[JURIST] Findings of a new survey [press release] of American high school students announced Monday suggest that more than one in three believes that the First Amendment "goes too far" in the rights it grants and protects, while half of the students surveyed said that newspapers should have to receive government approval before publishing its stories. The survey, sponsored by the Knight Foundation [official website], also revealed indifference toward the First Amendment and ignorance of the specific protections it guarantees. The Knight Foundation project Future of the First Amendment [official website] has posted a webcast [streaming video] of Monday's news conference announcing the study, and Knight reports the study's methodology. AP has more.

[JURIST] Updating an earlier JURIST story, Connecticut has postponed Monday's scheduled execution of convicted serial killer Michael Ross [About.com profile], putting off what would be New England's first execution in 45 years after Ross' attorney filed a motion questioning the killer's competency [JURIST post]. The execution is delayed for at least a month after Ross, who had asked an attorney to expedite his death, agreed to an mental evaluation after admitting that he may be mentally incompetent. The rescheduling of the execution will depend upon the results of the competency hearing. Ross, 45, admitted to killing eight women in the 1980s, and last year waived his remaining appeals, seeking to speed up his death and thereby give closure to his victims' families. Before agreeing to the mental evaluation, Ross had fought efforts by his attorneys and his father to have him declared incompetent to waive the appeals, and the execution has been delayed several times in recent weeks. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] US Central Command [official military website] said Monday that about 3000 Iraqi detainees held at the Camp Bucca detention facility [Knight Ridder report; Wikipedia article] in southern Iraq rioted shortly after Noon local time, and that the riot was only quelled after US troops opened fire. Four prisoners were killed and six others injured. A Central Command press release said that "the violence erupted after a routine search for contraband in one of the camp’s 10 compounds." Camp Bucca holds some 5300 detainees. The 2004 US Army Taguba Report [PDF] on abuses of Iraqi prisoners - including at least one reported incident at Camp Bucca for which four soldiers were charged - noted that the Camp was "significantly over [its] intended maximum capacity while the guard force is undermanned and under resourced." Bloomberg has more.

[JURIST] Tribune Co. [corporate website] and the parent companies of CBS, Fox and NBC have filed an appeal with the Supreme Court asking the court to restore the government's new media ownership rules which had been thrown out by the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit [court website]. At issue is are FCC [official website] rules easing ownership restrictions, in effect allowing one company to own multiple television stations in a single market. Supporters of the new rules were dealt a severe setback last week as the Justice Department [official website] decided to forego its own appeal to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court would have been more likely to hear the appeal if the government had been involved. Read the Third Circuit opinion [PDF] and related documents. Read more about the FCC's goals in media ownership [FCC backgrounder]. AP has more.

[JURIST] The European Union [official website] announced Monday that it will temporarily lift a diplomatic freeze imposed on Cuba after the Cuban government jailed 75 dissidents in March 2003. The lifting of sanctions follows the release of several dissidents. The EU had banned high-level governmental visits and participation in cultural events in Cuba and started inviting dissidents to embassy parties. Read a statement released by the Luxembourg EU Presidency. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Attorneys for Basic Rights Oregon [advocacy website] filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the constitutionality of Measure 36 [official text], a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage approved by Oregon voters that states "It is the policy of Oregon, and its political subdivisions, that only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or legally recognized as a marriage." The group claims that Measure 36 violates the fundamental principles of liberty and justice on which the Oregon Constitution [official text] is based because it restricts the role of the courts in interpreting the constitution. It also says that the measure creates multiple changes to the constitution and therefore should have been proposed as multiple amendments. The group argues voters must approve separate amendments with separate votes. Read the Basic Rights Oregon press release and more about the lawsuit [DOC]. Read the complaint [PDF]. AP has more [registration req'd].

[JURIST] The Vietnamese government has announced plans to release 8,000 prisoners, including religious activists and political dissidents, as part of its annual amnesty accompanying Tet, the Lunar New Year, which falls on February 9. The government releases a number of prisoners every year as part of the Tet celebration. Notably among those freed this year will be Roman Catholic priest Father Nguyen Van Ly and Dr. Nguyen Dan Que [Amnesty International profiles], two of the government's most prominent critics. Dr. Que was arrested in 2003 after posting articles on the Internet criticizing the Communist Party's control of the media. Father Ly was originally sentenced to 15 years in prison for urging the United States not to ratify its trade agreement with Vietnam unless Hanoi improved its record on religious freedom. Amnesty International [official site] notes that Vietnam has not released prominent political prisoners since the 1990s, and credited international efforts with helping to effectuate their release. Last year, the US placed Vietnam on a list of countries with opressive religious regimes with Iran and North Korea. The US will decide on whether to impose sanctions on Vietnam by March 15. Some see the release of Father Ly as a gesture by Vietnam aimed at avoiding US sanctions. VOA has more.

