In Wednesday's federal courts roundup, the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the sentence of a convicted card shark reduced, rejecting the claim that he had "extraordinary eyesight." After pleading guilty, Jing Bing Liang originally recieved a 27 month sentence, which included time for a "special skills enhancement." The appeals court noted that the special skills enhancement is usually reserved for people who use their trades to commit crimes, such as lawyers, doctors, and pilots. AP has the full story. Read the opinion here [PDF].... As reported earlier on JURIST's Paper Chase, the US Supreme Court heard arguments on how much freedom law officers should have in searching vacant cars.... Also reported earlier on JURIST's Paper Chase, the high court heard arguments on whether an employee who voluntarily resigns due to persistent sexual harassment should have the same right to sue as an employee who was terminated.

In international law news Wednesday, following ratification by 12 European countries and the European Community, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is set to enter into force on June 29. The treaty is meant to ensure that plant genetic resources for food and agriculture are used in a sustainable manner and that benefits from their use are fairly distributed. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has this press release. Bloomberg has more.... The International Criminal Court has been asked to investigate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for crimes against humanity, which include politically motivated killings and torture. Reuters has more. The US State Department released this report on Venezuela's human rights practices in February.... EU justice and interior ministers have agreed to set common standards for defining who can qualify for asylum in the EU, but have failed to reach an agreement on how to handle people refused refugee status. AP has more. As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, UN officials have called proposed revisions to current EU asylum law contradictory to international law.... Finally, as previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, the International Court of Justice has ruled that the US violated the rights of 51 Mexicans on death row by not advising them of their right to assistance from their government. The ICJ ruled that the US should provide a meaningful review of the conviction and sentence of the Mexicans. For all but three cases, this review may be carried out under the normal appeals process; in the three cases where all normal appeals have been exhausted, the US should create an exception and review those cases an additional time. Mexico's ambassador to the US welcomed the ICJ decision as a vindication of international law. AP has the full story.

click for previous international law news

Here's Wednesday's legal news from the US Department of Justice. The DOJ has filed a motion to intervene in a Muslim family's lawsuit against an Oklahoma public school to protect their daughter's right to wear a headscarf to school. The sixth-grade girl was suspended twice for refusing to remove the scarf after being told that it violated the school's dress code. Assistant Attorney General R. Alexander Acosta said in a statement:

No student should be forced to choose between following her faith and enjoying the benefits of a public education... We certainly respect local school systems’ authority to set dress standards, and otherwise regulate their students, but such rules cannot come at the cost of constitutional liberties. Religious discrimination has no place in American schools.

The DOJ complaint alleges that the school violated the equal protection clause by applying the dress code inconsistently and discriminately. The Department of Justice has issued a press release. AP has more.... And as reported earlier today on JURIST's Paper Chase, Attorney General John Ashcroft has returned to work and resumed his official departmental duties after recuperating from gallbladder surgery.

click for previous Department of Justice news

In yet another accreditation controversy, Thomas M. Cooley Law School has filed suit in a Michigan district court, seeking to enjoin the American Bar Association from blocking accreditation of its new, two-year satellite programs at Oakland and Western Michigan Universities (see JURIST's report on expansion of the former program). In its press release, the Lansing-based law school claims that its new programs exceed accrediting requirements and alleges that the ABA's inaction "unfairly hinders qualified law students from receiving a quality legal education and could ultimately prevent them from serving as lawyers in law firms, government agencies, companies and other organizations." Cooley offers site inspection reports, action letters, pleadings, and a complaint timeline at its website here.

Elsewhere around the law school horn: Pace Law School has announced the appointment of corporate lawyer Stephen J. Friedman as its newest dean, effective July 1. The University of Houston Law Center announces its team's mock trial victory in the prestigious National Trial Competition in Austin, TX. The University of Wisconsin Law School announces its receipt of a $7 million gift from the estate of alumnus Frederick W. Miller, to be used to create the school's first endowed deanship. The Daily Texan reports on a lecture by affirmative action opponent Roger Clegg at the University of Texas School of Law, decrying distortion of the meaning of "affirmative action" since its debut in a 1961 executive order. And finally, the Japan Times reports Wednesday on the imminent opening of 68 new Japanese law schools that will operate on the US model of practical legal education.

