The US First Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday rejected a Puerto Rican's petition to vote in the November 2nd US presidential election, saying no such right existed until Puerto Rico becomes a state or the Constitution is amended. The 2-1 decision by the court was the third time a federal court had denied attorney Gregorio Igartua's argument that Puerto Ricans are in a "state of servitude" by being disenfranchised in federal elections despite being US citizens and having a sufficient population to be represented in the Electoral College. The lone dissenting judge, Puerto Rican native Judge Juan Torruella, drew an analogy to imperialist England and the segregation of US public schools when characterizing the plight of Puerto Ricans under the current law. The First Circuit Court of Appeals has the opinion online. AP has more.

The seven Pitcairn Island men accused of multiple sex abuse charges have won the right to challenge British sovereignty over the Pacific outcrop before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the highest appeal court for Britain's overseas colonies, and even some of its ex-colonies. Lawyers for the accused, who include the island's mayor, argue that British sovereignty over the island ended when the band of mutineers that founded the island settlement broke away from the British HMS Bounty and burned their ship. The present trial will continue, but a Privy Council ruling could alter the effect of any verdict, especially if British sovereignty over the island is denied. The seven men, a majority of the tiny island's 12 adult males, are accused of 55 sex crimes that date as far back as 40 years. AFP has more. For more on the island's history, see the Pitcairn government's website.

In Thursday's corporations and securities law news, in his first prosecution of the insurance industry, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer today sued Marsh & McLennan Cos., the world's largest insurance brokerage, for steering clients to certain insurers which resulted in lucrative payoffs for the broker. Spitzer also announced two American International Group Inc. (AIG) executives have been arrested. American International, Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., Ace Ltd. and Munich Re were also implicated in the allegations. AIG announced [PDF] earlier this month that the SEC was recommending civil action against company for violations of securities laws. Read the New York Attorney General press release announcing the allegations here. Read the complaint against Marsh here [PDF]. Bloomberg has more.

In other news, the SEC opened an investigation into the newspaper industry following disclosures of fraudulent practices in circulation reporting in recent months. AP has more.... BB&T Corp., a Winston-Salem-based bank,filed a lawsuit in the US District Court in Greensboro against the IRS related to a claim that the company is owed a $3.3 million tax refund. The Business Journal has more.... Daniel Boyle, a former Enron Corp. executive, on trial for fraud and conspiracy related to the Nigerian barge deal, testified that he knew Enron had made a bogus deal with Merrill Lynch in order to post fraudulent profits when he received an email from Treasurer Ben Glisan Jr. which said the energy giant had to get Merrill Lynch out of the deal. Boyle maintains he had no part in the 1999 deal between former CFO Andrew Fastow and Merrill that guaranteed Enron would buy back three electricity-generating barges floating off the Nigeria coast. Read the indictment against Boyle here [PDF]. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the Enron barge trial. The Houston Chronicle has more and background on the case.... Former Tyco chief executive Dennis Kozlowski and former CFO Mark Swartz have sued Twin City Fire Insurance to pay legal bills have surpassed $25 million. Kozlowski and Swartz face a second trial on charges that the pair looted over $600 million from Tyco in January. Read the indictment against Kozlowski and Swartz here [PDF]. AP has more.

President Bush is expected to sign the Global Anti-Semitism Awareness Act [PDF] today over objections from the State Department. Introduced by Holocaust survivor Representative Tom Lantos (D-CA), the legislation seeks to combat a worldwide rise in anti-Semitism through annual reports and the establishment of an anti-Semitism monitoring office inside the Department of State. Its passage was applauded by the Anti-Defamation League, but State Department officials have in recent days called it a "bureaucratic nuisance", suggesting that the establishment of a separate anti-Semitism office is unnecessary and that, according to one source, "separate reports on different religions or ethnicities were not warranted, given that we already prepare human rights reports and religious freedom reports on 190 countries." The Washington Times has more.

The European Union is taking Greece to the European Court of Justice over a Greek gambling law that not only bans slot machines and other overt gambling devices, but also coould ban playing computer games in public places or even in private, at home. The European Commission said Thursday that the effect of the act was disproportionate, and also violated EU rules on the free movement of goods and services between member states. In response to a previous Commission finding, Greece had said it would amend the law, but it has thusfar failed to do so. The European Commission's press release is here. BBC News has more.

