[JURIST] In a year-end report on the federal judiciary issued Saturday Chief Justice William Rehnquist, still recovering at home from cancer treatment that has kept him off the bench since November, emphasized the need to protect judges from political pressure and threats, citing calls from some conservative groups in partiuclar to impeach judges for judicial "activism":

By guaranteeing judges life tenure during good behavior, the Constitution tries to insulate judges from the public pressures that may affect elected officials. The Constitution protects judicial independence not to benefit judges, but to promote the rule of law: judges are expected to administer the law fairly, without regard to public reaction. Nevertheless, our government, in James Madison's words, ultimately derives "all powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people." Thus, public reaction to judicial decisions, if it is sustained and widespread, can be a factor in the electoral process and lead to the appointment of judges who might decide cases differently....

Although arguments over the federal Judiciary have always been with us, criticism of judges, including charges of activism, have in the eyes of some taken a new turn in recent years.... At the same time, there have been suggestions to impeach federal judges who issue decisions regarded by some as out of the mainstream. And there were several bills introduced in the last Congress that would limit the jurisdiction of the federal courts to decide constitutional challenges to certain kinds of government action....

[JURIST] In a bid to expedite the already-urgent task of finding and burying the more than 4000 local victims of last Sunday's South Asian tsunami, officials in the Thai Department of Corrections have offered reduced prison terms to volunteering inmates convicted of petty crimes serving sentences of less than two years. Thai pisoners have been asked to do other public works in the past with sentence reductions of a day for every day volunteered, but this time the reduction has been set at two days for every day spent in the grim task of locating decomposing bodies. About 50 prisoners have volunteered so far. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] New laws slated to take effect January 1 with the start of the New Year came into force in many jurisdictions across the United States Saturday, affecting areas from health insurance to gay rights. In Maine, the state-supported universal health care program began coverage for small businesses and the self-employed. In New York state, wild animals can no longer be kept as pets. In Indiana, all restaurants, day-care programs and schools are now required to have at least one food handler certified in food safety. In Montana, income tax rates have been cut by an average of 7 percent. In Florida, judges can order outpatient treatment for people with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or manic depression. In Georgia, removing or destroying an electronic monitoring bracelet is now a felony carrying a five-year prison term. And in California, a law passed in 2003 and taking effect today gives gay and lesbians registered in domestic partnerships an array of parental and community property rights. AP has more.