The House Ethics Committee (officially, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct) approved an investigative report Thursday and publicly admonished Majority Leader Tom DeLay for inappropriately attempting to convince Rep Nick Smith, R-Mich to change his vote from "no" to "yes" on a Medicare drug bill last year.

Smith claimed in 2003 that unnamed legislators and business interests had promised contributions to his son's congressional campaign if he voted for the bill. Smith, however, voted against the bill in November 2003; his son later lost a primary contest. Read the Ethics Committee's investigative report here [PDF]. AP has more.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday to put independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader back on the Wisconsin ballot.

The Democratic party originally sued to remove Nader from the ballot, arguing Nader failed to meet the minimum standards to be listed. AP has more. Wispolitics.com has the text of the ruling here. Listen to the oral arguments in the case from this morning here.

In Thursday's environmental law news, the Russian cabinet has approved the Kyoto Protocol [PDF], paving the way for its passage into international law, as expected earlier in JURIST's Paper Chase. The agreement will take effect if it passes through the Duma, the Russian Parliament. The treaty was first drafted in 1997 and has been awaiting enough nations to ratify it to become effective. AP has more.

In other environmental law news...

• The states of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin are allegedly unable to inspect a fraction of their storm water permits and thus the EPA is failing to provide the states with the regulatory guidance needed to curb pollution, an NGO reports. The report, released by the Environmental Integrity Project, details pollution to the Great Lakes region. The press release is here. The report is here [PDF].

The US House of Representatives late Thursday afternoon failed to pass a proposed constitutional amendment known as the Marriage Protection Amendment (HJ Res. 106). The Amendment would have provided:

Marriage in the United States shall consist solely 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.

In Thursday's corporations and securities law news, IBM announced a partial settlement of a class action lawsuit relating to its pension plan. The deal includes the company taking a $320 million charge against earnings in its current quarter and capping future potential liability at $1.4 billion. However, IBM will still appeal last year's ruling by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois that its pension plan discriminated against older employees. Read the District Court's opinion here [PDF]. Read the IBM press release here. IBM had a webcast and has a transcript [PDF]of the proceedings which announced the deal. The Financial Times has more.

In other news...

• The SEC said it brought charges against brokerage firm Raymond James Financial Inc., former president Stephen Putnam, and a former branch manager, David Ullom, for failing to properly supervise the activities of former broker, Dennis Herula in 1999 and 2000. Herula is accused of participating in a scheme that raised about $44.5 million from investors. Read the SEC press release here. Read the Raymond James response to the charges here. Reuters has more.
  
  
• Fannie Mae may have to restate its past earnings as a result of the investigation which found widespread accounting problems at the mortgage financier. AP has more.
  
  
• Food retailer Royal Ahold NV announced a settlement with a Dutch public prosecutor over a 2003 bookkeeping scandal which showed the company had inflated its profits by more than $1 billion. Ahold will pay 8 million euros ($10 million) to avoid any charges. Read the Ahold press release here. AP has more.
  
  
• Delphi, a spin-off company from GM, announced the SEC is investigating the accounting of $46 million in payments and credits received from EDS in 2000 and 2001. Read the Delphi SEC filing announcing the investigation here. CBS MarketWatch has more.
  
  
• Prosecutors, in the case of three British bankers who are charged with bilking National Westminster Bank of $7.3 million in a scheme fostered by former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow, announced they have put procedures in place to ensure the bankers will receive a fair trial if they are sent to the United States. AP has more.
  
  
• The Federal Communications Commission said the commission's consideration of the proposed merger between Cingular Wireless and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. could still take weeks rather than days. Dow Jones has more.
  
  
• As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, in arguments heard on Thursday, Microsoft wants the European Union's Court of First Instance to suspend penalties imposed on the company by the European Commission for violating Europe's antitrust law. Microsoft has more about its legal battles in Europe on its website. JURIST's Paper Chase also has extended coverage of Microsoft's legal battles. AFP has more.

US District Judge Robert Takasugi ruled Thursday that the FBI must turn over the remaining 10 pages of their file on former Beatle John Lennon to University of California, Irvine law professor Jonathan Wiener. The government fought to keep the pages confidential because a foreign nation provided the information the pages contained, but Judge Takasugi rejected the government's argument that the release would pose a national security threat.

Wiener originally sued the government to release the files in 1983 under the Freedom of Information Act, and in 1997, he received 248 pages as a settlement. The already public files, as seen on Professor Wiener's John Lennon FBI files website, were gathered from 1971 to 1972 and include memos regarding Lennon's donations to a group that planned to demonstrate at the 1972 Republican National Convention, but contain no criminal allegations. AP has more. Click here to visit Professor Wiener's "John Lennon FBI files" homepage.

