| PAPER CHASE ARCHIVE |  
|
| Serious law. Primary sources. Global perspective. |
|
|
 |
|
|
 Legal news from Thursday, October 29, 2009 |
|
Thursday, October 29, 2009 |
New House health care bill unveiled
Carrie Schimizzi at 12:55 PM ET
[JURIST] House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) [official website] unveiled [press release] the House health care reform bill [text, PDF] at an event on Capitol Hill on Thursday morning. The $894 billion health care package, a combination of similar bills passed by House committees over the summer, would provide insurance [AP report] to 36 million more people, extending coverage to nearly 96 percent of Americans. The bill, entitled the Affordable Health Care for America Act, would expand eligibility for Medicaid [official website], the federal-state insurance program for low-income Americans, and includes subsidies for middle-class citizens whose employers do not provide access to affordable coverage. The bill also includes a so-called "public option," a requirement for employers to offer insurance to their employees and a prohibition on refusing coverage due to pre-existing conditions. Speaking on the steps of the US Capitol, Pelosi praised the bill saying:
Today we are about to deliver on the promise of making affordable, quality health care available for all Americans. ... We are putting forth a bill that reflects our best values and addresses our greatest challenges.
House Democrats hope the bill will be up for a vote by next week, with a final vote before November 11, which would allow Obama to sign the bill by year's end. The Senate is also putting together its own version of the bill, and the two versions would have to be reconciled before being signed into law.
Last week, The US Senate Finance Committee [official website] voted 14-9 to approve [JURIST report] a health care reform bill [text, PDF] entitled The America's Healthy Future Act. Health care reform [JURIST news archive] has been a top priority of the Obama administration over the past several months. Some have complained that the lack of a public option for low-income individuals does not go far enough to fix the nation's health care system. Conservatives have argued that proposed additional taxes on expensive insurance policies already in place would make reform too costly. Approximately 47 million Americans are uninsured, according to the National Coalition on Health Care [advocacy website], though that number is disputed.
Link |
|
e-mail |
subscribe |
 |
latest newscast |
archive |
 Facebook page |
© JURIST
Canada court sentences Rwanda war criminal to life imprisonment
Andrea Bottorff at 12:28 PM ET
[JURIST] The Superior Court of Quebec [official website] on Thursday sentenced Rwandan Hutu Desire Munyaneza [Trial Watch profile] to life imprisonment with eligibility for parole after 25 years for war crimes committed during the 1994 Rwandan genocide [HRW backgrounder]. Munyaneza was convicted [JURIST report] in May on seven counts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes under Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act [text, PDF]. Munyaneza is the first person to have been charged under the act, which Canada ratified in 2000 in order to fulfill its obligations to the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website]. Munyaneza's conviction heavily emphasized Canada's obligation as a signatory to the Rome Statute [text, PDF] of the ICC to try crimes against humanity that would otherwise not be prosecuted. Munyaneza's defense lawyer is appealing the decision and the hearing is expected next year.
Munyaneza moved to Toronto in 1997 and was denied refugee status because Canadian officials suspected him of involvement in the Rwandan genocide. He was arrested [JURIST report] in 2005 by the Canadian Royal Mounted Police [official website] after a five-year investigation by its war crimes unit [official website] and the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda [official website]. The trial, which was briefly postponed [JURIST report] after Munyaneza was beaten by a fellow prison inmate, lasted two years and included evidence from multiple nations. International legal observers expect Munyaneza's trial to set precedent for future war crimes litigation.