[JURIST] Following up on a story that ran earlier today in JURIST's Paper Chase, a much-anticipated and as-yet-unreleased UN investigation [JURIST report] into human rights abuses in the Darfur region of Sudan does not characterize them as "genocide", according to a spokesman for the Sudanese government, which has seen the report. The study is expected to be made public later this week after presentation to the UN Security Council. Genocide is legally defined by international conventions [UN backgrounder] as the "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group." Some legal analysts say the convention on genocide [official text], drafted after World War II, sets too high a threshold. American diplomats had previously described the Darfur situation as genocide, but UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Sunday portended today's revelation by saying that it involved "gross violations of human rights" and has recommended sanctions on the oil-exporting country. Also on Monday, Canada, Australia and New Zealand recommended the Security Council enact "targeted measures" that could include travel bans and an assets freeze. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Leading Monday's corporations and securities law news, Marsh & McLennan Cos. [corporate website], the world's biggest insurance broker, has agreed to pay $850 million to settle charges that the company conspired with insurers to rig bids. Under the agreement with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer [official website], Marsh will fully disclose all forms of compensation to clients and charge only one fee or commission when arranging a policy. Spitzer had accused Marsh of colluding with American International Group Inc. [corporate website] and other insurers to fix prices on October 14, 2004. Since the accusations were levied, Chief Executive Michael Cherkasky has been overhauling Marsh's brokerage practices and corporate governance in a bid to retain clients. Marsh still faces lawsuits filed in other states. Read the Marsh press release. Read the Marsh apology [PDF]. Read the Spitzer press release [PDF]. Read the agreement [PDF]. Reuters has more.

In other news...

• Silicon Image Inc. [corporate website], maker of semiconductors for high-speed communications, announced the SEC [official website] has launched an investigation into trading of the company's securities by unidentified people. The investigation does not identify the subjects of the probe. Bloomberg has more.
  
  
• SEC Chairman William Donaldson [SEC biography] said he expects European stock exchanges will consolidate, similarly to those in the United States. The comments come after German stock exchange operator Deutsche Boerse's bid for the London Stock Exchange. Donaldson also praised President Bush's plans to partially privatize the Social Security system. AP has more.
  
  
• According to reports in the Wall Street Journal, the SEC is considering a proposal which would give mutual fund investors a better idea of how much their funds pay to buy and sell securities. CBSMarketWatch has more.
  
  
• MetLife [corporate website] will buy Citigroup's Travelers Life Annuity, and substantially all of Citigroup's international insurance businesses, for $11.5 billion making MetLife the largest individual life insurer in North America based on sales. Read the MetLife press release. The Financial Times has more.
  
  
• Eastman Kodak [corporate website] announced Monday that it would buy pre-press systems supplier Creo [corporate website] of Canada for $980 million in cash. Read the Kodak press release. The Financial Times has more.
  
  
• The European Commission [official website] stated it believes that Microsoft Corp. [corporate website] is not living up to a court order [sanctions text] that it take steps to create a level playing field in computer software by offering a version of Windows without audiovisual software and provide information about protocols so that rival makers of servers can compete. Read more about the ruling [JURIST report, text] against Microsoft. AP has more.

[JURIST] Thousands of illegal immigrants fled Malaysia Monday as the Malaysian government [official portal; English version] prepared to launch a campaign to round up and deport illegal foreign workers. January 31 is the last day of a three-month amnesty granted to illegals to leave the country without punishment. On Tuesday, the government plans to launch a task force of 500,000 police officers and volunteers to hunt down any remaining illegal immigrants. Those caught can be jailed for five years and deported. Men younger than 50 can be whipped. The Malaysian Immigration Department [official website] said about 340,000 people had left the country under the amnesty, and estimated that about 400,000 such immigrants remain. Malaysia's economy suffers from a shortage of unskilled workers, and thus attracts many immigrants from nearby Indonesia. In 2002, the government initiated a similar crackdown on illegal workers, which drew complaints of human rights abuses. Reuters has more. The Malaysian Star provides local coverage. Last month, Amnesty International published a report [text] documenting Malaysia's abuses of immigrants, and urging the Malaysian government to halt the deportation until adequate human rights for the migrant workers were assured.

