[JURIST] Federal officials with the US Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement [official website], part of the US Department of Homeland Security, announced Thursday that a federal grand jury had indicted two Washington DC law firms, two associated lawyers and two legal assistants with conspiring to commit immigration fraud by improperly obtaining work visas for alien clients. The 149-count indictment issued April 28 cited the the Law Offices of I. Jay Fredman [firm website] and Sergei Danilov and Associates, and said they had charged legal fees as high as $22,000 for illegal services. All the individuals charged were arrested Thursday morning with the exception of one of the legal assistants, who is still at large. Two of those charged are foreign nationals with permanently residence in the US who could be deported if found guilty. Read the BICE press release. Bloomberg has more.

[JURIST] KGW in Portland, Oregon, is reporting that a federal judge has just struck down Nebraska's ban on gay marriage, ruling that it interferes with the rights of gay couples and also with those of foster parents, adopted children and people in many other living circumstances.

5:41 PM ET - The Nebraska ban was enacted in 2000, when voters approved the following amendment to the state Constitution:

Only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in Nebraska. The uniting of two persons of the same sex in a civil union, domestic partnership, or other similar same-sex relationship shall not be valid or recognized in Nebraska.

[JURIST] The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has voted 10-8 to send John Bolton's nomination for US ambassador to the UN to the full Senate, but without committee endorsement. The move follows a refusal earlier today [JURIST report] by Ohio Republican Senator George Voinovich to support Bolton's nomination as had been expected.

3:45 PM ET - The White House says it expects Bolton to have enough votes in the full Senate to be confirmed, but the lack of any endorsement from the Committee after a belabored process of deliberation over two months arguably hobbles the nomination. AP now has more, plus selected quotes from Friday's hearing.

[JURIST] Jordan's King Abdullah [official website] announced Thursday that he was willing to review the 1992 conviction of Ahmad Chalabi [BBC profile], sentenced in absentia by a Jordanian court to 22 years of hard labor for embezzling funds from Petra Bank, which Chalabi founded during a long residence in Jordan. The bank's 1989 collapse shook up Jordan's financial system. Chalabi, once a controversial Iraqi opposition leader and staunch US ally, was recently named as one of four deputy prime ministers [JURIST report] in Iraq's new elected government, a development leading Iraqi President Jalal Talabani [BBC News profile] to ask Jordan for a pardon. King Abdullah has made no promises, however, and has stated that he would require millions of dollars of the embezzled funds - said to total som $300M - to be returned. Chalabi once faced counterfeiting charges [JURIST report] in Iraq but those were later dropped [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A bill approved by Estonian lawmakers Thursday authorized Internet voting for local elections in the country's capital, Tallinn, scheduled for October. The bill, initiated by the Constitutional Affairs Committee [official website, in English] of the Riigikogu [official website, in English], Estonia's parliament, will require voters to have an electronic ID card, an ID-card reader, and Internet access. Estonia is said to have the most advanced IT infrastructure of all the former ex-Communist states in Eastern Europe. If Internet voting is successful during the Tallinn elections, the government will push to use it in the 2007 parliamentary elections. In the US, the Pentagon proposed allowing 100,000 miitary and overseas citizens to vote over the Internet in last year's November elections, but the initiative was met with harsh opposition from both Democrats and Republicans [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Spc. Sabrina Harman [Wikipedia profile], the latest US soldier to stand trial for involvement in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, pleaded not guilty to charges of abusing detainees in the military prison at the beginning of her trial [JURIST report] Thursday. Harman has been charged with conspiracy, dereliction of duty and maltreatment of subordinates, and could face six and a half years in prison should she be convicted on all charges. Harman is the soldier allegedly responsible for writing "rapeist" on the leg of one detainee, and forcing another to balance on a small box with a hood over his head and wires attached to his outstretched arms, which he was told were not to be lowered or he would be electrocuted. She also took photos of abused detainees. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The US Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] approved the nomination of William Pryor [DOJ profile] for the US Court of Appeals by a 10-8 party line vote Thursday. Pryor has a temporary place on the US Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals under a recess appointment [JURIST report] made after his nomination failed to pass the committee last year, but he will have to win a full Senate vote to permanently hold the seat. Democrats filibustered Pryor and other Bush nominees during his first term and have threatened to continue the practice. Democrats and activist groups like People for the American Way [advocacy website] contend that Pryor's views on abortion and gay rights would prevent him from being an impartial judge [PFAW press release]. President Bush has repeatedly called for an up-or-down Senate vote [JURIST report] on his judicial nominees, and Republicans have threatened to ban judicial nominee filibusters [JURIST report]. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has said that he expects that a showdown over judicial nominees could begin as soon as next week [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Ex-Merrill Lynch investment banker Robert Furst has been fined $565,000 and sentenced to 37 months in federal prison in connection with his role in the Enron [corporate website] scandal. Furst was convicted for setting up a fake deal with Enron in 1999 to boost that company's earnings. Another former Merrill Bank executive had previously been sentenced [JURIST report] to 30 months in prison for his involvment in the scandal. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A US sailor who turned against the Iraq war was convicted Wednesday during a special court-martial [JURIST report] for failing to report for duty in the Persian Gulf in December. Petty Officer 3rd Class Pablo Paredes [defense website] was found guilty by a military judge for missing movement, but not on a second count of unauthorized absence. Paredes faces a possible sentence of up to a year in jail, possible pay forfeiture, demotion to a lower rank, or dishonorable discharge. He has applied for conscientious objector status [DOD directive], which has yet to be reviewed. AP has more.