The release of Yaser Esam Hamdi, originally scheduled for Tuesday, has been delayed by a problem in the negotiations between the US and Saudi Arabia, a US official said Thursday. The two sides are reportedly working to clear up what the official said was a "minor snag." The agreement in which the US would transport Hamdi in civilian clothes to Saudi Arabia no later than Thursday includes conditions, including:

• Restricted movement to Saudi Arabia for five years;
• Banishment from the US for 10 years
• Renunciation of his US citizenship; and
• No participation in any terrorist activity

China is urging the Canadian Embassy in Beijing to hand over 44 possible North Korean asylum-seekers who scaled a fence into the Embassy on Wednesday. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the group of men, women, and children would be handled in line with international law and "the spirit of humanitarianism" if they were handed over.

Canadian Ambassador Joseph Caron announced the group is staying put for now and remains optimistic that a deal could be made. Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin added that "The ultimate goal is the welfare of the individuals who are there." Beijing has a treaty with the North Korean government that obliges it to send fleeing North Koreans home. CTV.ca has more.

The Florida Supreme Court upheld the state's 1999 "three strikes" law today in a 4-3 ruling. The law mandates longer prison sentences for repeat felons. There had been a split in Florida's five midlevel appeals courts as to the constitutionality of the law. Two of the lower courts concluded that the law violated state constitutional requirements that bills deal with only one subject, while three courts ruled the law was valid.

State lawmakers had again passed the same provisions into law in 2002 after ther first appellate court rejected the law. Under the statute, judges must give defendants the maximum sentence for a third felony. Read today's Florida Supreme Court ruling here [PDF]. Read the "Three Strike Violent Felony Offender Act" from 1999 here [PDF]. AP has more.

The Federal Election Commission said Thursday that the Bush and Kerry campaigns can use their legal compliance funds to pay for costs associated with pursuing an election recount.

The FEC has not yet said whether the ban on unlimited individual contributions, part of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, affects recount funding. AP has more.

The US House Judiciary Committee is considering an intelligence reform bill - the 9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act - that includes a controversial provision that would allow US authorities to deport non-US citizens suspected of having links to terrorist organizations, but who have not been tried on or convicted of any charges, to countries where they are likely to be tortured or abused, contrary to the provisions of the UN Convention Against Torture. Several sections of Chapter 2 of the bill dealing with "Deportation of Terrorists and Supporters of Terrorism" authorize deportation to "any country whose government will accept the alien into that country."

A US Department of Justice spokesman has declined to comment on the provision, but said "we support those provisions that will better secure our borders and protect the American people from terrorists." The US Senate is currently debating its own Intelligence Reform Bill (S 2845), which does not include the provision. Thursday's Washington Post has more. The DOJ has drawn international criticism for its 2002 approval of the expedited removal of Syrian-born Canadian citizen Maher Arar to Syria when he was suspected of terrorist ties. Arar, who is currently suing the Justice Department, alleges that he was tortured during his subsequent 375-day captivity. From Canada, CBC News has background on the Arar case.

• Australian Federal Police have arrested more than 150 individuals charged with child pornography offenses. The police stated that the arrests included teachers, police officers, child care center workers and even former and current members of state parliament. Justice Minister Chris Ellison said that over 2000 charges would be brought against the cumulative defendants, culminating an investigation that began in March and netted over 2 million images, the largest operation in Australian history. The Australian has more. Read the official Australian Federal Police press release here [PDF].
  
  
• Sudanese officials have charged 28 people in an alleged coup plot to overthrow the government. The individuals have been charged with declaring war on the state, planning to assasinate political leaders, and tampering with communications lines. The Sudanese government claims the plotters are allied with the rebel forces in the Darfur region. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the Darfur situation here. Reuters has more.
  
  
• Human Rights groups Amnesty International and Germany's Pro-Asyl have levied heavy criticism against a new EU proposal on joint European refugee control. German Interior Minister Otto Schily authored the EU plan to set up refugee camps in northern African nations, such as Libya and Tunisia, to process refugees before the reach Europe. The NGOs contend that these countries have no history of human rights compliance themselves and their treatment of refugees turned away by the camps would violate the European Convention on Human Rights. European ministers and officials have defended the plan by pointing to the large human and financial cost that comes from refugees attempting to reach Europe outside of normal travel routines. Deutsche-Welle has more.

The mayor of Pitcairn Island, a British colony in the Pacific Ocean, has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and indecent assault. Prosecutors from New Zealand have said that there is an ingrained culture of having sex with underage children on the island, but local women have said that the practice is island tradition and consensual.

The seven men facing sexual abuse charges are expected to challenge Britain's authority over the island as part of their defense. BBC News has more. Watch a video report on the trial from Australia's ABC News [additional video formats available here].

