[JURIST] Former US Army sergeant Charles Robert Jenkins was released from 30 days military confinement at Camp Zama, Japan, Saturday so that he may begin a new life with his family and Japanese wife. In 1965, Jenkins, stationed near the Korean DMZ, told others that he was going to investigate a noise and then disappeared, allegedly deserting to North Korea. His family, however, still maintains that Jenkins was captured. At his court martial earlier this month, Jenkins, now 64 years old, appeared in military uniform and saluted the military police officer that received him. Following the investigation, he was demoted to private, dishonorable discharged, and sentenced to the 30 days confinement. In the four decades he spent in North Korea, Jenkins taught English at a university and married Hitomi Soga, who had been abducted from Japan in 1978. The couple had two children. On assurances of protection by the Japanese government, Jenkins returned to Tokyo in 2004 and started the process to clear his name with the US Army. The family now plans to move to the small town of Mano, where Jenkins hopes to find work. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] US Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg has announced that Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist will not be present for the judicial session beginning this Monday, when the Supreme Court reconvenes to hear oral arguments. The session, consisting of two arguments per day, lasts Nov. 29 through Dec. 1 and Dec. 8 through Dec. 10. Rehnquist, 80 years old, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in October, and missed arguments in the first half of November. While he nevertheless continues to vote in the Court's decisions, some parties have questioned the Chief Justice’s ability to keep up with his workload. Arberg’s announcement, made Friday, released little information on the health and treatment of Justice Rehnquist, though she did state that “He is tolerating those [outpatient] treatments well." His absence continues to be the focus of great speculation as there has not been a Supreme Court vacancy in over 10 years. The Washington Post has more.

[JURIST] Federal bankruptcy court judge Eugene Wedoff issued a temporary restraining order Friday blocking creditors from repossessing 14 jets owned by financially troubled United Airlines, who filed for bankruptcy in December 2002. The protection of the eight Boeing 767s and six 737s will save the airline tens of millions of dollars. The creditors, represented by Chicago-based law firm Chapman and Cutler LLP, had threatened a Dec. 1 seizure due to a legal dispute regarding the leases of the jets. United argues that the financiers, who control one-third of the fleet, violated antitrust laws when they negotiated the aircraft leases as single entity in a scheme to increase lease rates. AP has more.

[JURIST] BBC News is reporting that in an extraordinary Saturday session the Ukrainian parliament has declared the disputed presidential election of last Sunday invalid.

9:10 AM ET - Radio Free Europe now has more. A wire story in the Kyiv Post notes that "the legislators' move was not legally binding, but was a clear demonstration of rising dissatisfaction." The parliament has issued a news release on today's vote here (in Ukrainian).

5:36 PM ET - The Kyiv Post has published an English-language analysis of where the election crisis stand politically and legally as of the evening of November 27, noting that opposition leader Yushchenko

has been fighting his way to power along several routes, in addition to taking advantage of the massive street demonstrations that have rocked Ukraine, and of his growing support in the government.

One of Yushchenko’s options is appealing to the Supreme Court of Ukraine. The appeals surgically target specific polling stations where massive election fraud allegedly took place in favor of presidential contender and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

If the Supreme Court accepts his complaints, Yushchenko could be declared president-elect even if the second-round Nov. 21 vote is not legally voided.