[JURIST] GOP Senator George Voinovich [official website] surprised observers Thursday when he told colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he will not support the nomination of John Bolton [official profile] as US ambassador to the United Nations [US mission to UN, official website], although he said he would allow the nomination to go forward to the full Senate. Voinovich, who also balked at voting for Bolton last month [JURIST report], delivered a harsh critique of Bolton's diplomacy skills in his remarks (at one point calling him "the poster child of what someone in the diplomatic corps should not be") setting the stage for a tense committee vote set for 3 PM ET Thursday afternoon. Voinovich's vote against Bolton would result in a 9-9 tie if all other members vote along party lines. Committee chair Senator Richard Lugar [official website] had previously predicted that Bolton's nomination would pass 10-8 [JURIST report]. Bloomberg has more.

[JURIST] Hearings began Thursday in a civil suit filed against the Dutch government by two families of victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre [BBC timeline]. The families claim that the Dutch government should be held responsible because of Dutch peacekeepers' inability to stop Serb forces' slaughter of 7,500 Bosnian Muslim men and boys [JURIST report] from the UN-protected eastern Bosnian enclave in Europe's worst mass slaughter of civilians since the end of World War II. The Dutch government has said that the families should seek compensation from Serbia. The Hague District Court is currently holding preliminary hearings to see whether there are sufficient grounds for the civil suit to go to trial. The first witness to testify Thursday, personnel officer Berend Osterveen, said that the Dutch government was unprepared for the massacre and was "frustrated and powerless." AP has more.

[JURIST] Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag [official website, in English], approved the European Constitution [text] Thursday by a 569-23 vote. The Constitution next heads to the Bundesrat [official website, in English], Germany's upper house, where it is also expected to pass. A poll conducted earlier this week showed that 59 percent of Germans support the EU pact [JURIST report]. German approval is thought likely to encourage French support of the Constitution in France's upcoming May 29 referendum. Bloomberg has more.

[JURIST] Riots in eastern Afghanistan [JURIST report] triggered by recent Newsweek-published reports of American desecration of the Koran at Guantanamo continued and spread Thursday, resulting in three more deaths [AFP report]. Rioting has now hit 10 Afghan provinces, including the capital Kabul, and has killed a total of 7 people while injuring 76 others. The US military has launched an investigation into the desecration reports [US Southern Command press release, PDF]; a US State Department [official website] spokesman stressed Wednesday in a press briefing [transcript] that "[d]esecration of religious texts and objects is repugnant to common values and an anathema to the American people." VOA has more.

