[JURIST] US Senate Republicans [official website] Monday announced that in the new Congressional session they will consider putting limits on awards in class-action lawsuits before taking on President George W. Bush's top domestic goal of Social Security privatization. In an attempt to limit forum-shopping, a proposed GOP bill would remove to federal court most lawsuits seeking more than $5 million in damages. Other measures would seek to limit liability for doctors, hospitals, and insurers, and make President Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent. Read Senate Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist's press release on the Republican agenda [PDF]. Meanwhile Senate Democrats [official website], who have resisted changes to the Social Security system, stated that their top legislative goals would be to increase the number of active-duty military, and to up the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour over the next two years. Democrats also outlined fair trade initiatives, among which is a measure that would force China to stop manipulating its currency. Review the Democratic agenda. Bloomberg has more.

[JURIST] Senators supporting a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage said Monday they will press for passage of the amendment in the new Congress despite President Bush's recent indication that he will not lobby for its passage [APB report]. GOP Senate leaders are expected to bring the amendment to a vote before the 2006 mid-term elections. The so-called "Marriage Protection Amendment" reads:

Marriage in the United States shall consist only 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.

[JURIST] The UN General Assembly opened its 28th Special Session [official website] Monday commemorating the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Jews from Nazi death camps. Various world leaders and Nobel Laureate author Elie Wiesel [biography], a World War II death camp survivor, spoke at the session. Speakers remembered the 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust and how the UN [official website] was formed to stop such future tragedies. However, Wiesel and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan [official website] both questioned the will of the nations of the world to stop future mass murders citing Rwanda, Darfur, and Bosnia. A purpose of the commemoration was to downplay the notion that the UN General Assembly is anti-Semitic. However, there were clear signs of divisions as most of the Arab world did not participate. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Tensions escalated in the dispute between Venezuela and Colombia Sunday as a celebration of Venezuelan independence quickly turned into a march of supporters of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez [official website in Spanish], expressing approval for his response to the December arrest of FARC [faction website in Spanish] rebel leader Rodrigo Grande. Grande was captured on Venezuelan territory; it was first thought the arrest was made there by Colombian special forces, but Colombian president Alvaro Uribe [official profile in Spanish] recently admitted that Grande had been captured by Venezuelan police officials acting as bounty hunters to retrieve a reward. At the time Chavez termed the incident a violation of international law [JURIST report]; he cut diplomatic and trade relations with Colombia on January 14 and withdrew the Venezuelan ambassador.

Chavez announced Sunday that he would cut all remaining ties with Colombia, as well as terminate all bilateral trade between the two neighboring nations unless Colombia issued an official apology. Chavez also accused the US [Financial Times report] of forcing the crisis between the two countries because of its dislike for his government, terming the incident an "imperialist plot" by the US. Chavez has accused the US of actively seeking to remove him from power, and has claimed that a US offer of support for Colombia is really an attempt to isolate Venezuela from the rest of Latin America. At her recent Senate confirmation hearings, Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice [official profile] termed Chavez a "negative force in South America." Chavez's actions have already begun to impact Venezuela's international reputation; a visit to Venezuela by Spain's Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was cancelled this weekend. Colombian president Uribe has refused to apologize for any involvement in Grande's arrest, and has charged Chavez with knowingly harboring known terrorists. Venezuela's El Nacional has local coverage [in Spanish] of Chavez's response.

[JURIST] In Monday's environmental law news, British company JD Wetherspoon [corporate website], owner of 650 restaurants and pubs, announced that it will be banning smoking in its establishments, with all of them becoming smoke-free by May 2006. The company has been a proponent of non-smoking areas, but has decided to take the action of completely banning smoking indoors. Outdoor smoking would still be allowed. The British government's White Paper on Public Health [PDF] includes restrictions on smoking in licensed premises that would take effect by the end of 2008, but does allow smoking in pubs where food is not served. BBC News has the full story, and more on the government's proposed smoking ban.

In other news,

• The Canadian provincial government of Prince Edward Island [government website]will hold hearings next month on a potential ban of genetically modified (GM) foods. GM crops are currently permitted and regulated by the Canadian government, although the provinces can set up local controls. Currently PEI farmers have an agreement to not grow GM potatoes, although a number of other GM foods are currently grown in the province. Canadian Press has more.
  
