss the school's proposed move to downtown Memphis. The school may require a new and larger facility in order to maintain its accreditation, says the Memphis Online, and it has its eye on an old and elegant building that is currently serving as a mail-sorting facility.

Elsewhere, Cleveland's Plain Dealer reports that Cleveland State University's Cleveland-Marshall College of Law plans to gradually downsize its enrollment as part of a multi-prong effort to raise its standards and reputation. Meanwhile, a campaign is underway at the University of Wisconsin Law School to improve students' writing and communication skills. Reforms include factoring legal writing course grades into student grade point averages and introducing more real-world learning exercises into course curricula. As Dean Kenneth Davis explains, "Because words are at the foundation of our work, sharp, focused legal writing is a powerful skill and we are committed to providing our graduates the right tools to succeed in practice." Read more on the initiative here.

In Thursday's federal courts roundup, Judge Garland E. Burrell of the US District Court for the Eastern District of California has ruled that the state can no longer issue special interest license plates. Burrell specifically ruled that the state legislature does not have the right to choose which organizations may benefit from legislation authorizing the plates. KXTV News10 has the full story.... Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York today granted a media request to release the names of jurors for the Martha Stewart trial once they deliver a verdict. Cederbaum announced that jurors' names will be read aloud in court on the day of the verdict, but will not make space available in the courthouse for reporters to interview jurors. AP has the full story.... Green Party member Jim Sykes, who is running for a US Senate seat from Alaska, has filed suit in an attempt to prevent his opponents from accepting campaign contributions from people and groups not located in Alaska. The suit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, asserts that organizations outside of the state should not influence elections inside the state. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner has the full story.

In international law news Thursday, the US Department of State is expected to announce tomorrow that although the US intends to end its military's use of landmines that are not timed to self-destruct, the US will not sign the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction. During the previous administration, former President Clinton had indicated that the US would be willing to sign the treaty by 2006 if the military could find satisfactory alternatives to landmines. AP has more. The State Department's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement has more on the current US policy on landmines here.... As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, the UN has said that the alleged bugging of Secretary-General Kofi Annan's office by UK security services would be illegal under international law and any ongoing bugging must stop. At a press conference this morning (also reported on Paper Chase), Prime Minister Tony Blair called allegations made by former Labor Cabinet minister Clare Short "totally irresponsible." Short made the allegations during an interview on the BBC's Today program (again reported on Paper Chase). In response to Blair's remarks, Short accused the prime minister of using "pompous distraction tactics," and said the UK had no national interest that would justify spying on Annan. BBC News has more.... Haiti and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have appealed to the UN Security Council for help during the current political and security crisis in Haiti. In remarks during today's Security Council meeting, Jamaican Foreign Minister Keith D. Knight, called for the "direct and immediate intervention" of the United Nations. The UN News Service has more. Summaries of statements made on the situation in Haiti at today's Security Council meeting are available here and archived video of the meeting is here. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan today announced the appointment of John Reginald Dumas as his Special Adviser on Haiti. Dumas has a long record of diplomatic service for Trinidad and Tobago. The UN News Service has more.

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In Congressional news for Thursday, Reuters reports that the Senate today approved a measure to require child safety locks on guns as an amendment to legislation otherwise strongly supported by gun manufacturers and the National Rifle Association. Debating S 1805, the "Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act," which would limit tort liability against gun manufacturers, distributors, dealers, and importers resulting from the misuse of their products by others, senators today adopted the safety locks amendment by a vote of 70-27. The amendment was sponsored by California Democrat Barbara Boxer and Wisconsin Democrat Herb Kohl. It may represent the first of several proposed amendments favored by gun control advocates, who seek to create difficulty for the underlying legislation, should it reach conference with the House. According to today's Washington Post, other amendments could include provisions for background checks at gun shows, and an extension of the current ban on certain semiautomatic assault weapons, both of which are opposed by the White House. The House legislation, HR 1036, was passed in April 2003 and shares the name of the Senate version, though it lacks gun control language such as that added to the Senate bill today.... As noted earlier today, the House passed HR 1997, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2003 by a vote of 254-163. The bill, described previously in JURIST's Paper Chase, creates a separate crime for causing death or serious bodily injury to a fetus. The issue now goes to the Senate. AP has more.

