[JURIST] Connecticut Attorney General Blumenthal issued a legal opinion Monday holding that supermarkets cannot collect sales taxes on prepared foods and must issue refunds to consumers that had been overtaxed. Prepared foods include the precooked items one can find at a deli counter, such as rotisserie chickens, sushi, or potato salad. If the supermarket has a special dining area, foods purchased and eaten in that area would be subject to sales tax. Prepared foods paid for through regular checkout lines are not taxable, except for sandwiches and coffee. Blumenthal estimates that it is possible that millions of dollars have been mistakenly collected and sent to the state's Department of Revenue Services. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Mississippi Supreme Court Monday overturned a verdict that had netted a Mississippi man $80 million. Carroll V. Hood and his company had been awarded the money, which included $75 million in punative damages, in a breach of contract claim against three insurance companies: Titan Indemnity Co., United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. and St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co. The court, in an opinion [PDF] by Justice Jess Dickinson, held that the forum selection clause in Hood's contract with the defendants vests personal jurisdiction and venue in the state and federal courts of Bexar County Texas. AP has more.

[JURIST] Canadian Press is reporting that US officials on Monday started the final review of draft rules that would drop the existing trade barrier against Canadian beef products. The US banned the import of all Canadian cattle and beef after an Alberta cow tested positive for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease, in May 2003. The US has lessened the ban slightly since then, allowing the import of boneless beef cuts from cattle under 30 months old that are believed to be at lower risk of carrying BSE. Once the draft rules are finalized, they will be published by the USDA and begin a process that often takes months before implementation. It is unknown if the process will stall if the current potential case of BSE in the US becomes confirmed.

[JURIST] While campaigning on behalf of fellow members of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian has called for a new constitution for the island, one that "fits today's realities in Taiwan." President Chen said Sunday that constitutional changes were necessary to "protect human rights, boost government efficiency, and upgrade the country's competitiveness." China claims the island as part of its territory. Taiwan has been ruled separately since members of the Chinese Nationalist party fled from the Communists to the island in 1949. Taiwan has parliamentary elections on December 11, which Chen hopes will result in the election of more members of his pro-independence DPP. The current constitution is here. BBC News has background on Taiwan and the DPP. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The FBI announced Monday that over 7400 hate crime incidents were reported in 2003. The total, which includes 14 murders, is mostly made up of intimidation, vandalism, and property destruction. The nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center indicates these incidents range from spray-painting of swastikas and racial slurs on people's property to menacing with guns and verbal threats. The report shows anti-Islamic crimes remained at a similar level to 2002. Several civil rights groups say the figures show the need for stronger federal laws against hate crimes. The House and Senate had passed competing bills which would have created these laws but failed to reconcile the versions this year. Rights groups are also calling for help from the Justice Department to assist local law enforcement agencies in prosecuting the crimes. Read the FBI press release summarizing the report here. Read the full report here [PDF]. AP has more.

[JURIST] The ruling Fatah faction of the Palestinian Authority has chosen Mahmoud Abbas as its candidate in the January 9 election to replace Yasser Arafat, whom Abbas, 69, served as for many years as deputy of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Abbas has already been named to lead the PLO. AP has more.

[JURIST] The health of Chief Justice William Rehnquist remains largely a mystery since the disclosure several weeks ago that the nation's top jurist has thyroid cancer, but several upcoming events may serve as an indicator of the status of Rehnquist's condition, chief among which is the January inauguration of President Bush's second term. If Rehnquist, who by then will likely have completed most of his cancer treatments, is unable to attend and perform the chief justice's traditional duty of swearing in the president, it would be a significant sign to the nation that he will be unable to continue in his role, fueling retirement and replacement speculation for the first opening on the court in a decade. There have only been eight presidential oaths administered by someone other than a chief justice, often in the case of assassination or other special circumstances. See the full report from AP.

[JURIST] In Monday's corporations and securities law news, Nevada Power Company has filed a federal lawsuit against several investment banking firms, including Citigroup, JP Morgan Securities and Barclays Bank, claiming they conspired with Enron Corp. to manipulate power markets. Nevada Power claims it lost over $200 million from overcharging for electricity from Enron. Paper Chase has continuing coverage of the Enron collapse. AP has more.