  
• Spain's Ministry of Industry [official website in Spanish] has changed its emission rights allocations, increasing the limits for coal-fired power plants and reducing the limits for cleaner combined-cycle and new power plants. The limits, part of an EU plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, initially were at 148.7 million tons of CO2 over three years, and were raised to 153.2 million tons. Reuters has more.
  
  
• The EPA is seeking comments on a proposed rule [official text] that would approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by Maine. The SIP is done in accordance with the Clean Air Act [text]. Maine has proposed a low emission vehicle (LEV) program that would help to bring the state into position to attain the clean air standards. Comments can be made here until February 23.
  
  
• The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau [official website] has announced that it is seeking to designate two new viticultural areas and realign the boundary between two others. There are currently over 150 viticultural areas in the US. The proposed "Horse Heaven Hills" area is approximately 60 miles long and 22 miles wide and is located in the current Columbia River viticultural area in south-central Washington state. Comments on this proposal [text] can be made here until March 25. Also proposed is the "High Valley" area which measures about 3 miles long and 8.5 miles wide and is mostly located in the current Clear Lake viticultural area of northern California. Comments on this proposal can be made until March 25 [comment submission form]. The agency also wants to realign the boundary between the Santa Lucia Highlands and Arroyo Seco viticultural areas in Monterey County, California. Currently, the Olsen ranch owned by E&J Gallo lies mostly within the Santa Lucia area, with the exception of 200 acres that lie across the boundary in the Arroyo Seco area. The realignment would move the boundary about 1000 feet east and align it with the land grant borders. Comments on this proposal can be made here until March 25.
  
  
• The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service seeks comments on a proposed rule [text] that would make uniform the size requirements for all US No.2 grade round potatoes handled under the marketing order for Idaho-Eastern Oregon potatoes. Currently, the minimum size requirement is 1 7/8 inches in diameter for red round potatoes, and 2 inches for non-red round potatoes. The proposed rule would establish the 1 7/8 inch minimum for all round potatoes. Comments can be made here until March 25, 2005.

[JURIST] Israel has reportedly begun seizing land in east Jerusalem land owned by Palestinians in the West Bank under a law passed in 1950. The land has been transferred to the Custodian of Absentee Property [UN Secretariat working paper with law text attached], a body formed by the law, according to documents from Israel's finance and justice ministries. The law allows Israel to seize property of those Palestians who left the country after the 1948 war. The law specifies an absentee owner as "anyone who in 1948 was in any part of the land of Israel that is outside the area of Israel." The owners may have no right to compensation for the property. Israeli lawyers, acting for the landowners, described the policy re-implemented by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon [official website] in July as a land grab. BBC News has more and continuing coverage of the Middle East conflict.

[JURIST] Thousands of abortion opponents marched on Washington Monday, commemorating the 32nd anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade which fell Saturday. In a phone call from Camp David [US Newswire transcript] President Bush addressed the March for Life [event website] rally, stating that "this movement will not fail." Every anniversary of the January 23 decision prompts demonstrations by both proponents and opponents of abortion rights. Monday, abortion opponents staged a march to the Supreme Court and held events on Capitol Hill. Abortion rights supporters held a counter-protest at the Court later Monday morning. The health of Chief Justice Rehnquist [JURIST news archive], who has missed Supreme Court sessions for the past three months, has rasied speculation that President Bush would get the opportunity to appoint a justice who would favor overturning the Roe v. Wade decision. Pro-Choice America released a report [official website] this month which projects that 38 states would outlaw abortion if the decision were overturned. Last week, Norma McCorvey, the woman known as "Jane Roe" in the historic case, asked the Supreme Court to overturn the decision [Washington Times report] in light of evidence that the procedure may harm women. CBS News has more.

[JURIST] Leading Monday's corporations and securities law news, ImClone Systems Inc. [corporate website] has agreed to settle a class-action shareholder lawsuit from 2002 for $75 million. The lawsuit accused the company of making false and misleading statements about a prospective drug. The settlement comes a week after ImClone's former CEO settled an insider trading case [SEC press release] with the SEC for more than $5 million. ImClone agreed to settle the case to save both money and management distractions. The settlement still needs to be court-approved. ImClone also announced it will settle a consolidated shareholder derivative action and will get $8.75 million in cash from insurance companies to pay the settlement. Read the ImClone press release. Bloomberg has more.