[JURIST] In Monday's international brief, the United Kingdom's Special Immigration Appeal Commission [text of empowering legislation] has granted bail to three terror suspects individuals being held without charge or trial in London's Belmarsh Prison [official website]. The only individual to be named, Abu Rideh, was recently moved to Broadmoor Mental Hospital for treatment for mental health problems. Rideh and the other two individuals are still being detained subject to a hearing at the Home Office's request into the granting of bail. The Home Office [official website] had announced that it would not oppose the granting of bail, but was requesting special measures for the conditions imposed on bail, including house arrest. Rideh is one of the 12 individuals whom the Law Lords held in December could not be held indefinitely [JURIST report] due to the UK's accession to the European Convention on Human Rights [official PDF text]. BBC News has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• An offer from Indonesian Aceh rebels for the suspension of independence demands in exchange for the promise of a referendum on Aceh's future was rejected Monday by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono [official profile in Bahasa Indonesian]. The offer came two days after the conclusion of the first peace talks [JURIST report] between the rebels and Susilo's government. Despite the rejection, observers view the offer as a sign of more flexibility on the part of the rebels, which traditionally were unwilling to compromise their goals. Susilo has publicly stated that he would be willing to accept almost any solution short of the granting of complete independence. BBC News has more.
  
  
• A senior official of the Law Society of Kenya [official website] has called for the overhaul of the current system of presidential appointment of Kenyan justices. James Mwamu said in a speech Sunday that the Kenyan judiciary suffered from "the homeboys syndrome" of appointing judges based on family connection or political importance. Mwamu proposed a system similar to that used for other professional fields in government, where lawyers would interview applicants for the positions and submit succesful candidates to Parliament for approval. Mwamu also advocated the inclusion of efficiency evaluations that would require judges to demonstrate adequate performance of their duties. The judiciary in Kenya is currently appointed by President Mwai Kibaki [official profile], and has repeatedly faced allegations of being non-independent and biased towards the government. Mwamu also called for the hiring of at least 70 more magistrate-level judges, saying that part of the inefficiency of the judicial system was the heavy backlog of cases in high population areas, while rural or low population regions had more judges than needed. The Kenyan Daily Nation has local coverage.

[JURIST] Citing "information... that made me question Mr. Ross's competency," the attorney hired by convicted serial rapist and murderer Michael Ross [About.com profile] to expedite his execution filed a motion Monday to delay what would be New England's first execution in 45 years. The attorney, T.J. Paulding, said in his motion that psychiatrist Michael Norko, who previously declared Ross competent, now believes he may have come to a different conclusion if he had had access to information cited by the state's public defenders. Paulding argued that Ross may suffer from a phenomenon known as death row syndrome [WTNH report], whereby years of harsh conditions on death row have in effect coerced Ross to drop his appeals. AP has more. Ross's execution is still scheduled for 9 PM Monday night at Connecticut's Osborn Correctional Institution [official website].

[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [official website] Monday sentenced [ruling text] former Yugoslav general Pavle Strugar to eight years in prison for his role in the 1991 shelling of Dubrovnik [BBC report], the historic Croatian city that UNESCO had declared a World Cultural Heritage site. Strugar, who commanded Yugoslav forces during the 1991 siege, was found guilty of violating Article 3 of the Statute of the Tribunal [text], which governs the laws of war. He was found guilty of failing to prevent attacks by his soldiers on civilians and of damaging or destroying cultural institutions or artifacts. On four other counts, murder, cruel treatment, devastation unjustified by military necessity, and unlawful attack on civilian objects, he was found not guilty. Reuters has more.

In other ICTY news Monday, Sefer Halilovic, former head of the Bosnian army and the most senior Bosnian Muslim commander to face trial at the tribunal, is charged [ICTY indictment] with failing to prevent the 1993 killings of 62 Bosnian Croat civilians during an operation to retake territory during the blockade of the city of Mostar, and with failing to investigate the killings. Halilovic surrendered in 2001 [BBC report] and pled not guilty. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] US District Judge Joyce Hens Green has ruled that the Guantanamo military tribunals for terror suspects are unconstitutional, and that Guantanamo prisoners have constitutional protections under the law. Judge Green said that the eleven plaintiff before her in a co-ordinated habeas proceedings had valid Fifth Amendment claims and that the proceedings conducted by Combatant Status Review Tribunals [DOD fact sheet] to determine if they were "enemy combatants" violated their due process rights:

Of course it would be far easier for the government to prosecute the war on terrorism if it could imprison all suspected "enemey combatants" at Guantanamo Bay without having to acknowledge and respect any constiutional rights of detainees. That, however, is not the relevant legal test. By defintion, constitutional limitations often, if not always, burden the abilities of government officials to serve their constituencies. Although this nation must unquestionably take strong action under the leadership of the Commander in Chief to protect itself against enormous and unprecedented threats, that necessity cannot negate the existence of the most fundamental rights for which the people of this country have fought and died for well over two hundred years.