In other news, Thomson, is looking to join Microsoft and Time Warner as an investor in digital rights management firm ContentGuard. The move would likely reduce European antitrust concerns regarding Microsoft's stake in the company. CNET has more.... Oracle has written a letter to rival PeopleSoft asking them to remove the so-called anti-takeover poison pill defense against Oracle's hostile bid. The letter comes after almost 61% of PeopleSoft shareholders tendered their shares to Oracle. Oracle has more information on its hostile bid here. Read the letter here [PDF]. The Financial Times has more.... British-Swiss resources group Xstrata started a takeover bid for WMC Resources for $5.7 billion by appealing directly to shareholders rather than the company. WMC which had already rebuffed a previous offer by Xstrata called the price too low. Read the Xstrata press release here [PDF]. Read the WMC response to the offer here. AFP has more.... As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, NASD's National Adjudicatory Council (NAC) on Monday permanently barred Frank Quattrone from working in the securities industry in any capacity for refusing to testify about his possible involvement in document destruction and obstruction of justice while at Credit Suisse First Boston. Reuters has more.... Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. and numerous related operations have filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11. Donald Trump will stay on as chairman and CEO of Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts. AP has more.

[JURIST] NASD's National Adjudicatory Council (NAC) on Monday permanently barred Frank Quattrone from working in the securities industry in any capacity for refusing to testify about his possible involvment in document destruction and obstruction of justice while at Credit Suisse First Boston. The decision overrules that of an earlier hearing panel, which had decided merely to fine Quattrone $30,000. Yahoo! News has more. Earlier this year, Quattrone was found guilty in federal court of obstruction of justice, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

[JURIST] The outcome of a pending lawsuit may decide the San Diego mayoral election. Incumbent Dick Murphy finished with 2,205 more votes than Councilwoman Donna Frye, according to the San Diego Registrar of Voters. However, the League of Women Voters has brought an action contending that thousands of voters wrote in Frye's name, but failed to fill in the optical-scan bubble, and that those votes should be counted. Although the registrar claims state law prohibits counting such votes, a judge may order the registar to count them, which could give the election to Frye. Last week John Einhorn, the presiding judge of San Diego Superior Court recused all 124 judges from hearing the suit. A retired judge from Imperial County was appointed to hear the case, but lawyers for Murphy filed a peremptory challenge to remove him from the case. Einhorn will now have to petition the California Judicial Council to appoint another judge. The Mercury News has more. The Union-Tribune writes that no matter the outcome, Frye's surprising write-in candidacy has important political ramifications for the city and nation.

[JURIST] The US Senate has passed a bill increasing penalties for certain violations of copyright. The provisions, included in legislation approved, Saturday set up to three years in prison for those who videotape movies while in the theater, and stiff penalties for those who leak music or movies before their official release date. Also of note is what was not included in the approved version of the bill: several controversial provisions relating to criminalizing actions of "peer-to-peer" networks like Kazaa, and its users. Additionally, a provision making it illegal to skip commercials was removed. Most of the measures have already been passed in House as part of the PDEA, although the Senate bill will need to be approved again by the House in December, to harmonize minor discrepancies. Reuters has more. PublicKnowledge.org has background information on the copyright legislation package.

[JURIST] An Afghan court held a preliminary appeal hearing Monday in the case of three Americans who were convicted for illegally detaining and torturing eight Afghans, including a supreme court judge, in a an illegal prison. The defendants will argue that they were not given the chance to present a proper defense at their September trial. Reuters has more.

Previously on JURIST's Paper Chase...

