Lawyers for Golan Cipel, the former aide to New Jersey Governor James McGreevey at the center of the controversy around McGreevey's announced resignation, said Tuesday that McGreevey helped Cipel get a mortgage to purchase a condominium. Cipel received approval for two mortgages for $171,000 after McGreevey reportedly appeared at Amboy National Bank in Old Bridge and told bank personnel Cipel worked for him. AP has more. For local coverage and background on the McGreevey controversy, click here.

As of Tuesday, nearly 100 British MPs are reportedly in favor of changing Britain's abortion law, which allows abortion up to 24 weeks after conception. A bill aimed at changing the law will likely be introduced in November. LifeSite has more. For local coverage, click here.

A NY federal court granted bail Tuesday to two Muslim men detained earlier in August after an FBI sting operation in Albany, NY. The men, leaders of an Albany mosque, were arrested on charges of money laundering and supporting terrorism. Voice of America has the full story. For background on this story, click here.

Arkansas' DeValls Bluff School District may no longer offer prayers at mandatory staff meetings, according to a ruling Tuesday by the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals. The Appeals court agreed that the US District Court in Little Rock was right to issue an injunction against the prayers, but gave different reasons -- the practice endorsed a religion, as opposed to focusing on the fact that art teacher and petitioner Steve Warnock had been offended. AP has more. Read the 8th Circuit's opinion. See a brief profile of the DeValls Bluff schools.

A panel of the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has stayed a lower-court ruling that would have required a Bible to be removed from a monument outside a Harris County Court building in downtown Houston, KPRC-2 reports. The appeals court did not discuss the merits of the case, but stayed the ruling until all appeals are exhausted. Houston lawyer Kay Staley had sued the county over the monument, arguing that it is offensive and has the effect of alienating non-Christians. The US District Court for the Southern District of Texas has a comprehensive listing of developments in the case, including Judge Sim Lake's full opinion [PDF], final judgment [PDF], and denial of Harris County's stay request [PDF] Monday in District Court. Read the full story.

As previewed earlier today by JURIST's Paper Chase, an independent panel of civilian defense experts has now issued its final report on Department of Defense detention practices, finding that while US soldiers were mainly at fault for prisoner abuses at Abu Ghraib and other facilities, the Pentagon's most senior military and civilian officials are also responsible. The report states that senior leaders did not establish clear guidelines on interrogation techniques and failed to shift resources to an understaffed and poorly-trained unit upon learning that it was out of control. Panel chief and former Nixon and Ford administrations Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger described acts of sadism and general "chaos at Abu Ghraib", and also likened the freelance activities of the Abu Ghraib nightshift to an "Animal House" atmosphere. Schlesinger stopped short of suggesting that current Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld resign his post, saying that such a move would only benefit the enemies of the United States. The panel's final report is available here [PDF]. Secretary Rumsfeld has issued a statement on it, saying that the panel "has provided important information and recommendations that will be of assistance in our on-going efforts to improve detention operations." Raw audio of Tuesday's Pentagon news briefing by members of the panel is available from the Defense Department here. AP has more.

A three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals restored on Tuesday an $8.5 million award to the family of a 2-year old boy who was paralyzed while riding in an Evenflo car seat during a one-car crash in November 1996. The decision overturns a lower court ruling ordering a retrial at Evenflo's claim that punitive damages were wrongfully awarded. AP has more. Read the Court of Appeals opinion.

Trying to raise funds to repay creditors, Adelphia Communications Corp. has requested that a bankruptcy judge force founder John Rigas and his sons to repay the $3.2 billion they allegedly took from the cable television provider. The company alleges that the Rigases used Adelphia funds and credit to enrich themselves at the expense of the company, and demands immediate repayment plus interest. Rigas and son Timothy were convicted last month of bank fraud, securities fraud, and conspiracy. Reuters has more. Adelphia has posted a restructuring update on its website.

Denying arguments that the law creates a monopoly on casket sales and is too stringent, the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Tuesday an Oklahoma law mandating that only licensed funeral directors may sell caskets in the state, which lawmakers claim protects grieving families from fraud. Requirements for obtaining a funeral license in Oklahoma include two years of college in addition to apprenticeship and training standards. The law was challenged by the operator of an Internet-based funeral supplies business. Read the 10th Circuit's opinion. KOCO TV has more.