[JURIST] Tens of thousands of Israeli settlers gathered in Jerusalem Sunday evening at the start of a scheduled 24-hour protest against a plan by Israeli Prime Minister Arial Sharon to remove all 21 Israeli settlements from Gaza and four smaller settlements from the West Bank this summer. The settlers, organized by the Yesha Settlers Council [official website] are protesting what they regard as an arbitrary decision to relocate several hundred thousand Jews out of the settlements inside Palestinian territory and are calling for the measure to be put to a national referendum. The plan to remove the settlements is part of the broader peace plan between Israel and the newly elected Palestinian presidency. Sharon will receive a formal report in the next week or two on the legality of the outposts. According to the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot [official website in Hebrew], the report, commissioned by Sharon in July of 2004, documents a ten-year policy of financing illegal settlements by Israeli citizens in Palestinian territory, despite the repeated objections of multiple Israeli attorneys general. The report concludes that despite the illicit government funding and support, the outposts were never approved, and remain illegal under Israeli law. The finding of the report is crucial to Sharon's intentions to remove 21 settlements from Gaza and 4 smaller ones from the West Bank sometime this summer. Canadian Press has more. From Israel, Haaretz has local coverage.

[JURIST] The trial to determine responsibility for the massive 1999 fire [BBC file report] in the Mont Blanc Tunnel [Wikipedia article], which runs between Italy and France, opened today in France. The fire, which killed 39 people and burned for more than 2 days, is believed to have been started by a truck carrying flour and margarine. Two hundred plaintiffs in the proceeding are suing 16 defendants, include truck maker Volvo, the companies that constructed the tunnel, safety regulators, and the mayor of the French resort town of Chamonix. The UK Press Association has more. From Paris, Le Figaro provides local coverage in French.

[JURIST] Israeli officials have told the US that Israel will reexamine the cases of Palestinians in East Jerusalem whose land was seized by Israel [JURIST report] due to the building of the security fence [official website]. The US had expressed concern over the seizure of the land by local officials, in part because of the current attempts by the Israeli government as a whole to bolster the legitimacy of the new Palestinian presidency. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [official profile] is meeting with Israeli officials in Washington Monday to discuss this issue, the security arrangements needed for the return of several West Bank cities to Palestinian control, the release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees, and the expansion of freedoms of movement for Palestinians in general. From Isreal, Haaretz has local coverage.

[JURIST] Speaking in Nigeria Sunday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan [official profile] urged the UN Security Council [official website] to consider sanctions against Sudan [government website] for "gross violations of human rights". Annan cited a UN report, due to be released this week, that found that "serious violations of international humanitarian law and gross violations of human rights have taken place." The report had been undertaken to determine if the situation in Darfur met the legal definition of genocide [JURIST report] under international conventions, as has already been contended by the United States. Sanctions against Sudan were attempted last year, but Russia, who sells arms to Sudan, and China, who has current oil deals with the Sudanese government, vetoed the legislation. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage [JURIST Countries news archive] of Sudan. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The deputy head of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq Monday revised upwards the latest estimate of turnout in Sunday's Iraq elections, telling AFP that "We still don't have a final number but we can say it was better than expected. The final percentage could be between 60 and 75 percent." Late Sunday Baghdad time a Commission spokesman had suggested a 72% turnout, but the Commission later said that was a guess, and that a figure closer to 60% might be more accurate. AFP has more. Meanwhile the International Organization for Migration in Geneva announced Monday that the worldwide turnout of Iraqi voters over the three alloted days of out-of-country polling [Iraq Out-of-Country Voting Program official website] that ended yesterday was 265,148 - 93% of the 280,000 expatriate Iraqis registered, although only 23% of the 1.3 million Iraqis believed to be living abroad. AP has more.

[JURIST] Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Monday, Jan. 31.

On Capitol Hill, the US Senate [official website] will convene for regular business at 1 PM ET today and will consider the nomination of Samuel Bodman [official biography] for secretary of energy. Watch a live webcast via C-SPAN.

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen [official website] will deliver a state of the state address today.

At the UN today, the Security Council [official website] will hold a session beginning at 10:00 AM ET, in which it will discuss the situation in Côte d’Ivoire [JURIST Countries]. View the agenda and watch a live webcast of the proceedings.

At the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, a status conference will be held in the Seselj trial [ICTY case backgrounder], with a webcast to begin at 10:30 AM local time [4:30 AM ET]. A judgment will be issued in the Strugar case [ICTY case backgrounder] at 12 PM local time [8 AM ET]. Also today, the trial of Fatmir Limaj and others [ICTY case backgrounder] continues today. A webcast is scheduled for 2:45 PM local time [8:45 AM ET].