• BREAKING NEWS ~ Three Americans convicted of torturing Afghan prisoners
• Trial of American vigilantes in Afghanistan postponed
• Trial continues for US vigilantes in Afghanistan
• Americans accused of running illegal prison return to Afghan court
• Americans on trial in Afghanistan for running illegal prison
• Three Americans arrested in Afghanistan for abusing captives

[JURIST] Advocates for a constitutional amendment allowing foreign-born citizens to run for President who recently launched television ads promoting the idea (previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase) are now pressing their case online. Amend for Arnold, inspired by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is just one of several websites actively pushing for the revision of Article Section 1, Clause 5 of the United States Constitution, which reads:

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

[JURIST] Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych is officially in the lead after Sunday's run-off presidential election in Ukraine, but opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko, supported by outgoing President Leonid Kuchma, has alleged massive fraud in vote counting and voter turnout in heavily pro-government regions. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had international election monitors present at the weekend vote; Bruce George, head of the monitors, announced Monday afternoon that the election "did not meet a considerable number of international standards for democratic elections." Yushchenko, ahead in the exit polls with 54%, has disputed the official count that gave him only 46% of the vote, and has assembled nearly fifty thousand supporters to protest the results in the streets of Kiev. Read the official OSCE press release here and the OSCE Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions here [PDF]. ISN has more.... UN special representative to Sudan Jan Pronk announced Sunday that the Security Council has finalized plans to introduce a 7,000 member peacekeeping force into the southern Darfur region. The troops are scheduled to be inserted shortly after the planned January signing of a peace agreement between the government in Khartoum and the leaders of the southern rebel factions. The initial deployment will be followed by an increase in troop numbers six months after the signing. Pronk also announced that the UN aid offices that had been set up in neighboring countries due to the strife in Sudan would be closed and reopened six months later in southern Sudan itself. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the Sudan conflict. The Sudan Tribune has more.... 5000 more troops from India and Pakistan arrived Monday in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, bringing the total UN Peacekeeping force there up to 15,000. The increase makes the DRC mission the most extensive peacekeeping operation in the world and signifies the recognition by UN officials that they may have taken on more than they can handle. Over 3 million have died from war or war-related causes in the last five years. The country has not internal civil structure, and one UN official said that it would take a miracle to pass the next six months until the scheduled elections without another outbreak in violence. UN Security Council ambassadors are currently visiting the war-torn country to reassess its needs. BBC News has more.... Asif Zardari, husband of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was granted bail Monday by the Pakistan Supreme Court in the amount of 1 million rupees and could soon be free, pending trial. Zardari has been in jail since 1996 on corruption and conspiracy to commit murder charges; Zardari had previously been granted bail on all other charges. The Pakistani government announced that it will honor the Supreme Court's decision and will release Zardari as soon as the security bonds are deposited. It emphasized however, that the charges for corruption and conspiracy to commit murder still stand. The Pakistani Tribune has more.

[JURIST] The European Commission is threatening to censure Sweden for failing to refer enough cases to the European Court of Justice. The Commission says that Sweden is breaking its EU treaty obligations by referring only three cases to the ECJ since 2001. Under the EU treaty, a court from which there is no right of appeal is obliged to refer questions involving the interpretation of EU law to the ECJ. The Commission has sent the Swedish government a final warning letter giving Sweden two months to explain how it will encourage ECJ referrals. The Lawyer has more.

[JURIST] Federal enforcement of civil rights laws declined sharply during the Bush administration, according to a new study released by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a non-partisan research center housed at Syracuse University. According to the TRAC report, federal prosecutors filed charges for violations of civil rights laws against only 84 defendants in 2003, down from 159 in 1999. Complaints received by the Justice Department during the Bush administration have remained relatively constant. TRAC reports that charges against terrorism suspects, and charges on weapons violations and immigration violations all increased during the same time period. Cox News Service has more. As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, the US Commission on Civil Rights earlier this month failed to reach a consensus on whether to adopt its report [PDF] on the Bush administration's civil rights record. According to Commission's draft report, the Bush administration had not "defined a clear agenda nor made civil rights a priority."

[JURIST] Britain is considering a host of new anti-terrorism measures including the introduction of special courts to try terror suspects without a jury, according to an interview given by Home Secretary David Blunkett. Other measures being considered include allowing evidence gained from phone tapping to be used in trials and the introduction of "civil orders" to restrict actions of those suspected of planning terrorist acts. Blunkett indicated that he would not try and introduce a bill unless Prime Minister Tony Blair's government wins the general election, which is expected to be called in the middle of next year. Currently, the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Anti-Terrorism, Crime & Security Act 2001 govern the UK's counter-terrorism efforts. The Home Office has background on UK anti-terrorism legislation. AFP has more.