In other news...

• As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, Microsoft announced Monday that it has decided not to appeal the landmark December ruling [JURIST report; text] of the European Court of Justice [official website] ordering it to immediately implement EU antitrust sanctions that the European Commission [official website] imposed in a March 2004 decision [PDF]. AFP has more.
  
  
• The SEC [official website] has launched a probe into Travelzoo Inc. [corporate website], an internet media company, regarding the trading of its shares by the company's officers, directors and employees. The probe is in response the extreme volatility in the stock price in 2004. Reuters has more.
  
  
• Federated Investors Inc. [corporate website] has begun talks with the SEC and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to settle allegations of improper trading in its mutual funds. The company also announced the SEC may still file civil charges against two employees involved in the scandal. Dow Jones has more.
  
  
• Corinthian Colleges Inc. [official website], a post-secondary education company, announced the SEC has ended its informal probe into the company and will not take any enforcement action. The probe was focused on Corinthian's fiscal 2004 financial projections as well as the Department of Education's program review at the San Jose, California, campus of Bryman College. Read the Corinthian press release. CBSMarketWatch has more.
  
  
• The jury in the corporate fraud trial for HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy was selected today. Read the indictment [PDF] against Scrushy. AP has more.

[JURIST] Wednesday's scheduled execution of convicted mass murderer Michael Ross [About.com profile] was postponed indefinitely Monday by order of District Judge Robert N. Chatigny, so that Chatigny can hear arguments on Ross' mental capacity. Had the execution by lethal injection gone ahead, Ross would have become to first person put to death in New England in 45 years. Chatigny said he wanted to hear from experts on what effect twenty years of incarceration has had on Ross' ability to truly volunteer to be executed. The Connecticut Public Defender's office, who has been representing Ross for 17 years, contends that Ross is mentally incompetent, and thus may not be executed. Ross, who has admitted to raping and killing eight women in Connecticut and New York in the 1980s, indicated in October that he wanted to forgo all further appeals and proceed to his execution. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has never passed judgment on the constitutionality of Connecticut's death penalty scheme, and has never had occasion to do so since the Supreme Court ended the moratorium on executions in 1976. The Hartford Courant has the full story here.

[JURIST] Khalil al-Duleimi, an Iraqi lawyer representing ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] has gone into hiding after receiving death threats over the last three weeks, Saddam's chief defense attorney Ziad al-Khasawneh announced on Monday. Al-Duleimi, one of 25 attorneys representing Saddam, reportedly told other lawyers on the team about the threats which followed his Dec. 16 meeting [JURIST report] with the ousted Iraqi leader. He claimed that "suicide cells had been formed specifically to liquidate him so that he would set an example to all other attorneys who have volunteered to defend President Saddam," al-Khasawneh said. The December 16 meeting was the first time Saddam met with a member of his Jordan-based defense team. Iraqi interim President Ghazi al-Yawer has stated that Saddam's trial could begin shortly after the Iraqi elections this week. AP has more.

[JURIST] Gannett Company [official site], the nation's largest newspaper publisher, and the New York Times Company [official corporate site], are under investigation by federal antitrust enforcers regarding their plans to acquire rival papers, according to a report Monday by the Wall Street Journal [subscription required]. The Justice Department is specifically investigating Gannett's proposed buyout of HomeTown Communications Network Inc. [official site], a Midwest publisher of 59 community newspapers, and the New York Times Company's plans to acquire a 49 percent stake in Metro Boston, a competitor of the Boston Globe [official site], also owned by the Times. The Times deal has already generated a complaint from the owners of the Boston Herald [official site]. Although both deals are relatively small, they may be subject to tough DOJ scrutiny, as the newspaper industry heads into another round of consolidation. AP has the full story here.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court Monday issued rulings on the Fourth Amendment in Illinois v. Caballes and on a tax law issue in Commissioner v. Banks. In Caballes, the Court held that a driver stopped for speeding and then subjected to a "dog sniff" that indicated the presence of drugs in a particular location of the vehicle could not invoke the Fourth Amendment to suppress that evidence. AP has more. In Banks, the Court held that contingency fees paid to an attorney after a jury award or settlement were taxable as part of the successful plaintiff's gross income, in part because the cases at issue arose before passage of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (HR 4520), which amended the Internal Revenue Code to allow taxpayers to deduct attorney’s fees and which was not retroactive.