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Just a few hours after announcing its lifting of the US travel ban to Libya (previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase), the White House Thursday tightened travel restrictions against Cuba. Invoking Cuba's status as what it called a "state sponsor of terrorism" and its past excessive and deadly use of force against Americans and its own citizens, the administration authorized the US Department of Homeland Security and other agencies to prevent the departure of ships about to leave the US for Cuba, and to stop, inspect and even seize US ships en route there. The President's official Proclamation is here. AP has more.

Here's Thursday's legal news from the US Department of Justice. US Solicitor General Theodore Olson has expressed his support of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance in its case against Interior Secretary Gale Norton who claims that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is not fulfilling its obligations by way of protecting wilderness areas in Utah from damage by off-road vehicles. Currently, the Supreme Court of Utah is reviewing a US Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals decision which allowed the suit to be brought under the Administration Procedure Act [PDF]. Olson argues in briefs that if the decision remains in tact, courts will become the daily managers of public lands instead of the BLM.... As reported earlier on JURIST's Paper Chase, the Justice Department has sued to block Oracle Corp.'s proposed $9.4 billion takeover of PeopleSoft Inc. in light of its anticompetitive nature. The DOJ argues that the merger would lead to higher prices and fewer choices for customers.

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In Thursday's civil rights news, Antelope Valley College of Lancaster, CA is investigating allegations of religious discrimination within the school. A Muslim student alleges a professor at the college required her to remove her religious head scarf or leave the classroom. While the student was allowed to return to the classroom with her head scarf, she says she still feels intimidated by the professor. The Southern California office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is pleased the college has decided to look into the matter. US Newswire has more... The ACLU of Virginia and a student at the College of William and Mary have filed a lawsuit against the Williamsburg VA voter registrar alleging a constitutional violation by denying the student's right to register to vote in the county he lives in. Student Seth Saunders lives in Williamsburg and would like to run for a seat on the city council. However, his parents do not live in Williamsburg and his father claims Seth as a dependent on his tax return. As a result of this situation, the voter registrar declined Seth's voter application. The ACLU claims this deprives Seth of his right to participate in the activities of the community in which he resides. AP has more.

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In environmental law news for Thursday, following up on a story that I reported yesterday, AP reports that public hearings held in North Carolina concerning the EPA's proposals to reduce mercury emissions has spurned criticism that North Carolina residents' health may be at stake as well as the state's tourism industry. The most pressing concerns brought up at the hearing in Triangle Park, North Carolina include the high rate of children born with unhealthy levels of mercury in their system as well as possible effects on local fish populations. Other hearings conducted in Chicago and Philadelphia have also resulted in similar concerns from citizens and witnesses who feel that the EPA is not meeting the standards set forth in the Clean Air Act. The Chicago Sun-Times notes that Lt. Governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn stated at the Chicago hearing that "we should treat mercury much as our country treated lead with its effect on our children. We should try to eliminate it as quickly as we can. The EPA proposal is too relaxed, too lenient, and too slow." The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the Philadelphia hearing has also raised questions over effects that potential "hot spots" could have on fishing and recreation in the area... In other news, Reuters reports that the European Commission has reiterated its support for the terms of the Kyoto Protocol, in spite of a request to review a key European Union (EU) environmental policy if Russia fails to ratify the global treaty. The main issue of debate is the EU's planned trading scheme, which Energy Commissioner Loyola de Palacio believes should be reconsidered if Russia opts out of the plan.