Link |
|
e-mail |
subscribe |
|
latest newscast |
archive |
Facebook page |
© JURIST
UN Security Council urges Guinea junta to investigate rights abuse allegations
Dwyer Arce at 12:12 PM ET
[JURIST] The UN Security Council on Wednesday [official website] called [press release] for an investigation into alleged human rights abuses perpetrated by the Guinean military junta during the September 28 incidents at Conakry [BBC backgrounder]. Vietnamese Ambassador Le Luong Minh [official profile], whose country currently holds the Security Council presidency, released the statement on behalf of the body:The Security Council remains deeply concerned by the situation in Guinea which might pose a risk to regional peace and security following the killings that occurred in Conakry on 28 September, when members of the army opened fire on civilians attending a rally. It strongly condemns the violence that reportedly caused more than 150 deaths and hundreds of wounded and other blatant violations of human rights including numerous rapes and sexual crimes against women, as well as the arbitrary arrest of peaceful demonstrators and opposition party leaders.
The Security Council reiterates the need for the national authorities to fight against impunity, bring the perpetrators to justice, uphold the rule of law, including the respect for basic human rights and release all the individuals who are being denied due process under the law. Minh went on to call for elections to take place in 2010 as previously scheduled and to applaud the efforts of the Economic Community of West African States [official website] to establish a transitional government in Guinea and to ensure fair elections that would exclude members of the current military leadership.
Last week, Guinean Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexandre Cece Loua [GuineeNews profile] said during a visit to the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] that the Guinean judiciary is capable of and intends to investigate [JURIST report] and prosecute any crimes committed during the incidents of September 28, in which more than 150 civilians were killed and more than 1,200 were wounded, according to the UN and human rights groups. The Guinea junta has created a National Commission for an Independent Investigation that will work with the committee established [JURIST report] recently by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon [official profile] to look into possible human rights abuses by Guinean soldiers. Earlier this month, the ICC placed the Guinean military under preliminary investigation [JURIST report] for human rights violations during the September 28 incident. The leader of the military junta, Moussa Dadis Camara [BBC profile], led a coup in December 2008 after the death of President Lansana Conte [BBC obituary]. Despite an initial reaction welcoming [Washington Times report] Camara after Conte's 24-year regime, there is now widespread opposition to the junta. Conditions inside the country have since declined [HRW report] with a rise in violence and governmental crackdown on opposition groups.
Link |
|
e-mail |
subscribe |
|
latest newscast |
archive |
Facebook page |
© JURIST
Zimbabwe deports UN torture investigator
Steve Dotterer at 12:09 PM ET
[JURIST] Zimbabwe deported UN special rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak [official website; JURIST news archive] Thursday, citing concerns over a meeting of Southern African Development Community (SADC) [official website] leaders in the capital city of Harare. Nowak was detained Wednesday evening and placed on a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, the following morning. Nowak later expressed anger [press release] at being expelled from the country, stating that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] had invited him. Zimbabwean government officials, however, have criticized Nowak's own conduct in refusing to alter his travel plans after being asked to delay his visit [press release] by two days. Nowak had planned to meet with Tsvangirai to discuss alleged human rights violations [JURIST report] in the country.
Nowak's deportation adds to already high tensions between Tsvangirai and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe [CNN profile; JURIST news archive], whose supporters have been implicated in Nowak's fact-finding mission. Although Tsvangirai and Mugabe formally share power in Zimbabwe's coalition government, earlier this month Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party began boycotting [AP report] Cabinet meetings in response to prosecution of Tsvangirai Cabinet nominee Roy Bennett [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. MDC and Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) have long vied [BBC backgrounder] for political control of the country, culminating in the formation of the coalition government [JURIST report] last year.
Link |
|
e-mail |
subscribe |
|
latest newscast |
archive |
Facebook page |
© JURIST
Bosnia police arrest 3 suspected in Srebrenica massacre
Haley Wojdowski at 12:06 PM ET
[JURIST] Police in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) arrested [press release, in Bosnian] three former Bosnian Serb policemen on Thursday on genocide charges related to the Srebrenica massacre [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. Dusko Jevic, Zoran Ilic, and Mendeljev Djuric were arrested in the northeastern town of Bijeljina after an investigation by the Special Department for War Crimes of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH [official website, in Bosnian] suggested their involvement in the July 1995 attack on Bosnian Muslims. The former members of the Bosnian Serb Interior Ministry are accused of committing genocide under sections 171 and 180 of the Bosnian Criminal Code [text, PDF]. While the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has jurisdiction over high level war crimes allegations, such as those against Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic [ICTY materials; JURIST news archive] and General Ratko Mladic [ICTY materials], the BiH courts [official website, in Bosnian] can try lower level allegations.