Previously on JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Pitcairn trials delayed; women defend suspects
• Pitcairn Island sex trial slated for Monday could destroy Bounty mutineers community

US Attorney General John Ashcroft said Thursday that the Justice Department will almost certainly appeal yesterday's district court ruling that the USA PATRIOT Act [PDF] violates the Constitution.

As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, US District Judge Victor Marrero ruled Wednesday that the section of the Patriot Act allowing authorities to demand financial records from companies in terrorism investigations is unconstitutional because it bars any effective judicial challenge to the police action. Read Judge Marrero's 122-page opinion [PDF] and case materials from the ACLU. AP has more on the expected appeal.

In arguments before the European Union's Court of First Instance Thursday, Microsoft said that the court should suspend penalties imposed on the company by the European Commission for violating Europe's anti-trust law. In March, the Commission ordered Microsoft to pay a $612 million fine, make changes to its operating system, and to provide more information to its rivals.

Microsoft is arguing that the Commission order infringes on its limited-time exclusive rights, including its patents, copyright and trademarks and would do it irreparable harm. Reuters has more. Read the Commission's archived press release on the sanctions that were imposed against Microsoft and its entire decision [PDF]. Microsoft has background materials (scroll down) on its legal battles with the European Commission.

Previously on JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Microsoft still hopeful for EU settlement
• Microsoft, European Commission to meet with European court
• European Commission temporarily suspends Microsoft antitrust sanctions
• Microsoft files appeal in European antitrust ruling
• State Department questions EU's Microsoft ruling
• Microsoft hit with record EU antitrust fine

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Thursday, September 30.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear oral arguments at 8 AM CT on whether independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader should appear on the state's November ballot. WisPolitics.com has more.

On Capitol Hill, the US Senate will meet at 9:30 AM ET and will resume consideration of the Intelligence Reform Bill (S 2845). Watch a live webcast (via C-SPAN).... The US House will convene at 10 AM and will consider a Constitutional amendment on marriage (HJ Res 106). Watch a live webcast (via C-SPAN).... The US Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a 9:30 AM ET executive business meeting to consider pending calendar business. Watch a live webcast.... The US House Judiciary Committee will meet at 10:00 AM ET for mark up of the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (S 1194), HR 4306 (to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act), and other pending legislation. Watch a live webcast.... The US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment will hold a 10:00 AM ET hearing on possible misuses of citizen suit provisions in the Clean Water Act. Listen to live audio.... The US House Education and the Workforce Committee Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations will hold a 10:30 AM ET hearing on the Secret Ballot Protection Act (HR 4343). Watch a live webcast.

The Philadelphia Bar Association is hosting the Just The Beginning Foundation's conference for African-American federal judges. The conference begins today and continues through the weekend. Read this press release, which contains a detailed agenda.

The new US policy requiring visitors from visa waiver countries to be fingerprinted and photographed upon entering the US takes effect today. The US State Department has background on the program and BBC News has more.

Internationally, the European Union's Court of First Instance hears arguments today and Friday on whether anti-trust sanctions against Microsoft should be suspended. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the case.

At the United Nations, the 59th session of the General Assembly reconvenes at 10 AM ET with remarks by multiple heads of state and other high-level ministers, which will continue into the Assembly's 3 PM ET afternoon session. Read the schedule of speakers and watch a live webcast of both sessions.... The Security Council will meet at 3 PM ET in a closed session to hear the report of the Secretary-General on the Sudan.

Russian news agencies are reporting that the Russian cabinet has approved the Kyoto Protocol, the global climate change treaty, and will send it to parliament for ratification.

Russia had waivered on the treaty but its desire of EU support for its membership in the World Trade Organization may have played a significant role in the treaty's approval. BBC News has more. Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase:

• Russia likely to ratify Kyoto climate change treaty, report says
• UN hopeful Russia will ratify Kyoto protocol
• Russian stance on Kyoto doubted
• Russia rejects Kyoto Protocol

In Thursday's US law and business press, the ABA Journal reports on the growing use of film, TV and other media at trial.... The Legal Intelligencer reports on a Third US Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that defendants cannot derail a proposed class action lawsuit by using Rule 68 against the lead plaintiff and then demanding the case's dismissal as moot... The Denver Business Journal reports that a Denver judge has ordered settlement of a class action suit against Quizno's Corp. for breach of fiduciary duty charges... The Philadelphia Business Journal reports that two former Philadelphia city officials are among those charged in a 48-count racketeering indictment.... FindLaw's Writ features attorney/author Edward Lazarus's column on new revelations about Bush v. Gore and US Supreme Court secrecy.

Click for the previous US law and business press review