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The New York Civil Liberties Union has announced that Jeremiah Gutman, a prominent New York civil rights attorney who just a few days ago testified as a defense witness in the Martha Stewart trial (for a short time he acted as a lawyer for Douglas Faneuil, the government's star witness in the case), died Wednesday at the age of 80 after succumbing to a heart attack at a train station. He was a founding member of the New York Civil Liberties Union, set up in 1951 partly as a reaction to Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist crusade, and at the time of his death was a member of the board of the ACLU. Read an NYCLU tribute to Jeremiah Gutman here. CNN has more... Norval Morris, a former dean at the University of Chicago Law School, has also passed away at the age of 80 according to the Fort Worth Star Telegram. Morris directed the University's Center for Studies in Criminal Justice from 1965-75 and was an internationally recognized expert on criminal justice and prison reform. He advocated sentencing reform by streamlining states' criminal codes and changing the way credit that was earned by a prisoner for good behavior could later be taken away for getting in trouble... Finally, the Fort Worth Star Telegram also reports that Waggoner Carr, a former Texas attorney general, died on Wednesday at the age of 85. Carr served as attorney general from 1963 to 1967. Carr had breakfast with President John F. Kennedy the day Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas and later had to testify in front of the Warren Commission, which investigated the assassination.

The Justice Department Thursday sued to block Oracle Corp.'s proposed $9.4 billion takeover of PeopleSoft Inc. in light of its anticompetitive nature. The DOJ argues that the merger would lead to higher prices and fewer choices for customers. R. Hewitt Page, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Department's Antitrust Division, says that the two companies are the only ones competinge with each other in the area of human resource management and financial services software for large businesses, the government, and non-profit organizations. The DOJ has issued a related press release here.

The jury that will hear the fraud case against Adelphia Communications Corporation founder John Rigas and his two sons was formally chosen in New York today. The three men have been accused of cheating Adelphia investors out of billions of dollars. They have pleaded innocent to charges of conspiracy, securities fraud and bank fraud. Opening statements in the trial are expected to begin Monday. Read the original SEC complaint against Adelphia here. AP has more.

In Thursday's corporations and securities law news, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has set aside $37 million for possible costs from an investigation being conducted by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and the SEC into market timing abuses. Bloomberg.com has more.... As in a similar US investigation, European Union regulators are probing allegations that the world's biggest computer memory chip companies [Micron Technology Inc. of the U.S., Infineon Technologies AG of Germany, Samsung Electronics Co. and Hynix Semiconductor Inc. of South Korea] colluded over prices and output. Dow Jones has more.... David Brown, chief of the New York Attorney General's Investment Protection has told mutual fund representatives that fund companies that come forward and acknowledge violations of securities laws will earn leniency. Brown stated many fund companies have not been very forthcoming in the ongoing investigations of illegal trading, broker relationships and unfair fees. AP has more.... The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Ontario Securities Commission and Canada's federal tax authority are investigating Royal Group Technologies Ltd. for transactions made between the maker of plastic building products and a resort controlled by the company's chairman. Bloomberg.com has more.... The European Union antitrust regulators have been authorized to review alliances between European and non-European airlines that stop short of full mergers. The Commission previously had authority to scrutinize airline mergers only if they involved solely European airlines. AP has more.

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AP is reporting that the House has voted to make it a separate crime to injure or kill a fetus. It passed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2003 Act (HR 1997) by 254-163.

AP is reporting that a report released this afternoon by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston indicates that since 1950, 162 priests in the Archdiocese have been accused of molesting 815 minors. The ongoing clergy sex abuse scandal broke in Boston in January 2002 and in December resulted in the resignation of Bernard Cardinal Law as head of the Archdiocese. AP has this background report filed prior to this afternoon's release. The statistics in the report were gathered as part of a national study on clergy sex abuse due to be released tomorrow by New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice, which earlier this month issued a press release cautioning against initial media reports from its unreleased national survey.

The FBI has prohibited its employees from taking any items from crime scenes or evidence sites after Justice Department investigators found that 13 agents took debris from the collapsed World Trade Center, including a Tiffany globe paperweight, chunks of concrete, metal and bolts and a US flag. The ban came in response to a letter from Sen. Charles Grassley to FBI Director Robert Mueller claiming a double standard for agents because private citizens have been prosecuted and given prison sentences for taking items from the site. Read the FBI response here. AP hasmore.