[JURIST] In Monday's international brief, US lawmakers from the House International Relations Subcommittee on Africa [official website] who met with Sudanese government officials and displaced Sudanese refugees in Chad over the weekend are expected to announce that they will urge the US Government to push harder for UN sanctions against Sudan [official website]. Representatives Barbara Lee, Jim McDermott, Diane Watson and Betty McCollum, as well as Subcommittee Chairman Ed Royce [official website] will also recommend that the African Union peacekeeping force be expanded in number and be given a broader mandate requiring the active enforcement of current cease-fire agreements. Sudan recently concluded a peace agreement between the southern autonomous region and the northern and eastern regions, but still has active conflict occurring in the western Darfur region. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Sudan [JURIST country archive]. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage.

In other international legal news...

• German authorities arrested two individuals suspected of involvement in al-Quaeda and alleged to have planned a suicide attack in Iraq during this weekend's upcoming elections. Prosecutor identified Ibrahim Mohammed K. and Yasser Abu S. as the suspects and are currently awaiting a ruling from a German judge on whether there is enough evidence to hold the men on charges of terrorist acts. Deutsche Welle has local coverage.
  
  
• Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom [official profile] announced Sunday that he expects Maldives to have multiple political parties within a year. The announcement reflects proposed reforms in the Maldives government [official website] that began with Saturday's parliamentary elections, which were delayed by the Indian Ocean Tsunami. Procedural hold-ups at the Hilton Resort polling location on Rangali island will delay the official election results [Haveeru report] until Wednesday of this week. Preliminary results show several pro-democracy candidates opposed to Gayoom winning seats, including on the capital island of Male. JURIST's Paper Chase has background [JURIST Newsburst] on the Maldives election. Maldives' Haveeru has local coverage of the proposed reforms. Read the official Maldives press release on the elections .
  
  
• The African Union [official website] began its Fourth African Union Summit on Monday in Abuja, Nigeria. The Summit was scheduled to start with a meeting of the AU Permanent Council, considering such topics as the threat of terrorism on the African continent, the possible merger of the African Court on Human and People's Rights and the Court of Justice of the African Union, and the recognition and treatment of polio and AIDS in infected areas. Read the draft agenda [official PDF document] of the PCR. The Summit will also include meetings of the AU Secretariat, the Executive Council, and the annual session of the AU Assembly. Read the official AU meeting agenda.

[JURIST] Microsoft announced Monday that it has decided not to appeal the landmark December ruling [JURIST report; text] of the European Court of Justice [official website] ordering it to immediately implement EU antitrust sanctions that the European Commission [official website] imposed in a March 2004 decision [PDF]. The sanctions order the software giant to create a version of Windows stripped of its music and video software, and to share specifications with rival server software companies. BBC News has more on Microsoft's 2004 troubles with the EU. CNET has more on today's announcement.

[JURIST] A leading candidate on the Shiite Muslim ticket for this week's elections in Iraq has said that he fears the landmark poll could be tarnished by fraud and abuse. Iraqi Finance Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi [Reuters profile] indicated that security threats in certain areas of the country could lead to monitoring problems, and that any tampering of the polls facilitated by lack of monitors could "destroy the whole experience." Mahdi has been touted as a possible prime minister if the coalition of Shiite religious groups dominates the polls as expected. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court Monday declined to hear an appeal by Florida Governor Jeb Bush [JURIST report] against a Florida Supreme Court ruling [JURIST report; opinion PDF] striking down as an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers a law [PDF text] that had authorized him to mandate the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube after a court had allowed her husband to remove it. More legal wrangling is expected, however, before a Pinellas County probate judge lifts an an indefinite stay on the tube's removal that was imposed while appeals in the case were pending.