WNBC-TV in New York City is reporting that Martha Stewart's lawyers have asked for a new trial on the grounds that one of the jurors in the original proceeding that led to her conviction lied during jury selection about his criminal record.

In environmental law news for Wednesday, the Washington Post reports that a study [PDF] released by the US Public Research Interest Group has stated that more than 60 percent of all major facilities in the US exceeded permits mandated by the Clean Water Act between 2002 and 2003. The report places most of the blame on the EPA for failing to act against any of the widespread violations. Richard Caplan, the author of the study, has stated that "The numbers point out that enforcement is not a priority for this administration, and clearly little to nothing is being done to deter polluters from breaking the law"... In other news, Cincinnati based AK Steel has settled lawsuits filed against it by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency stemming from a series of alleged clean air violations. The settlement with the state agency was reached after AK Steel agreed to install the pollution control equipment earlier than planned, meeting standards of the Clean Air Act by May 2005, one year ahead of the federal compliance date. AP has more... The Washington Times reports that Senators Joe Lieberman and John McCain have reintroduced a bipartisan bill aimed to curb global warming. Although they had a similar bill defeated last year, McCain and Lieberman expect a different outcome this year as the provisions have garnered bipartisan support and are backed by numerous studies. It is expected that the bill will have to be introduced as an amendment, perhaps to the stalled energy bill.

click for previous environmental law news

Senate Democrats are threatening to block President Bush's nominee, Alphonso Jackson, for Secretary of Department of Housing and Urban Development in protest of White House appointments of federal judges while Congress was in recess. Earlier, the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee had voted unanimously to elevate Jackson from his current position as the agency's top deputy. The nomination was sent to the full Senate for approval. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle has threatened to hold up all federal nominees as a way to punish Bush for his out of session appointment of Charles Pickering and Alabama Attorney General William Pryor to federal appellate courts. AP has more.

The US Supreme Court Wednesday heard arguments on how much freedom law officers should have in searching vacant cars. Under the current rule, police are allowed to search a car when arresting someone in a vehicle suspected of wrongdoing without a warrent. In Thornton v. United States (case backgrounder from Duke Law School's Program in Public Law), officers found drugs in the Thornton's pocket in a parking lot. An officer then conducted a search of the nearby car and found a gun under the seat. Thorton's lawyer argued that the search of the car is an unreasonable search and therefore violates his client's constitutional rights. The district court found this to be a legal search and the 4th Circuit affirmed the decision. Read the 4th Circuit decision appealed from here[PDF]. AP has more.

Turkish and Greek negotiators failed to agree Wednesday on a plan to reunify Cyprus ahead of its entry into the EU. The failure to come to an agreement has left UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan with the task of formalizing a plan and putting it to the voters of the divided island. The plan must be approved by both sides for reunification and entry into the EU to occur. Cyprus split into two areas, the Greek controlled south and the Turkish controlled north, when Turkey invaded the island in 1974 to quell a coup by supporters of a union with Greece. Previous drafts of Annan's plan envisions separate Greek and Turkish states linked by a weak federal government. The UN currently employs 1200 peacekeepers on the island. Read the Annan plan here. Read more about how the crisis unfolded here. AP has more.

In cyberspace law news Wednesday, the Federal Court of Canada ruled Wednesday that the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) may not pursue lawsuits against individuals who make music available online. Justice Konrad von Finckenstein said that the CRIA did not prove there was copyright infringement by 29 so-called music uploaders. The court held that downloading a song or making files available in shared directories, like those on KaZaa, does not constitute copyright infringement under Canadian copyright law. Read the order here [PDF]. The Toronto Star has the full story here. Watch a video report on the surprising decision from CTV here.... In other news, the San Jose Mercury News reports that that US music industry, despite its legal battles against file-sharing, is itself taking advantage of P2P filesharing data in order to gain information about the popularity of newly released songs.