The CIA declined to comment Thursday on reports that Jordan is hosting a secret US detention center for 11 top al-Qaeda captives, although Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher "categorically denied" the allegation, demanding proof be shown of the facility. Reports of the secret prison surfaced Tuesday in a Human Rights Watch report on US "ghost detainees" (see this report in JURIST's Paper Chase) who have been denied access to the International Red Cross and protection under international law. BBC News has this story, and from Israel Haaretz has more on the CIA's response. The Human Rights Watch report is here.

Authorities who last week seized UK-based servers used by independent media network Indymedia have returned the servers intact (see this previous report on JURIST's Paper Chase.) The return of the original hard drives suggests that authorities wanted to review rather than remove data on them. It is still unclear who seized the hardware in the first place. There are reports that the FBI used the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, a US-UK treaty, on behalf of Switzerland and/or Italy to seize the hardware in London. Indymedia's hosting company said that since the company complied with a court order, the hardware was returned. The British Home Office has not commented on the seizure due to confidentiality of the case but members of parliament are tabling questions on what discussions the Home Office had with US authorities over seizures of UK-based internet hosting providers. Indymedia has information on the server seizure here. The Register has more.

Chief US District Judge Thomas Hogan has held Time reporter Matthew Cooper in contempt for refusing to name his sources in the story that identified former ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife as a CIA agent. This is the second time Cooper has been found in contempt. The first contempt charge was vacated after Cooper agreed to provide limited testimony about conversations he had with I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff. Judge Hogan also found Time magazine in contempt and fined the publication $1000 a day. New York Times reporter Judith Miller has been found in contempt of court in the same investigation. Cooper and Miller will file a joint appeal. Judge Hogan ordered Cooper be jailed for up to 18 months but stayed the order until the appeal has been heard. Read the Cooper article here. The Committee to Protect Journalists has expressed alarm at the latest contempt ruling. The Washington Post has more.

A Florida appeals court has ruled that the state's informed-consent abortion statute is unconstitutional. The Florida 4th District Court of Appeal said that "as a matter of law, the [Women's Right to Know Act] is unconstitutional because, on its face, it imposes significant obstacles and burdens upon the pregnant woman which improperly intrude upon the exercise of her choice between abortion and childbirth." The Act, which would have required doctors to give patients specific information about abortion risks and alternatives, was subject to a 1997 injunction that prevented the state from ever enforcing the law. Read the court's opinion [PDF] and more from AP.

The vote count began Thursday in Afghanistan's presidential election, after a UN-appointed panel investigating complaints surrounding the election said it would isolate ballot boxes it wanted to examine. The panel of three international experts was established to investigate allegations of voting irregularities. The panel also extended the deadline for complaints to be lodged until 6 PM Thursday. Afghanistan's Joint Electoral Management Body has a fact sheet [DOC] on the vote counting process. AFP has more. BBC has background on the UN panel, which has received criticism from the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission for not being truly independent.

Previously on JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Exit poll projects Karzai as Afghan election winner
• Afghan election count postponed pending decision on voting irregularities inquiry
• Candidates withdraw Afghan vote boycott
• DEVELOPING STORY - Afghan election in doubt after candidates boycott

US District Judge Yvette Kane will hold a hearing next week on whether to give Pennsylvania overseas absentee voters two extra weeks to return their ballots. As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, the Justice Department has filed suit arguing that election officials in Pennsylvania missed a key deadline to mail ballots due to the dispute over whether to include candidate Ralph Nader (a Pennsylvania court blocked Nader from the ballot yesterday). The DOJ also argues that the state should be ordered to accept alternate methods of receiving ballots, including air express, fax and e-mail. Thursday's Philadelphia Inquirer has more.

Defense attorneys for several Guantanamo Bay detainees have told the US District Court for the District of Columbia that, three months after the Supreme Court ruled that the detainees had the right to challenge their imprisonment, none have appeared in a courtroom and few of the 68 detainees who have petitioned for access to federal court have spoken to their attorneys. The defense attorneys say that negotiations with the Justice Department over security clearances, government insistence on monitoring attorney-client conversations, and the number of visits lawyers are allowed have all contributed to the detainees' lack of access to legal help. DOJ attorney Terry Henry told Judge Joyce Hens Green that the government has worked to be "reasonable and fair," saying that "we think we're making extraordinary strides to have these folks have their day in court." Thursday's Washington Post has more. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the federal court hearings.

