In Monday's rights and liberties news, the ACLU has called the newest proposed language for the federal constitutional marriage amendment a "desperate political move" which would "write discrimination into the Constitution, deny all states the right to decide who can get married in their states". The new draft language, introduced in the Senate earlier today, reads:

Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.

The wording changes would theoretically allow Vermont-style civil unions and same-sex domestic partnership laws. Bloomberg has more. Read more on the ACLU's opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment here.

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In Monday's federal courts roundup, the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that South Carolina's anti-abortion license plates violate the Constitution because they give anti-abortion advocates a forum to express their views without giving abortion rights supporters a similar forum. The court held that the state engaged in viewpoint discrimination by limiting access to specialty plates to those groups that agree with its pro-life position. AP has the full story. Read the opinion here [PDF].... Judge Nora M. Manella of the US District Court for the Central District of California has ruled that evidence of use of marijuana for medicinal purposes may be introduced as a defense in a criminal drug trial. The decision comes three months after the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a federal act outlawing the drug may not apply to people with a doctor's recommendation in states that allow medical marijuana use. AP has the full story. See last December's opinion from Raich v. Ashcroft [PDF].... Judge James Ellison of the US District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma has ruled that survivors of a 1921 race riot in Tulsa cannot sue for reparations in court because the statute of limitations expired 80 years ago. About 150 survivors and 300 descendants of victims argued that the statute of limitations should not apply because they did not obtain information necessary to bring suit until a report was issued in 2001. AP has the full story.... AP reports that a suspicious package at the federal appeals courthouse in Atlanta necessitated a call to the Atlanta police bomb squad. Police blocked off the street behind the US Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and evacuated part of the vicinity. A powdery material found in the package was later deemed not to be dangerous.... The US Supreme Court Monday heard arguments in the case of Tennard v. Dretke, a Texas death penalty case in which jurors were told they could not take the defendant's IQ of 67 into account as a special circumstance for leniency. Some justices expressed concern about the fairness of the Texas appeals system for capital cases. AP has the full report.... The US Supreme Court also heard arguments today in Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada, Humboldt County, et al. The case raises the question of whether police can require a person to identify themselves without probable cause. Hiibel refused 11 police requests for his name during a domestic dispute investigation, and was arrested for violating a Nevada law that requires people to identify themselves if requested to do so by police. Knight Ridder has the full story.

KGW-TV in Portland, Oregon, is reporting that Benton County commissioners have voted to postpone issuing any marriage licenses (traditional or same-sex) pending a court decision on the legality of same-sex marriage in the state. Benton County had announced last week that it would begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses Wednesday, joining Portland's Multonomah County which has been issuing them for several weeks already.

In environmental law news for Monday, AP reports that the federal government has ordered Ford Motor Company to review a Superfund site which the company used as a dump for car parts, solvents, and paint sludge from 1967 to 1974. The site, which is located near Ringwood State Park in New Jersey, has recently become the subject of criticism by residents who claim that a rise in various health problems may be a result of toxic substances in the soil. Although the EPA certified a cleanup of surface areas in 1994, testing of soil has found that lead concentrations are about 295 times more than federal standards allow... In other news, nuclear waste from Three Mile Island and 130 other sites could be shipped to the controversial Yucca Mountain depot in Nevada as early as 2015. These plans, however, have been contested by environmentalists who feel that the trek which would start in Pennsylvania and end in Nevada is too risky of a venture given the heightened concerns over terrorism. KRT has more... Finally, the EPA is scheduled to review guidelines designed to protect the environment from components of sewage sludge used as fertilizing agents. The review was prompted by reports that dairy cattle and pastures were contaminated by sludge from the city of Augusta. While the EPA has undertaken 14 separate projects designed to improve the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer, opponents are concerned that the plans will do little more than revalidate program that federal authorities do not wish to change. AP has more.