[JURIST] Iraqi authorities Monday announced the arrest of Sami Mohammed al-Jafi, also known as Abu Omar al-Kurdi, a top aide to al Qaeda-linked Abu Musab al-Zarqawi [BBC News profile]. Al-Kurdi has been in Iraqi custody since January 15th, but the announcement of his capture was delayed until today. In a statement [Xinhua report], Kurdi confessed to plans to attack Iraqi polling places and to making 75% of the car bombs in Baghdad since March 2003, including the bomb used in the attack on the Jordanian embassy in August 2003. AP has more.

[JURIST] Britain's Law Society [profession website], which represents lawyers in England and Wales, has called for the nine foreign terror suspects who have been detained in the UK since December 2001 [background from BBC News] to be tried or released. In a decision [text, PDF; JURIST report] issued last month, a nine-judge panel of the House of Lords ruled that the indefinite detention of foreign terror suspects without charge violates the UK Human Rights Act. In a Law Society statement released Monday, Law Society president Edward Nally said:

The Law Society fully accepted the urgent need for the Government to reassess the country's security needs in the aftermath of September 11. We recognise that the Government has a difficult balancing act. However, it is essential that emergency terror legislation [text, UK Anti-Terrorism, Crime & Security Act] protects the country without compromising the Government's duty to uphold fairness and justice.

Indefinite imprisonment without charge or trial is totally unacceptable. Some of these prisoners have now been detained for three years and the time has come for them to be tried or released. The rule of law must prevail and the Government can no longer ignore the Law Lords' ruling.

I am not surprised that lawyers are increasingly frustrated by the Government's apparent lack of respect for the law and human rights. What is happening contravenes fundamental legal principles.

[JURIST] The US Defense Department has denied a published report that it has set up a new internal espionage arm to get around legal restrictions on foreign clandestine operations. The Washington Post said over the weekend that DOD had established a "Strategic Support Branch" that would be subject to fewer legal constraints than CIA missions under new interpretations of Title 10 [text] of the US Code, which governs the armed services, and Title 50, which governs foreign intelligence. Title 10 requires the Defense Department to report all deployment orders to Congress, but new DOD guidelines allow for clandestine human intelligence operations to be conducted before the publication of a deployment order. Additionally, Title 50 requires all executive branch departments to keep Congress informed of intelligence activities, but allows an exception for "traditional... military activities" and their "routine support." The Pentagon's general counsel has reportedly reinterpreted "traditional" and "routine" to have a more expansive meaning. A Pentagon spokesman said Sunday:

There is no unit that is directly reportable to the Secretary of Defense for clandestine operations as is described in the Washington Post article of January 23, 2005, entitled "Secret Unit Expands Rumsfeld's Domain". Further, the Department is not attempting to "bend" statutes to fit desired activities, as is suggested in this article.

It is accurate and should not be surprising that the Department of Defense is attempting to improve its long-standing human intelligence capability. ...

The demands of the Global War on Terror necessitate a framework by which military forces and traditional human intelligence work more closely together and in greater numbers than they have in the past. These actions are being taken within existing statutory authorities to support traditional military operations and any assertion to the contrary is wrong. The department remains in regular consultation with the relevant committees in Congress and with other agencies within the intelligence community, including the CIA.

[JURIST] Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Monday, Jan. 24.

The US Senate [official website] will hold an executive session today at 3 PM ET to consider the nomination of Carlos M. Gutierrez for the Secretary of Commerce post. A live webcast is available via C-SPAN.

The Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee will hold a public hearing today at 10 AM CT [11 AM ET] to consider the issue of whether to tighten restrictions on class-action lawsuits. Read a meeting agenda [text, PDF] and proposals being considered by the committee. From Illinois, the Alton Telegraph has more.

Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle [official website] will deliver her state of the state address today at 10 AM HST [4 PM ET]. A live webcast is available from the governor's website.

At the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, trials continue today for Slobodan Milosevic [ICTY case backgrounder] and Fatmir Limaj and others [ICTY case backgrounder]. A webcast of the Milosevic trial will begin at 9:30 AM local time [3:30 AM ET], and a webcast of the Limaj trial is scheduled for 3 PM local time [9 AM ET].