In Wednesday's corporations and securities law news, MFS Investment Management will pay a fine of $50 million to the SEC to settle allegations that the fund company made hidden payments to brokers who promoted its funds. This fine comes on the heels of the $351 million fine for improper mutual fund trading. Read the SEC press release announcing the deal here. Read the MFS press release here. Bloomberg.com has more.... As a result of intense foreign competition, US textile makers Dan River Inc. announced its plan to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and its hope to emerge from bankruptcy court protection by the end of this year. Read the Dan River press release here[PDF]. Click for more information on the reorganization plan here. Reuters has more.... Prosecutors were dealt a blow in the trial of Germany's top banker charged with approving illegal payments in Vodafone's 2000 takeover of mobile phone operator Mannesmann when the chief judge said criminal charges were unwarranted. Since the ruling is preliminary, the trial will go forward. AP has more.... Lawyers for WorldCom are asking the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg to annul the European Union's decision against the proposed $127 billion merger for Sprint Corp. in 2000. Experts see this as an attempt by the company to "wipe the slate clean" for similar transactions in the future. Read the European Union's decision from 2000 here[PDF]. AP has more.... In an attempt to value company stock options, the Financial Accounting Standards Board has proposed a rule that would force US companies to record the value of employee stock options as an expense item in profit and loss statements. Read the proposed rule here. The Financial Times has more.... The SEC is widening its investigation into Metris Companies Inc., a credit card issuer to people with poor credit histories, for the way the company values its ownership stake in bonds secured by pools of credit card loans. AP has more.... Edward Jones' parent company, the Jones Financial Co., announced that the SEC and NASD are each considering enforcement action against the company due to its partnership's mutual fund sales practices. The St. Louis Business Journal has more.... Former Dynegy executive, Jamie Olis, filed a motion with the judge who sentenced him to more than 24 years in prison for fraud last week to cut his sentence. The Houston Business Journal has more.... As previously reported in JURIST's Paper Chase, the US State Department is protesting the antitrust penalties levied by the European Commission against Microsoft. The Washington Post has more.

click for previous corporations and securities law news

In Wednesday's state court news, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin has deadlocked over whether casino gambling should be allowed in the state, and in that situation has remanded the case to the state's Fourth District Court of Appeals. KRT has more.... The New Mexico Supreme Court has been asked by the state's attorney general to issue an immediate stay against the Sandoval County clerk who has been issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in that state. The Albuquerque Tribune has more .... Finally today, the Supreme Court of Florida has been asked by a consortium of businesses and media to lift a ban on on-line court records. HeraldTribune.com has more.

In Wednesday's family law news, the South Carolina House Judiciary Committee has approved a bill that would give judges the power to take guns away from any person subject to a restraining order. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Joel Lourie, expects the power will be used extensively in domestic violence cases where restraining orders are commonplace. The measure is expected to help curb domestic homicides, as other states with similar legislation have seen a 10 to 12 percent reduction in them. The power would be given to family court judges and magistrates who issue protective orders as well as any judge setting bond. The determination to take away a gun would be left to the judge on a case-by-case basis. AP has more.

A US State Department spokesman announced Wednesday that the United States was suspending some $25 million in aid to Serbia-Montenegro for not handing over war crimes suspects to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at The Hague. The spokeman noted that 16 of the suspects - including fugitive Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic - were believed to be spending most of their time in Serbia-Montenegro, but had not been brought to justice. US aid had been made contingent on Serbian co-operation with the Hague court, but Serbian leaders, including former President (and now Prime Minister of Serbia) Vojislav Kostunica had recently indicated that they would not make co-operation with The Hague a priority and would pursue a policy of trying Serbian war crimes suspects at home. AP has more.

US Attorney General John Ashcroft returned to work at the Justice Department Wednesday and resumed his official duties after recuperation from gallbladder surgery that followed his emergency admission to George Washington University Hospital on March 4. The Department of Justice has issued a press release.

The US Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday on whether an employee who voluntarily resigns due to persistent sexual harassment should have the same right to sue as an employee who was terminated. The respondent in the case, Nancy Drew Suders, quit a dispatcher position with the Pennsylvania State Police after five months of alleged harassment by male co-workers, sued her employer, and won relief in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Suders v. Pennsylvania State Police. Hearing her case on certiorari Wednesday, several Supreme Court justices indicated an unwillingness to redraft the complicated rules for sexual harassment lawsuits. Petitioners argued that doing so would condemn employers to uncertainty and expensive reviews each time an employee resigned. AP has more here.

Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide filed suit in Paris Wednesday alleging that French officials abducted and illegally detained him as part of his ouster in late February. Temporarily in Jamaica, Aristide now plans to file a similar suit in the US against American officials. Paris and Washington were equally vocal in calling for Aristide's departure, but both deny the former president's allegations. Reuters and AFP have more here and here.

A new bill unveiled by Britain Wednesday and expected to be passed by year's end gives legal recognition for the first time to same-sex couples who register their partnerships. While avoiding the words "gay marriage," the Civil Partnership Bill confers upon gay couples the same property, tax, and other rights and responsibilities that their heterosexual counterparts already enjoy. In doing so, it brings Britain in line with nine other European Union countries that legally recognize committed homosexual relationships. BBC has more here. Britain's Christian Institute offers a convenient table comparing civil partnerships to marriages here.

China announced Wednesday that it is tightening the rules for US citizens visiting China in response to a US decision to fingerprint Chinese citizens seeking non-immigrant visas. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that US holders of diplomatic passports will have to apply for ordinary visas and pay visa fees when visiting China in a private capacity, and that some US visa applicants will be required to appear for personal interviews at Chinese consular offices in the US. The Chinese Embassy in Washington has issued a statement here. Reuters has more. Read this previous report on JURIST's Paper Chase on China's earlier objections over the US policy that requires non-immigrant visa holders to be fingerprinted.

The European Parliament passed a resolution in Brussels Wednesday insisting that there is no legal basis for the US to force European airlines to provide data on passengers and threatening to challenge a proposed US-EU data-sharing agreement at the European Court of Justice. The resolution noted that requiring airlines to supply commercially gathered data for "public security purposes" is "illegal under member state and EU privacy laws." The EU Parliament also called on the European Commission to negotiate a better deal for European airlines caught between US security demands and EU privacy laws. Read the European Parliament's press release and more from AP.

In a decision handed down this morning, the US Supreme Court has held that sand and gravel are not "valuable minerals" reserved to the United States in land grants issued under the Pittman Underground Water Act of 1919. The Pittman Act authorized the Secretary of the Interior to designate certain "nonmineral" Nevada lands on which settlers could obtain permits to drill for water and reserves to the US the right to remove all coal and other "valuable minerals" in the lands. The case is BedRoc Ltd v. United States (case backgrounder from Duke Law School's Program in Public Law). Cornell's Legal Information Institute has posted today's opinion per Chief Justice Rehnquist, along with Justice Thomas' concurrence and Justice Stevens' dissent.

The US Department of State is engaging in a quiet protest over last week's European Commission decision to levy a $613 million fine and other penalties on Microsoft for antitrust violations. The Commission's decision comes after a US Department of Justice consent decree that includes federal court oversight of Microsoft's business practices. US politicians have been more vocal in their protests over the fine, including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist who said "I now fear that the United States and EU are heading toward a new trade war - and that the commission's ruling against Microsoft is the first shot." Read the full text of Frist's comments here. Ten members of the House International Relations Committee have written a letter to European Competition Commissioner Mario Monti claiming the decision violates the spirit of a 1991 antitrust cooperation agreement, which was renewed by the Clinton administration in 1998, that says the US should take the lead in overseeing US companies. CNET News has the full story. Read these earlier reports on Paper Chase for more on the European Commission fine, the DOJ reaction, and Microsoft's reaction.

Lithuania's Constitutional Court ruled Wednesday that President Rolandas Paksas breached the constitution by granting citizenship and leaking classified information to a Russian businessman with links to the Russian mafia who was the main sponsor of Paksas' election campaign. The court's decision opens the door to a parliamentary vote on Paksas' impeachment, which has been mooted for months. BBC News has more on this morning's court decision and on the inquiry into Paksas' constitutional violations.

A Spanish court official Wednesday said that judge Juan del Olmo, investigating the Madrid train bombings, had issued international arrest warrants for five suspects wanted for questioning and had ordered the rearrest of a Moroccan previously arrested and released. He also said later that a new suspect in the case had been arrested, bringing the number of persons detained to 24. Spanish authorities have announced that they are focusing their efforts now on a Moroccan jihadist organization known as the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, various members of which trained at al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, according to Moroccan officials. AP has more. Madrid's El Mundo has local coverage in Spanish. El Mundo also has an update on the latest arrest.