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In international law news Monday, the Working Group on Electronic Commerce of the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) has agreed on the recommendation of a draft convention on e-commerce that will be submitted to UNCITRAL's full session in June. The convention would create a unified legal regime for worldwide e-commerce and remove barriers and lower costs for companies that use the internet to conduct business. Read the preliminary text [PDF] of the draft convention and this UNCITRAL press release. The UN News Service has more.... At a meeting of a South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation subgroup, India's Foreign Minister Shri Shashank has called for a multilateral tax treaty within South Asia that would offer more comprehensive protection to investors, provide greater legal certainty regarding tax status and provide a mechanism for the settlement of investment disputes at the regional level. Read the text of Shashank's speech. India's The Financial Express has more.... As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, the French and Irish Presidents have indicated that it could be possible to reach a deal on the draft European Constitution in June. In other European Constitution news, according to a report [PDF] released by the Initiative and Referendum Institute Europe, at least half of EU member states are set to have a referendum on the Constitution, while four states have "poor prospects" of having a referendum. EUObserver.com has more.... Finally, also as previously reported on Paper Chase, European and UN leaders have condemned Israel's assassination of Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas, as contrary to international law. AP has more on the US reaction to Yassin's assassination.

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The University of Iowa College of Law has named Professor Carolyn Jones of the University of Connecticut School of Law as its 16th dean. She will formally take the administrative reins from N. William Hines, the country's longest-tenured law school dean, on July 1, and will become the first female to lead the school. For Professor Jones, the appointment is a homecoming: she hails from Caroll, IA and earned both her undergraduate and law degrees at the university. According to the university's news release, her legal research specialty is "tax law from a feminist perspective." Today's Daily Iowan has more on her appointment.

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Monday's Washington Post reports that Theodor P. von Brand, a judge who worked at the World Trade Organization, for the Interstate Commerce Commission and for the Department of Labor, has passed away at the age of 76. Von Brand also worked at the Social Security Administration where he heard black lung disease disability cases brought by Appalachian coal miners. He was responsible for ruling on whistle-blower cases involving the right to decent working conditions for California farmworkers.... Also, yesterday's Louisville Courier-Journal notes that US District Judge Charles H. Haden II, who twice ruled against mountaintop removal mining practices but was later overturned on both occassions by the Fourth Circuit, has died at the age of 66. Haden held that the procedure violated the Clean Water Act, but the appelllate court held that since the case involved state permitting practices, Haden didn't have jurisdiction. The court never reached the issue of whether mining waste can be dumped within 100 feet of a stream. There has since been legislation working on resolving the issues involving the Act and the mining practices. The Charleston Sunday Gazette-Mail has more.

In Monday's family law news, the Kansas Senate judiciary committee endorsed a proposal today which would amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Kansas already has a state law, upheld by the state Supreme Court, that defines marriage as a civil contract between a man and a woman. This amendment could go further and also bar recognition of common law marriages from other states. The proposal now moves to the full Senate and if passed would be placed on the general election ballot in November. The Wichita Eagle has more.... In other family law news, four Arkansas residents looking to become foster parents will be in court this week challenging the state's rule that automatically bars people from becoming foster parents if they or someone in their home is a homosexual. The rule was imposed in 1999 by the Child Welfare Agency Review Board and this suit was filed one month later. The suit claims the rule violates the plaintiffs' rights to privacy and equal protection under both the Arkasas and U.S. constitutions. Advocate.com has more.

Oklahoma prosecutors made their opening statement Monday as the trial of Terry Nichols commenced. Nichols is already serving a life sentence on federal charges, having been convicted for the deaths of eight federal law enforcement officers in the April 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Today Nichols went on trial for the deaths of the other 161 victims. He could be sentenced to death if convicted. Prosecutors argued that Nichols worked "hand in hand" with Timothy McVeigh in the bombing. McVeigh was convicted, and ultimately executed, for the bombing. The AP has the full story here. News 9 Oklahoma has video of Terry Nichols entering the courtoom today here.[RealPlayer]

In Monday's corporations and securities law news, the SEC is considering a new rule which would make it possible for shareholders representing at least 5 percent of the voting shares to place their own board candidates on a company's official ballot. Corporations as well as the US Chamber of Commerce are poised to fight this rule as going too far. CNN has more.... Enron Corp. investors and the company's former lenders, including Citigroup Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., have failed to resolve claims of bank liability for the collapse of the company after eight months of mediation talks. Bloomberg.com has more.... US Oncology Inc., which manages a network of cancer doctors, has agreed to be acquired by Oiler Acquisition Corp., an affiliate of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe IX LP, an investment partnership that owns about 15 percent of the company's stock in a deal the company valued at $1.7 billion, including debt. Read the US Oncology press release announcing the deal here. AP has more.... Monsanto Co. announced the Department of Justice is expanding its investigation into the company by looking into whether an outside consultant made improper payments to an Indonesian government official in 2002. Read the Monsanto press release announcing the investigation here. AP has more.... Prosecutors in Italy are investigating the former head of Parmalat's Brazilian operation in connection with the near-collapse of the Italian dairy giant. Parmalat Brazil filed for bankruptcy in January. AP has more.... According to early 2003 figures, bonus payments for senior US executives are likely to match levels reached in the last economic boom as rising awards in cash and shares make up for falling stock options. The Financial Times has more.... Hyundai Engineering and Construction won its bid of $220 million to build power distribution and transmission networks in Iraq becoming the first South Korean company to win a contract for the rebuilding of Iraq. BBC has more.