The head of the 1200-station broadcast chain Clear Channel Communications apologized to federal lawmakers Thursday for airing a show that prompted the FCC to propose a record fine of a $755,000 for illegal brodacst of sexually explicit content. John Hogan testified before the House Energy and Commerce telecommunications subcommittee. His prepared testimony and other documents from today's hearing will shortly be available from the Committee here. Clear Channel issued a press release yesterday outlining the stricter "zero tolerance" standard [PDF] it would enforce in future; it took Howard Stern's "shock jock" radio show off its stations later in the day. Review the original January 27 FCC press release on the proposed fine [PDF].

Speaking to reporters just after Noontime today in New York, the official spokesman for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that if true, the alleged bugging of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's office by UK security services was illegal under international law and if ongoing, "must stop." Spokesman Fred Eckhard cited three international instruments:

• the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, article 2 section 3 of which reads: "The premises of the United Nations shall be inviolable. The property and assets of the United Nations, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation and any other form of interference, whether by executive, administrative, judicial or legislative action."
  
• the 1947 Headquarters Agreement between the United States and the UN; and
  
• the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations

Recorded video of the press briefing should be available shortly from the UN.

UPDATE: The video of the press briefing is now online.

Citing Libya's "significant steps in implementing its commitment to disclose and dismantle all weapons of mass destruction", the White House announced Thursday that the United States was lifting its 23-year ban on US travel to that country. The lifting of the ban had been expected earlier this week, but was delayed on Tuesday after the Libyan Prime Minister said that Libya had paid compensation for the Lockerbie PanAm 103 bombing to "buy peace" rather than as an admission of guilt. The US had demanded retraction of that statement. The official statement by the White House Press Secretary is here. AP has more.

The BBC has now posted video of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's comments at a London press conference this morning on the legality of the British government's bugging of the offices of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in the run-up to the Iraq war, as alleged earlier Thursday by former Labor Cabinet minister Clare Short in a BBC radio interview. Watch the video here (30 minutes). Blair was asked about the consistency of the alleged bugging with the terms of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (Articles 22 and 27 of which guarantee the inviolability of diplomatic corespondence and communications). Without saying whether Short's allegation were true (although he did call it "totally irresponsible"), he insisted that the UK security services operate within the bounds of international and UK domestic law. A BBC Q & A quotes Malcolm Shaw QC, Professor of International Law at the University of Leicester, as saying:

It's not legal to bug foreign diplomats, certainly not without their consent. With regards to the United Nations this is covered by the UN headquarters agreements as well as general diplomatic law and it is certainly not legal.

A UN spokeman offered the same perspective earlier today, as previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at The Hague has announced that former Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic will have 150 days from June 8 to establish his defense against charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. The prosecution rested its case on Wednesday after 293 days. Milosevic has chosen to represent himself, but has been plagued by health problems which have delayed the proceeding on 14 occasions. IOL has more.

A spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert said Wednesday that the Speaker would not have legislation introduced in the House to extend the current May 27 deadline for the report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. The Commission had requested a 60-day extension, the White House had acceded to that after initially rejecting it, and enabling legislation is moving foward in the Senate, but the House Speaker's position could end the matter. The Hastert spokeman said the Speaker "thinks the [commission's] report is overdue and we need to get the recommendations as soon as possible. He is also concerned it will become a political football if this thing is extended and it is released in the middle of the presidential campaign." CongressDaily has more. Commission chairs Thomas Keane and Lee Hamilton issued a statement [PDF] yesterday welcoming the Senate legislation and expressing their disappointment that Presidential National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice has refused to testify before the panel.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry Thursday expressed China's "strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition" to allegations in the US State Department's 2003 reports on human rights (reported yesterday in JURIST's Paper Chase) that China was "backsliding" on human rights. It did not say, however, that the allegations would constitute a setback in relations between the countries. China has expressed its opposition to US human rights findings in the past, and has called for the US to recognize its progress in the area. It has also gone so far as to issue a counter-report on human rights abuses in the United States, although it is not clear whether it will do so again this year. Reuters has more.