The US Chamber of Commerce has announced that it will pay for advertisements reporting the dangers of having trial lawyers associated with the White House, in an apparent attack on Democratic vice-presidential hopeful John Edwards, a former trial attorney. The group, which is the country's largest business lobbying organization, hopes to make "America's runaway legal system" a focus of the upcoming election, which Chamber president Thomas Donahue describes as "a make-or-break election for legal reform at the national level." Read the Chamber of Commerce press release here. Bloomberg News has this story. The New York Times has more, reporting that the leadership of such efforts is comprised of a number of former high-ranking Republican officials and the Kerry-Edwarda campaign's claims that President Bush has resorted to soft-money groups to do its bashing of the Democratic ticket.

A noted skeptic of the European Union, Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus has vetoed an EU arrest warrant bill, reportedly amidst concerns that the law would permit Czech citizens to be extradited to other EU nations to face trial. Klaus claims that such a bill would sacrifice some of the country's sovereignty as well as its right to protects its citizens. EU Observer has more. The leader's skepticism of the EU is detailed in a November 2003 article in the Washington Times, but despite his personal distaste for the organization, Klaus has made his country's entry into the EU a top priority of his administration. An overview of the bill is available here.

Canadian parliament members, along with two independent legal experts, will question Justice Minister Irwin Cotler tomorrow about the two new nominees to the Supreme Court of Canada. Cotler announced Tuesday that Louise Charron and Rosalie Abella have been nominated to fill vacancies on the Court. Wednesday's hearings will be Canada's first-ever parliamentary review of Supreme Court nominees, although the Prime Minister will retain power to name judges and cannot be overruled by the panel. CBC News has more. CBC News also provides background on the two Court nominees.

A high-level Army report expected to be released later this week will show that military police used police dogs to frighten detained Iraqi teenagers at Abu Ghraib prison. According to an Army officer familiar with the report, two MP dog handlers threatened teens, but not as part of interrogations. Other Pentagon sources say the Army report will acknowledge that military intelligence kept multiple detainees off the record books and hid them from international humanitarian organizations. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the report. The Washington Post has more.

The Israeli Justice Ministry has recommended that the government seriously consider applying the Fourth Geneva Convention to the West Bank and Gaza, which would reverse its current position that the Geneva Convention doesn't apply to the territories because there was no sovereign power before they were occupied in 1967. The Fourth Geneva Convention outlines responsibilities of an occupying power toward the local population, and is meant to protect occupied peoples from torture, humiliation and unnecessary harm and guarantee them access to education, health care and other services. Attorney General Menachem Mazuz's recommendation, revealed Tuesday, comes as part of his proposal that Israel comply with the recent International Court of Justice advisory opinion on Israel's security fence (see this previous report on JURIST's Paper Chase for more on Mazuz's proposal). In reaction, Yuval Steinitz, chair of the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee, said that "Mazuz is in no position to measure the international and security consequences of his recommendations. This should not be determined by a legal perspective as Israel has to take into consideration a number of other criteria." BBC News has more. The International Committee for the Red Cross has background on the Geneva Conventions. Also Tuesday, a Defense Ministry report recommended an overhaul of military checkpoints to reduce abuses against Palestinians. AP has more.

The California Supreme Court has ruled that a single mother cannot automatically block paternal grandparents from gaining court-ordered visitation rights to their grandchildren, even when she has sole legal custody of her children. The ruling overturns a state appeals court decision that such demands from grandparents were an unconstitutional infringement on a parent's rights to raise children as they deem fit. The California case is one of many prompted by the US Supreme Court's decision in Troxel v. Granville that nullified a state statute allowing "any person" to petition for court-ordered visitation rights as long as it was in the child's best interests. Read the California high court opinion [PDF]. AP has more.

The Japanese Justice Ministry Tuesday rejected former chess champion Bobby Fischer's request for protection as a political refugee, saying that the charges outstanding against Fischer in the US are not political in nature. Fischer is wanted in the US for playing a 1992 chess match in Yugoslavia in violation of international sanctions. Japanese officials also issued a deportation order against Fischer, which was immediately appealed by Fischer's lawyer. AFP has more. Japan's Immigration Bureau has an overview of its policies on deportation and recognition of refugee status. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on Fischer's attempts to block his deportation.

Four men, an Australian, two Yemenis and a Sudanese, will face war crimes charges Tuesday as military proceedings begin against them at Guantanamo Bay. The military commissions, the first of their kind since World War II, have been criticized for their lack of independent review and the use of secret evidence, but the Bush administration has insisted that the commissions meet international standards for full and fair trials. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the start of proceedings. CBC News has more. The Defense Department has a fact sheet and additional background on military commissions. The Los Angeles Times has more on criticisms of the military commission process.