On Wednesday, the ICTY resumed proceedings [JURIST report] against Karadzic on 11 charges [amended indictment, PDF], including genocide and murder, for war crimes committed during the 1992-1995 Bosnian genocide [PPU backgrounder]. Karadzic denies all charges and boycotted the trial's opening day, though the ICTY announced that it would try Karadzic in absentia [JURIST report] if he failed to appear the second day. Earlier this month, the Court of BiH sentenced [JURIST report] former Bosnian Serb special police officer Vaso Todorovic [BiH backgrounder] to six years in prison for committing crimes against humanity. Last year, Bosnian police arrested [JURIST report] two other former police officers suspected of involvement in the Srebrenica massacre. During the 1995 forcible transfer of 40,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslims) from a UN-protected area in Srebrenica to Potocari, Serbian forces allegedly summarily executed at least 7,000 Bosniak men between the ages of 13 and 17.
Link |
|
e-mail |
subscribe |
|
latest newscast |
archive |
Facebook page |
© JURIST
US and EU reach agreement on treaty for international criminal investigations
Brian Jackson at 11:57 AM ET
[JURIST] US Attorney General Eric Holder [official profile] on Wednesday announced [press release] an international criminal treaty with the European Union (EU) that will greatly increase cooperation between the two governments. Among the provisions in the "Washington Statement," or "Washington Declaration," was continued cooperation in fighting the trafficking of humans and illegal drugs. One of the more controversial aspects of the treaty is that it will reportedly allow the EU to refuse to extradite criminals to the US who would face the death penalty here [EU Observer report]. A key provision, simplifying travel between the US and EU, was not included in this agreement, but both governments pledged to work [joint statement, PDF] to lessen travel restrictions, acknowledging the "social and economic benefits to EU and US citizens from visa-free travel in a secure environment between our two continents." The EU was represented at the negotiations by Swedish Minister for Justice Beatrice Ask and Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy Tobias Billstrom, who released a statement [text] touting the benefits of the treaty, including protection of personal privacy. The provisions of the treaty will take effect in February [CN report].
This new treaty is the most recent effort to improve cooperation in tracking criminals between the US and the European continent. In September, the US and Switzerland agreed to share information [JURIST report] about individuals who evade taxes. In August, the two countries signed an agreement whereby Switzerland would grant the US access to certain anonymous accounts [JURIST report] in exchange for a US pledge to cease unilateral efforts to uncover account holders' identification.
Link |
|
e-mail |
subscribe |
|
latest newscast |
archive |
Facebook page |
© JURIST
Birmingham mayor convicted on bribery charges
Daniel Makosky at 11:47 AM ET
Link |
|
e-mail |
subscribe |
|
latest newscast |
archive |
Facebook page |
© JURIST
France court refuses to hear embezzlement case against African heads of state
Megan McKee at 10:04 AM ET
[JURIST] The Paris Court of Appeals on Thursday refused to hear an embezzlement case brought by the anti-corruption group Transparency International (TI) [official website] against the late president of Gabon, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the president of Equatorial Guinea. The complaint [BBC report] accused the late Omar Bongo of Gabon, Denis Sassou-Nguesso of the DRC, Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, and their relatives, of acquiring luxury homes and cars in France with African public funds. In its decision to dismiss [Le Monde report, in French] the case, the court held that activists could not bring suit against foreign heads of state. In reaction to the ruling, TI has already announced its intention to appeal [press release]. Despite the disappointment, TI stressed the case's triumphs, citing the increase in the public's awareness of corruption and decreasing the barriers against prosecuting foreign heads of state in France.