A UN official speaking from Brussels said Thursday that any spying on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan by the United Kingdom in the run-up to the UN Security Council's 2003 vote on the Iraq war would have been illegal. Reuters has more. Earlier Thursday, former UK cabinet minister - and now Blair government critic - Clare Short told the BBC's Today program that the British government had spied on the Secretary General before the vote on the second Security Council resolution, and that in Cabinet she had seen the reports:

[T]he UK in this time was also getting - spying on Kofi Annan's office and getting reports from him about what was going on. The US was pressing Chile, Mexico - enormous pressures were brought to bear. What's remarkable is that these countries didn't break... I've seen transcripts of Kofi Annan's conversations. In fact I've had conversations with Kofi in the run up to war, thinking 'oh dear there will be a transcript of this and people will see what he and I are saying'.

Her comments came a day after charges were dropped against a British GCHQ translator for leaking an e-mail indicating that the US was spying on countries involved in the Security Council deliberations, and encouraging Britain to do likewise - see a previous report on JURIST's Paper Chase. The BBC has more. Listen to the BBC interview with Clare Short here, which begins with a discussion of the GCHQ charges.

UPDATE: At a news conference this morning British Prime Minister Tony Blair insisted that the UK security services act in accordance with national and international law, and called Short's allegations "totally irresponsible."

In Paris Thursday a panel of French judges ruled that the case of World War II Vichy official Maurice Papon (see a BBC profile), convicted in 1998 to 10 years imprisonment for complicity in crimes against humanity in connection with the deportation of over 1600 French Jews, could be reviewed by the Cour de Cassation, France's highest court. Papon, now 93, was released from jail in 2002 because of age; he is currently under house arrest. His lawyers had originally asked for a retrial. The Cour de Cassation has not yet indicated whether it will take Papon's case. UPI has more in English; Le Monde has more in French.

In Thursday's US law and business press, the Recorder reports that experts on the same-sex marriage issue say CA Attorney General Bill Lockyer's decision to go directly to the CA Supreme Court to defend the CA definition of marriage is unlikely to immediately end gay weddings in San Francisco.... The Miami Daily Business Review reports that an indictment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges is expected after a FL federal grand jury convenes to consider the evidence against Adham Hassoun, a FL computer programmer who knew alleged "dirty bomber" Jose Padilla.... The Legal Intelligencer reports on a PA Superior Court ruling that remedies under the federal Vaccine Act of 1986 must be exhausted before parents can sue in state court for damages to newborns caused by thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative once found in vaccines.... The ABA Journal reports on the growing use of Internet advertising by attorneys.... The Kansas City Business Journal reports that former Westar Energy, Inc. executives David Wittig and Douglas Lake have filed $180 million counterclaims in response to the company's demand for $102 million from them.... FindLaw's Writ features former White House counsel John W. Dean's column on the world of Washington "super lawyers," as well as attorney Jonna Spilbor's guest commentary on the Jayson Williams case.

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A few of the legal stories running in Thursday's foreign press... The International Herald Tribune reports the early closing of the war crimes prosecutors' cases against former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Though additional evidence was to be presented in the remaining two days, the presiding judges illness prompted the decision to rest the case. Milosevic's defense must begin presenting its case in 150 days.... Russia's Pravda covers the foreign Minister Ivanov's accusation that Qatar violated international law in the arrest of three Russian secret service agents assigned to the Russian embassy. Ivanov claims the violation is based in failing to inform the Russian authorities of the detention and preventing contact with representatives. Qatar's own secret service made the arrest.... China's Xinhua features plans to implement a new law on the prevention and control of communicable diseases. The law expands the government's right to respond to 42 categories of diseases.

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On February 26, 1924, Adolf Hitler and several others were put on trial for treason in Munich in connection with an attempted putsch. Learn more about the Munich (or "Beer Hall") Putsch and the subsequent trial of Hitler and his associates.