US investigators preparing for war crimes trials against Saddam Hussein and his former aides have discovered a mass grave site in Hatra, which is thought to contain bodies of several thousand Kurds in nine separate trenches. Hatra is the first of 10 sites that will be exhumed for forensic, photographic and written evidence of atrocities committed under Saddam's regime. Greg Kehoe, head of the excavation team and former US federal prosecutor, said "it is my personal opinion that this is a killing field. Someone used this field on significant occasions over time to take bodies up there, and to take people up there and execute them." Saddam and his former deputies will be tried by the Iraqi Special Tribunal on charges of crimes against humanity. Thursday's Guardian has more. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on Saddam and background on the tribunal.

Rocco Buttiglione, Italy's controversial nominee for EU justice commissioner, said Thursday that he might "renounce" the new job. As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, an EU parliamentary review panel voted to oppose Buttiglione's nomination because of his conservative views on homosexuality. The panel's vote is not binding, nor can the full European Parliament accept or reject individual members of the commission. Listen to Buttiglione's interview on BBC's Today Programme. BBC News has more. The European Parliament has background on the hearings.

Previously on JURIST's Paper Chase...

• EU committee opposes Justice Commissioner nominee
• EU chief defends Justice nominee nixed by review panel after saying homosexuality sin

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Thursday, October 14.

The American Enterprise Institute will host a forum on Sovereignty, Security, and Justice in Iraq. Featured speakers include Salem Chalabi, former head of the Iraqi Special Tribunal. Watch a live webcast beginning at 9 AM ET (via C-SPAN). Read the forum's agenda.

The Federal Communications Commission will hold an open meeting at 9:30 AM ET. The agenda [PDF] includes consideration of changes to the rules applicable to access broadband over power line systems. Watch a live webcast.

The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty will open its annual conference in Washington, DC today. The conference features sessions on the juvenile death penalty, legal issues involving mental illness, and the international human rights perspective on the death penalty. Read the full agenda and a press release on the conference.

The US House and Senate are in recess until Tuesday, November 16.

The European Court of Human Rights will hold a hearing today in the first six cases brought against Russia for its role in the situation in Chechnya. The applicants say their relatives were killed or injured by the Russian military in Chechnya in violation of the European Convention's right to life and prohibition of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment. The European Human Rights Advocacy Centre has this press release [PDF] and the Court has more.

In Thursday's environmental law news, the European Commission has completed the final step in an infringement procedure before it files suit at the European Court of Justice against the UK for failing to tell the EU how the UK plans to dispose of nuclear materials from its Atomic Weapons Establishment(AWE). The UK argues that the EURATOM treaty which governs the use and disposal of nuclear energy has not and does not apply to nuclear weapons. Reuters has more.... In other news, officials from governments in the Western Hemisphere met to inaugurate the Food Safety Institute of the Americas (FSIA), designed to develop, enhance and promote food safety education, training, and security throughout the hemisphere. The institute was established under the auspices of the Food Safety and Inspection Service, an agency of the USDA, in accordance with the President's food safety initiative, "Fulfilling the Vision: Initiatives in Protecting Public Health." The press release is here.... The Department of the Interior(DOI)has created the Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge, located on 35,000 acres in northwest Minnesota. The refuge will preserve native tallgrass and wetland areas and serve as critical habitat for declining grassland birds, greater prairie chickens, sandhill cranes and other wildlife, as well as the endangered western prairie fringed orchid. The refuge will be managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in accordance with the North American Wetlands Conservation Act and the Endangered Species Act. The press release is here.... The EPA seeks comments on a proposed amendment[PDF] to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) emitted from coke plants (pushing, quenching and battery stacks). The NESHAP were developed in compliance with the Clean Air Act. Comments can be made until November 12 here.... The EPA also seeks objections and hearing requests regarding a final rule that will set the tolerance (allowed usage) level for the fungicide mepanipyrim on grapes, raisins, strawberries and tomatoes. EPA sets these levels in compliance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), as amended by the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA). Objections and hearing requests can be made until December 13 here.