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The US Department of the Treasury Monday cleared former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill of using classified documents for a recent book published on the inner workings of the Bush administration, saying that "no criminal statutes were violated", according to a synopsis obtained by Reuters. The report by the Treasury's Office of Inspector General also said, however, that some 140 "national security" documents which were unclassified and were given to O'Neill should have been categorized as "classified". Reuters has more.

A World Trade Organization panel ruled Monday that the US improperly imposed heavy tariffs on Canadian lumber entering the US market in the belief that the imports "threatened'' U.S. sawmills. The ruling paves the way for possible Canadian claims that the tariffs were actually illegal, entitling Canadian producers to damages. The WTO ruling and associated documentation are available here. Bloomerberg has more.

John Kerry was under FBI surveillance for over a year between 1971 and 1972 in connection with his anti-Vietnam war activities and his involvement with Vietnam Veterans Against the War (read their statement on Kerry's involvement with the organization here), according to FBI files obtained by the Los Angeles Times. His speeches were recorded, photos were taken, and reports forwarded to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. The monitoring was stopped in 1972 after the government agency found no evidence that Kerry had broken any laws and "nothing whatsoever to link the subject with any violent activity." Monday's LA Times has more. FBI files on other notables - from comedian Bud Abbott to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor - released under the Freedom of Information Act are available online from the agency here.

The US Supreme Court granted certiorari Monday in two cases, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma v. Thompson (a consolidated case on the adequacy of US funding to two Native American Tribes for performance of healthcare contracts operated under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act - read the US Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals decision appealed from, and the US Courts of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decision appealed from; Bloomberg has more), and Wilkinson v. Dotson (retroactive application of Ohio parole eligibility regulations; Ex Post Facto Clause - read the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision appealed from). Monday's full Order List [PDF] is here. Among the certiorari petitions rejected was one involving judicial recusals (AP has more), and another on a copyright dispute over Tarzan storybooks (AP has more).

Meeting with reporters Monday in Paris, French President Jacques Chirac and Irish President Bertie Ahern (whose country currently holds the European Presidency) said it was possible that formal agreement on the new European constitution could be reached at a summit scheduled for June 17 and 18. A change in government in Spain and signs of compromise by Poland and Germany on outstanding voting issues might facilitate the deal, which would come at the eleventh hour of the 6-month Irish Presidency, which expires at the end of June just before a scheduled EU enlargement and the shift of the EU Presidency to the Netherlands. The EU has released this press release. Reuters has more.

AP is reporting that Spanish police have arrested four more suspects in the Madrid bombings, according to Spanish court officials.

UPDATE: AP now has more. Madrid's El Mundo has local coverage in Spanish.

Gay rights advocates are protesting a decision by the US Office of Special Counsel, the independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency that protects federal employees and applicants from prohibited personnel practices, to drop "discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation" from its list of prohibited practices during a review of government policy in the area. Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch, a recent Bush appointee, is reviewing whether the agency can protect employees from the practice on without court order or statutory authorization, on the sole basis of a 1999 Executive Order by then-President Bill Clinton. In the meantime, Bloch has directed references to sexual orientation to ve dropped from the agencies website and manuals. A review of the website shows that a 2003 section reading:

Sexual orientation, marital status, political affiliation. Allegations of discrimination based on sexual orientation, marital status, and political affiliation are not within the jurisdiction of the EEOC. Such allegations, however, may be prohibited personnel practices or other violations of law subject to investigation by the OSC.

has been replaced by a more limited one which leaves out sexual discrimination, reading:

Marital status, political affiliation. Allegations of discrimination based on marital status, and political affiliation are not within the jurisdiction of the EEOC. Such allegations, however, may be prohibited personnel practices or other violations of law subject to investigation by the OSC.