[JURIST] The appellate body of the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] ruled Thursday that the Turkish trial [BBC backgrounder] of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan [official website] was unfair [ECHR press release], stating that Ocalan was not tried in front of an independent and impartial court. Turkey said it would address the trial's flaws and push for a retrial. Ocalan, convicted in 1999 for treason and blamed for the deaths of some 30,000 people during the 15-year war between his PKK [party website, English version] group and Turkish security forces, had been sentenced to life in prison after Turkey abolished the death penalty as part of its entry into the EU. The ECHR lower court had previously ruled that Ocalan's first trial was also unfair [JURIST report]. Real the full text [DOC] of Thursday's judgment in Ocalan v. Turkey. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] The investigations subcommittee [official website] of the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee [official website] reported Thursday that British Member of Parliament George Galloway [BBC News profile] and French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua [official website, in French] both received Iraq oil kickbacks from Saddam Hussein under the UN oil-for-food program [official website]. The report claims that Galloway received an "allocation" for 20 million barrels of oil, while Pasqua reportedly received 11 million. Both Galloway and Pasqua have vigorously denied the charges [AFP report] and there is no evidence that they ever received funds for the alleged allocations. The now-defunct oil-for-food program has been surrounded by controversy [JURIST report] ever since revelations emerged that Saddam used it improperly to buy influence with politicians in the West. Reuters has more.

1:09 PM ET - British MP George Galloway accepted a Senate invitation Thursday to appear before the Homeland Security and Govermental Affairs Committee at its oil-for-food hearings [agenda] on Tuesday, May 17. Earlier in the day Galloway had objected to not having had any opportunity to respond to the US committee's accusations before being named in its report. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] A colonel at the head of a military intelligence unit at Abu Ghraib prison has been reprimanded and fined $8000 in connection with the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. Col. Thomas M. Pappas [official profile], commander of the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade, could have faced a court-martial, but the Army administered nonjudicial punishment [DOD directive, PDF] and Pappas will not face criminal charges, according to a military spokesman speaking Wednesday. According to the US Defense Department's Fay Report [PDF] released last fall, Pappas was present in a room at Abu Ghraib while a plan was fashioned to cover up the death of a detainee [JURIST report]; he was additionally cited for using unauthorized interrogation procedures without checking with superior officers and for dereliction of duty for not insuring that soldiers under him were informed of and trained in proper interrogation techniques. Pappas had the option to contend the nonjudicial punishment and go in front of a court-martial, but has declined to do so. It is unknown yet whether Pappas' military career is over, as the Army's full findings have not been made public. Pappas is also a named defendant in a civil suit [PDF text] brought by former Abu Ghraib detainees and the ACLU in March. AP has more.

1:29 PM ET - Army officials said Thursday that in addition to getting a reprimand and fine, Pappas had also been relieved of his command. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The US Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] Wednesday approved an amendment to the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2005 (FAIR) [PDF text] which would guarantee that the sickest asbestos victims will be compensated the fastest. The FAIR Act, which has been delayed in the Senate for some time [JURIST report], creates a $140B compensation fund for asbestos victims designed to end litigation over asbestos injury. To ensure the passage of the new amendment, two other amendments were added to the text of the legislation, including one allowing the Department of Defense to use asbestos in equipment where they may be no asbestos substitute, and another allowing the fund administrator to grant flexibility in payments from companies based on financial hardship. Judiciary Chairman Sen. Arlen Specter believes the bill will be finished by the end of the month [press release]. The sickest asbestos victims suffer from mesothelioma, a particularly lethal cancer of the chest lining, and the amendment to the bill allows them to receive $1.1M within 30 days of their claim's approval. The Asbestos Workers Union [union website] believes the bill needs more work before passage [open letter from member]. The American Public Health Association also opposes the bill [letter to Senate], believing it will adversely affect some victims. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] No criminal charges are to be filed against the pilots of a Cessna 150 aircraft [Airliners.net backgrounder] that flew into White House airspace [White House press briefing transcript] Wednesday, prompting evacuations of the White House, the Capitol, and nearby federal buildings. For eight minutes, the alert level at the White House was raised to red, the highest terror alert, and agents directed Laura Bush, a visiting Nancy Reagan, VP Dick Cheney, House and Senate members and four Supreme Court judges at the Supreme Court building to secure locations. The President was on a bike ride in Maryland [Reuters report] at the time and was not told of the incident until after he finished his ride, about 35 minutes after the "All Clear" was given. Cessna pilot Jim Sheaffer and student pilot Troy Martin, both members of the Pennsylvania-based Vintage Aero Club, were questioned by FBI and Secret Service agents after being forced down by scrambled fighter jets and were found to pose no threat. The men could still face a FAA civil suit, however, possibly resulting in license suspensions and civil penalties of up to $1,100 per violation for entering White House restricted airspace, failing to respond to communications, and failing to be properly informed of flight restrictions. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association said Wednesday that the pilots "failed to properly plan their flight" [press release]. CNN has more.