The case was heard earlier this year by French Magistrate Francoise Desset, who ruled that the suit could move forward [Le Parisien report, in French]. French state prosecutors appealed that decision. The case is sensitive for France, with Gabon and the DRC as former colonies. France has struggled with how to reconcile its colonial history [JURIST news archive].
Link |
|
e-mail |
subscribe |
|
latest newscast |
archive |
Facebook page |
© JURIST
Obama signs bill allowing transfer of Guantanamo detainees to US for trial
Christian Ehret at 8:56 AM ET
[JURIST] US President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed [press release] the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2010 [HR 2892 materials] into law, which allows for Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees to be transferred to the US for prosecution. The bill allocates $42.78 billion for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) [official website] and, among other provisions, requires certain information about each transferred detainee to be disclosed to Congress including costs, legal rationales, and possible risks. Additionally, in order to close the Guantanamo facility, the president will be required to submit a report to Congress detailing the disposition of each current detainee. The appropriations bill also contains provisions ending a rule that expelled foreigners who married into residency if their American spouses died within two years of marriage. The controversial expulsion rule had led to pending legal actions and a two-year deferment [press release] on DHS enforcement.
The House and Senate [JURIST reports] approved final versions of the bill earlier this month after terms of the legislation were agreed upon [text, PDF; JURIST report] by the Homeland Security Appropriations Conference Committee [list, PDF]. The agreement came shortly after US Attorney General Eric Holder [official profile] told reporters that the Obama administration may miss its January deadline for closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, echoing prior statements [JURIST reports] by top administration officials.
Link |
|
e-mail |
subscribe |
|
latest newscast |
archive |
Facebook page |
© JURIST
Switzerland cabinet proposes restrictions on assisted suicide laws
Christian Ehret at 8:12 AM ET
[JURIST] The Swiss Federal Counsel [official website] on Wednesday announced proposals [press release] to restrict the country's assisted suicide laws. The new guidelines will seek to prevent assisted suicide becoming a profit-driven business and to ensure that it is only available to the terminally ill. One of the proposals imposes criminal liability on those who assist unless certain stipulations are met. Those seeking assisted suicides will have to freely declare their wish to die and be given time to consider their decision. Patients will also need to show two medical certificates from independent doctors proving their capacity to make a decision and the existence of a terminal illness. Additionally, the regulations will ban the commercialization of the practice. The Swiss government believes that such restrictions will prevent the abuse of the practice and lessen "suicide tourism" in the country. Also proposed for parliamentary discussion is a complete ban on organized assisted suicide.
Last month, the UK released an interim policy [JURIST report] on assisted suicide that lists factors to be considered in determining which cases to prosecute. The interim policy was published pursuant to a July order [judgment text; JURIST report] from the UK Law Lords [official website] to clarify the issue. The order resulted from a case brought by Debbie Purdy, a multiple sclerosis sufferer, who wanted to travel to Switzerland with her husband to end her life. Under the UK's Suicide Act 1961 [text], Purdy's husband faces criminal liability for aiding her suicide in another country. Many Britons have reportedly gone to the Dignitas clinic [website, in German] in Switzerland to obtain assisted suicides. In the US, assisted suicide is permitted by law in Washington state and Oregon. In May, a Washington state woman became the first person to commit physician-assisted suicide under the Death with Dignity Act [text, PDF; JURIST report].