[JURIST] In a Monday editorial, the Washington Post opposes the nomination of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General, citing Gonzales' role in a February 2002 presidential memorandum that concluded that the Geneva Conventions should be set aside for "unlawful combatants." Gonzales authored a January 2002 memorandum that concluded that the Geneva Conventions were "obsolete" and inapplicable to detainees from Afghanistan. According to the Post:

Like several other senior administration officials, Mr. Gonzales has never accepted responsibility, or been held accountable, for his role in setting administration policies that led to extensive violations of international law -- and U.S. standards of justice -- in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay and in other still-secret detention facilities. Mr. Gonzales should not become attorney general without being asked by the Senate to answer for that record....

Senators should ask Mr. Gonzales to explain his definition of torture and to say whether he believes captors in other nations could legally inflict pain short of organ failure on detained Americans. They should also ask why he chose to exclude or disregard the views of the uniformed military legal corps in his consideration of military commissions and the application of the Geneva Conventions. Above all, Mr. Gonzales should answer this question: Why is a lawyer whose opinions have produced such disastrous results for his government -- in their practical application, in their effect on U.S. international standing and in their repeated reversal by U.S. courts -- qualified to serve as attorney general?

[JURIST] The longest and most expensive public investigation in British legal history entered its final phase Monday with lawyer Christopher Clarke beginning a two-day closing speech intended to provide an overview of the evidence heard by the Bloody Sunday Inquiry. British Prime Minister Tony Blair established the inquiry in 1998 to investigate the 1972 killing by British paratroopers of 14 unarmed civil rights marchers in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, after the Irish government in 1997 produced new evidence that cast doubts on the conduct of the Widgery tribunal (chaired by the then-British chief justice) established at the time of the incident. Clarke said Monday that even the most fundamental questions, including who shot the protestors, remain unanswered. The inquiry, which has cost the British public more than £150 million, has heard from more than 900 witnesses in 432 days of testimony and has taken over 1,500 written statements. A final report is expected next summer. Monday's Guardian has more and BBC News has additional coverage of Clarke's summary of the evidence.

[JURIST] As the European Commission begins its work Monday, new objections are being raised as to the suitability of the France's commissioner. Some European Parliament members are calling for the suspension of Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot for failing to disclose a previous conviction for embezzlement during his confirmation hearings. Barrot initially received a suspended prison sentence for embezzlement offenses but was given amnesty by French President Jacques Chirac in 2002. MEP Graham Watson, who leads the Liberal Democrats, has called on "Barrot to resign, or at the very least to ask to be relieved of his duties until this matter can be discussed and resolved." Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has said that Barrot must give a full account to the European Parliament of his fast activities. In a letter to the European Parliament, Barrot wrote that he was "the object of a judicial procedure opened in 1995 and closed on February 23, 2000 concerning all leaders of the Centre of Social Democrats [CDS]" and that he had nothing to cover up and I absolutely did not look to cover up anything from the European Parliament, which I profoundly respect." The European Parliament provides a summary [PDF] of Barrot's September confirmation hearing as well as recorded audio of the hearing. BBC News has more. Reuters has additional background on Barrot's letter to Parliament.

[JURIST] Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Monday, November 22.

The trial of Fatmir Limaj and his co-defendants continues Monday at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Watch a webcast of the trial beginning at 9:30 AM local time (3:30 AM ET); the webcast is on a 30-minute tape delay. The ICTY has background on the case.... The defense phase of Slobodan Milosevic's trial will resume Monday. Watch a webcast beginning at 2:45 PM local time (8:45 AM ET); the webcast is on a 30-minute tape delay. The ICTY has case information.

At the United Nations, the Security Council will meet to discuss the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Watch a live webcast beginning at approximately 10 AM ET.

In the EU, the newly approved European Commission is due to take office Monday. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on last week's European Parliament vote on the new Commission.... The European Institute of Public Administration is hosting a two-day seminar in Maastricht on European Union legal developments. Read the seminar agenda.

The Palestinian Legislative Council will meet Monday to discuss amendments to Palestinian elections law, according to Voice of Palestine radio.... In Russia, the first hearing will be held Monday in the retrial of four military officers charged with murdering Chechen civilians. JURIST's Paper Chase has background (scroll down).