A March 18 release from the Log Cabin Republicans calling on the Bush Administration to restore protection against discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation for federal employees is here. The original February 27 OSC press release on the policy review is here. Monday's Washington Times has more.

Iraq Shiite leader Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has called on the UN to reject the Iraqi interim constitution or risk his boycott of UN efforts to help in the creation of an interim government for Iraq, as recently requested by the Iraqi Governing Council. In a letter sent last week to UN Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi and released to Reuters Monday, the cleric said that "The (Shi'ite) religious establishment fears the occupation authorities will work to include this law in a new U.N. resolution to give it international legitimacy... We warn that any such step will not be acceptable to the majority of Iraqis and will have dangerous consequences." In particular, Sistani warned that the proposed three-person Presidency of a Sunni, a Kird and a Shiite would be unworkable. Reuters has more.

European leaders Monday quickly condemned Israel's predawn targeted killing of Hamas spiritual leader Ahmed Yassin in Gaza (see a BBC profile) as against international law. In London, a spokesman for UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said:

We have repeatedly made clear our opposition to Israel's use of targeted killings and assassinations. We recognise Israel's right to defend itself against terrorism, but equally any steps should be within international law and should be neither disproportionate nor excessive.

The Guardian has more. In Paris, a Foreign Ministry spokeman said "France condemns the action taken against Sheikh Yassin, just as it has always condemned the principle of any extra-judicial execution as contrary to international law." AFP has more. The BBC offers this 2001 backgrounder on Israel's policy of targeted killings. Amnesty International condemned what it called Israel's policy of "state assassinations" in this extensive report, emphasizing "It is a basic rule of customary international law that civilians and civilian objects must never be made the target of an attack. This rule applies in all circumstances including in the midst of full-scale armed conflict. Due to its customary nature it is binding on all parties." In Israel, Daniel Statman of Haifa University offers a philosophical defense of targeted killing [PDF].

UPDATE: Amnesty International has condemned the assassination of Yassin in a press release, saying:

Once again Israel has chosen to violate international law instead of using alternative lawful means. Sheikh Yassin could have been arrested and prosecuted. The Israeli army has arrested tens of thousands of Palestinians in frequent raids in refugee camps, towns and villages throughout the Gaza Strip and West Bank in the past two years.

Read the full AI release here.

UPDATE-2: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has also condemned the killing of Yassin was against international law, telling reporters in New York "Such actions are not only contrary to international law, but they do not do anything to help the search for a peaceful solution." Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon defended the assassination in the face of objections from the head of Shin Bet, the Israeli security service, according to a late story in the Jerusalem Post.

In Monday's US law and business press, the Fulton County Daily Report reports that a GA car wash may face $110 million in junk fax advertising penalties after a recent GA Court of Appeals decision making it easier for junk fax recipients to form a class and sue the offending business.... The ABA Journal reports that NY-based Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach may be investigated for allegations that the firm may have been involved in a client's allegedly improper conduct.... The New York Law Journal reports that a Brooklyn federal judge has asked the Second Circuit Court of Appeals whether he can consider the habeas petition of a convicted felon whose state court appeal ran aground when his attorney failed to file papers.... The Arkansas Business reports that former University of Arkansas Razorbacks basketball coach Nolan Richardson plans to call several reporters as witnesses in his federal discrimination lawsuit against the university.... As reported last week on JURIST's Paper Chase, a TX judge has approved a $149 million class action settlement against Bridgestone-Firestone, Inc. According to the Texas Lawyer, not all of the class members think it's a good deal.... FindLaw's Writ features Brooklyn law professor Anthony J. Sebok's commentary on the Alien Tort Claims Act.

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On March 22, 1765, the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act, a revenue-raising measure under which all pamphlets, almanacs, newspapers, bonds, notes, leases, insurance policies, and legal papers had thenceforward to be issued on stamped paper that could only be purchased from the king's officers. American colonists objected to the Act, saying that Parliament did not have the right to impose duties and taxes on a people who were not represented in the House of Commons. Review the terms of the Stamp Act and see the resolution of the colonies' Stamp Act Congress of October 1765, petitioning for repeal.