Link |
|
e-mail |
subscribe |
|
latest newscast |
archive |
Facebook page |
© JURIST
Connecticut residents sue ICE over constitutionality of immigration raids
Ximena Marinero at 7:43 AM ET
[JURIST] Ten residents of New Haven, Connecticut, filed a lawsuit [press release, PDF] Wednesday against several US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) [official website] officials, alleging violations of the Fourth, Fifth, and Tenth Amendments [text] in planning and carrying out raids in 2007. The suit maintains that the raids, conducted only 36 hours after the city passed a measure that provided ID cards to all residents regardless of immigration status, were intended as a reprisal [AP report]. The suit also alleges that the raids were motivated by race or ethnicity, citing ICE written communications and emphasizing that the raids singled out 33 New Haven addresses from 5,500 outstanding warrants. The plaintiffs allege that by entering their homes without arrest warrants or consent, ICE officials violated their Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights. In addition, the suit posits that ICE infringed on Connecticut's Tenth Amendment protected state powers by interfering with New Haven's affairs. ICE officials named in the suit include then-assistant secretary of Homeland Security for ICE Julie Myers and the former head of the ICE Office of Detention and Removal Operations [official website] John Torres. Yale faculty and law students are representing [Yale Daily News report] the 10 residents in the suit.
In June 2007, the New Haven Board of Alderman voted [JURIST report] 25-1 to fund a program to provide a municipal identification card to all residents, including the approximately 15,000 undocumented immigrants that reside in New Haven. The measure went into effect [JURIST report] in July 2007, allowing cardholders to access public libraries, parks and recreational sites, and other municipal services as well as serving as debit cards and payment for parking meters. Since its creation in 2003, ICE has been criticized for many of the methods it uses to capture and detain illegal immigrants. In August, the agency announced plans to implement large-scale changes to its immigration detention system, and in the same month acknowledged [JURIST reports] that 11 deaths in immigration detention had gone unreported [press release]. In July, the Immigration Justice Clinic [academic website] at the Cardozo School of Law released a report [text, PDF; JURIST report] saying that immigration agents have committed numerous constitutional violations during raids on immigrants' homes.
Link |
|
e-mail |
subscribe |
|
latest newscast |
archive |
Facebook page |
© JURIST
Obama signs bill expanding hate crimes protections
Ximena Marinero at 6:44 AM ET
[JURIST] US President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed into law a defense appropriations bill that contains a measure extending the definition of federal hate crimes to include crimes motivated by gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The president hailed [press release] the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (NDAA) [HR 2647 materials] as a law containing long sought changes. Obama characterized [press release] the hate crimes measure, titled the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act [S 909 text], as "a victory decades in the making and steeped in blood and pain" that takes the nation further "on the journey towards a more perfect union." Judy Shepard of the Matthew Shepard Foundation [advocacy website] thanked Congress and the president "for taking this step forward on behalf of hate crime victims and their families," but said more must still be done. Human Rights Campaign [advocacy website] president Joe Solomonese said [press release], "[t]oday's signing of the first major piece of civil rights legislation to protect LGBT Americans represents a historic milestone in the inevitable march towards equality."
Also included in the bill was a provision amending the Military Commissions Act of 2006 [text, PDF] to provide suspected terrorists with greater due process rights. The Constitution Project [advocacy website] said [press release] the amendments "raise[] serious constitutional concerns. Although they are an improvement from the 2006 version, the reformed commissions still fail to provide critical safeguards for the accused that are available in our traditional criminal justice system." The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] criticized [press release] the bill as "fail[ing] to bring the tribunals in line with the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions."
Last week, the US Senate [official website] voted [JURIST report] 68-29 [roll call] to approve the NDAA. Earlier this month, it was passed in the House of Representatives [official website] on a 281-146 [roll call] vote [JURIST report]. Conservative members of Congress in both instances charged that the hate crimes provision was an inappropriate measure to include in a military appropriations bill, while some specifically opposed special protections to victims from crimes motivated by gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The ACLU and Human Rights Watch [press releases] have said that while the revisions to the military commissions system contained in the appropriations bill are improvements over the current system, they still contain unconstitutional provisions that do not cure the flawed system.
Link |
|
e-mail |
subscribe |
|
latest newscast |
archive |
Facebook page |
© JURIST
| For more legal news check the Paper Chase Archive...
|
|
|
| SYNDICATION | |
|
|
Add Paper Chase legal news to your RSS reader or personalized portal:
|
| E-MAIL | |
|
| ABOUT | |
|
|
Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible, ad-free format.
|
|
|