Canadian authorities laid their first terrorism charges under Canada's new post-September 11 anti-terror legislation Tuesday after RCMP officers arrested the Canadian-born son of Pakistani immigrants in an operation in Ottawa. Mohammad Momin Khawaja, 24, a software developer, is accused of knowingly participating in or contributing to the activities of a terrorist group and of knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity. RCMP detained and questioned several of Khawaja's family members, who were later released. The RCMP have posted a detailed press releases on the charge and the operation here. CBC News has more.

The battle over gay marriage in Massachusetts continued Tuesday as state Attorney General Tom Reilly rejected a formal request from Governor Mitt Romney that he appoint a special assistant attorney general to seek a stay of the Supreme Judicial Court's Goodridge gay marriage ruling of last year which would require the state to start issuing same-sex marriage licenses in May. The Attorney General can appoint a special assistant AG when he does not want to present a case himself, but in this instance Reilly said the position of the courts was clear and he would not seek a stay directly or indirectly. Today's Boston Globe has more. Reilly also said in a news conference that under a 1913 Massachusetts court ruling on marriage licenses that limits out-of-state eligibility for licenses to persons who would be legally able to marry in their own states, same-sex licenses would only be issued to Massachusetts residents or persons coming from states where marriage was not expressly defined as between a man and a woman. Again, the Boston Globe has more.

In Wednesday's media and information law news, as reported yesterday in JURIST's Paper Chase, the US Supreme Court ruled that photos of former deputy White House counsel Vincent Foster Jr.'s body were barred from release due to the privacy interests of his family, today's Washington Post reports. Foster's death in 1993 was reportedly a suicide, but California attorney Allan Favish sought the police photos to confirm this. In its holding, the Court said surviving family members were covered under a provision of the Freedom of Information Act that exempts law enforcement records from release if it would affect privacy. To obtain release of material under the exemption, a person must provide some evidence of government wrongdoing. The Court's opinion can be viewed here. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press expressed some concern in a news release that the new test could interfere with journalists' ability to effectively investigate government wrongdoing. The First Amendment Center offers background and filings from the case here.

click for previous media and information law news

AP is reporting that the International Court of Justice at The Hague has ruled that the United States violated the rights of 51 Mexicans on death row by not advising them of their right to assistance from their government, as provided for under the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and is obligated to review their sentences. The ICJ press release announcing the decision is here; read the court's opinion here.

In Wednesday's US law and business press, the Legal Times reports on how attorney Manuel Miranda, former aide to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, is trying to fend off possible indictment for unauthorized access to computer files.... The New York Law Journal reports on a NY court's ruling that a teenager with birth defects can sue IBM in NY under VT laws because her father worked in a VT IBM factory and allegedly contaminated his pregnant wife with chemicals.... The ABA Journal reports that criminal charges have been filed against two upstate NY ministers who performed same-sex weddings.... The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that Digital Envoy Inc. is suing Google, alleging that Google is improperly placing advertisements on third-party Web sites.... The Legal Intelligencer reports that a PA federal judge has thrown out a products liability suit brought by a health care worker after finding that her implied warranty claims are pre-empted by federal Medical Device Amendments.... FindLaw's Writ features Columbia law professor Michael C. Dorf's column on privacy rights and barring the release of "partial birth" abortion records.

click for the previous US law and business press review

Here are some of the legal stories running in Tuesday's foreign press... In Taiwan, the Taipei Times reports Taiwan has discontinued diplomatic ties to Dominica. The move was a response to the Caribbean Commonwealth's initiating diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. Taiwan has claimed the move was part of a Chinese campaign to discredit President Chen.... Hong Kong's Standard features a Bar Association recommendation to delay amending the law governing electoral methods. A debate on possible changes may begin with the introduction of a bill or motion.... EUBusiness.com features European Commission notice that Germany is in violation of EU competition law. A 44 year old German law protects Volkswagen from otherwise legal action.

click for the previous foreign press review

On March 31, 1492, King Ferdinand of Spain signed a decree expelling Jews from his kingdom. Read a contemporary account of the explusion, originally written in Hebrew by an Italian Jew in 1495.