UPDATE: Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's chauffeur, was the first of the four men to be arraigned on conspiracy charges. US officials allege Hamdan served as bin Laden's bodyguard and delivered weapons to al Qaeda operatives. AP has more. Read the charges [PDF] against Hamdan.

An Indonesian court sentenced militant Idris, also known as Jhoni Hendrawan, Tuesday to 10 years jail time for helping to plan last year's terror attack on a Jakarta hotel, but will not be prosecuted over his role in the 2002 Bali bombings, despite his admission that he was responsible for logistics and transport for the Bali attack. The decision to clear Idris on the Bali charges stems from last month's Indonesian Constitutional Court decision that the country's 2003 anti-terror law cannot be applied retroactively. See this previous report on JURIST's Paper Chase for more on the Constitutional Court ruling. BBC News has more. BBC News also provides a timeline of key trials in the Bali bombings and additional background.

A military judge Tuesday refused to allow lawyers for Spc. Javal Davis question Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his Undersecretary for Intelligence Stephen Cambone about the chain of command leading down to Davis and other soldiers charged with abusing inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. Davis is charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice with conspiracy to maltreat detainees, dereliction of duty for willfully failing to protect detainees from abuse, cruelty and maltreatment, maltreatment of detainees, assaulting detainees, and making a statement intended to deceive an investigator. In denying the defense request, Judge Co. James Pohl said that there was no connection between the group of soldiers charged and actions taken in Washington. Also Tuesday, Pohl ordered the government to explain why it has refused to grant immunity from prosecution to officers whose testimony the defense believes could exonerate Davis. AP has more. Findlaw has the charge sheet against Davis. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the hearings.

The Independent Panel to Review DoD Detention Operations is set to deliver their final report Tuesday, and is said to conclude that leadership failures at the highest levels of the Pentagon, Joint Chiefs of Staff and military command in Iraq contributed to the environment which resulted in abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison and other detention facilities. According to this DOD memorandum [PDF] from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to the panel members requesting an independent review:

I am especially interested in your views on the cause of the problems and what should be done to fix them. Issues such as force structure, training of regular and reserve personnel, use of contractors, organization, detention policy and procedures, interrogation policy and procedures, the relationship between detention and interrogation compliance with the Geneva Conventions, relationship with the International Committee of the Red Cross, command relationships, and operational procedures may be contributing factors you might wish to review.

The resulting report implicitly faults Rumsfeld and his top civilian and military aides for not exercising sufficient oversight over policies and interrogation practices at detention centers in Iraq, Afghanistan and at Guantanamo Bay. The report also criticizes the military's Joint Staff for not recognizing that military police at Abu Ghraib prison were overwhelmed by the numbers of detainees and faults Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the top commander in Iraq at the time, for delegating oversight of prison operations. The independent panel, headed by former defense secretary James Schlesinger, is the only inquiry to interview Rumsfeld and other top DOD and military officials. A 2 PM ET press conference is scheduled to announce the panel's findings and recommendations. The New York Times has more. As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, another report is expected to be delivered to Congress this week. The high-level Army inquiry is said to conclude that senior US commanders created conditions that allowed the Abu Ghraib abuses to occur by failing to provide leadership and sufficient resources to run the jail.

In Tuesday's US law and business press, the Recorder reports on a Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that US courts lack jurisdiction over two organizations that successfully sued Yahoo Inc. in French court to prohibit auctions of Nazi memorabilia.... The ABA Journal reports that a Los Angeles child support agency is asking the CA Supreme Court to depublish an appellate opinion that freed a man from child support obligations.... The New York Law Journal reports that a Nassau County justice has been instrumental in charting a course on electronic discovery.... The Dallas Business Journal reports that a Dallas restaurateur has sued a Dallas Morning News food critic for defamation after the critic gave the restaurateur's new restaurant four stars out of five.... FindLaw's Writ has Rutgers law professor Sherry F. Colb's column on the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals's upholding of a "shaming" penalty, as well as attorney Noah Leavitt's guest commentary on defining and redefining "torture."

click for the previous US law and business press review

On August 24, 1894, the US Congress passed the first graduated income tax law, which the US Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the next year in Pollack v. Farmer's Loan and Trust Company, 157 US 429 (1895) and (on rehearing) 158 US 601 (1895).