[JURIST] The indictment filed against former Defense Department employee Lawrence Franklin for passing classified government information was unsealed Monday. The specific charges allege Franklin conspired to share national defense and other material with unauthorized persons, including two unnamed American Israel Public Affairs Committee [official website] employees. Franklin was arrested in May [JURIST report] and pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday in federal court. The indictment alleges that Franklin began meeting with the AIPAC employees in 2003 and shared highly classified information related to potential Iraqi attacks on US forces. It also charges Franklin with sharing information about a Middle Eastern country's nuclear program with an unidentified foreign official. Franklin’s trial is scheduled to begin September 6. Reuters has more. The Jerusalem Post has further coverage.

[JURIST] Leading Monday's corporations and securities law news, embattled Morgan Stanley [corporate website] CEO Philip Purcell [Wikipedia profile], has announced his retirement. Purcell has recently faced criticism from shareholders and former company executives for Morgan Stanley’s financial and legal troubles. His retirement follows a string of high-profile departures from the company. Read the Morgan Stanley press release. Bloomberg has more.

In other corporations and securities law news...

• Unicredito [corporate website] and troubled German bank HVB Group [corporate website] have announced a merger, with Unicredito paying $23.2bn for HVB and its Eastern European subsidiaries. The merger is expected to cost nearly 9,000 HVB jobs. HVB unions initially hoped the German government would intervene, but the government is not expected to interfere with the merger. Read the Unicredito press release [registration required]. BBC News has more.
  
  
• The SEC [official website] is requesting information from the new CEO of HP [corporate website], Mark Hurd [official biography], regarding his selling stock of his former company NCR [corporate website]. Shortly before he left, he sold about 36,000 shares of NCR stock. Hurd may have committed insider trading if he knew he was under consideration for the HP job at the time. Business Week has more.
  
  
• The US Justice Department [official website] is offering a controversial new option to companies charged with corporate fraud [JURIST news archive]. The companies may now disclose information about discussions between their employees and company lawyers in exchange for more lenient treatment for the corporation. The plan is in response to massive job losses following corporate fraud at companies such as Arthur Andersen [Wikipedia profile]. Conversations between lawyers and employees are generally protected from criminal investigation. By waiving that privilege the companies can escape serious punishment, but will open their employees up to criminal prosecution. The plan is intended to target the primary law-breakers and save jobs. AP has more.

[JURIST] According to a list obtained by the Associated Press and reported Monday, the Iraqi Special Tribunal will try former dictator Saddam Hussein on 14 charges. The list includes the seven preliminary charges [BBC backgrounder] outlined in his 2004 arraignment, and additional charges including the mortar bombardment of Kirkuk, the 1982 massacre in Dujail [Global Policy Forum backgrounder], and the 1991 drying of the southern marshes following the Shiite uprising [International Review backgrounder]. AP has more. The publicization of Monday's document follows a press report last week, later denied by the IST, that Hussein would be charged in connection with 12 cases {JURIST report].

Previously on JURIST’s Paper Chase:

• Tribunal questions Saddam on 1982 massacre, releases interrogation video
• Iraqi security official says televised Saddam trial to start before constitution poll
• Saddam lawyers say they have not yet received charges or documents
• Iraq PM says Saddam trial will begin in "a matter of months"

[JURIST] Leading Monday's states brief, the United States Supreme Court today ordered a federal appeals court to reconsider whether the state of Missouri can charge the disabled $2 for portable disabled parking placards. The placards allow disabled persons to park in reserved spaces. A class action lawsuit alleged that the fee violated federal law banning discrimination because it places a financial burden on those seeking disabled parking spaces. The Eighth US Circuit Court of Appeals had dismissed the case, finding in part that the $2 had a minimal impact on interstate commerce and was not under the authority of Congress to regulate. The Supreme Court instructed the Court of Appeals to reconsider in light of its ruling last week in Gonzales v. Raich [PDF text] and its 2004 decision Tennessee v. Lane [PDF text]. The fee generates approximately $400,000 in annual revenue for the state. AP has more.

In other state legal news ...

• Legislation passed by the Florida Legislature and signed into law by Governor Jeb Bush [official website], will freeze about 75 percent of the state's approximately 6,000 pending asbestos cases. The legislation [text] sets new rules concerning the level of proof that must be provided by those claiming asbestos made them ill. Supporters of the legislation claim that it will help reduced the number of frivolous cases filed and unclogg the court dockets, while opponents claim it will deny victims compensation as many victims will be unable to meet the new proof standards. The legislation becomes effective July 1. The Palm Beach Post has local coverage.
  
  
• The United States Supreme Court's decision in Johnson v. California [PDF text], handed down today, will require trial judges in California to ask lawyers to explain their reasons for excluding a potential juror whenever there is a hint or "inference" of racial bias in the potential juror's exclusion. According to the decision, if a race-neutral explanation is given, then the judge should uphold the exclusion, but if no race-neutral explanation is provided then the juror should be seated. The ruling overturns a rule adopted by the California Supreme Court that judges should only intervene in jury selection when there is a "strong likelihood" that racial bias is involved in the selection. Under California law, both the prosecution and defense are allowed to remove 20 potential jurors based on the impression that the jurors would not be favorable to their side. JURIST Paper Chase has additional coverage. The Los Angeles Times has more.
  
  
• The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments today on whether it should order a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of Arizona Proposition 200 [PDF text] while the constitutionality of the Proposition is being determined. Proposition 200 was approved by voters last November and part of the law denies some public benefits to illegal immigrants. The United States District Court of Arizona [official website] denied the preliminary injunction. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund [official website], which is appealing the denial of the preliminary injunction, alleges that the law is unconstitutional because it usurps federal government power over immigration and naturalization. AP has more.

[JURIST] Pop star Michael Jackson has been acquitted of all charges against him. He had been charged with 10 counts in connection with events that allegedly took place with a 13-year-old boy two years ago. He was acquitted of four counts of lewd conduct with a child younger than 14; one count of attempted lewd conduct; four counts of administering alcohol to facilitate child molestation; and one count of conspiracy to commit child abduction, false imprisonment or extortion.

6:03 PM ET - AP now has a full story. Jackson's defense website is playing a Flash sequence announcing his innocence, displaying a V-for-Victory sign and offering a video montage of Jackson music and images, ending with the words of the Apollo 8 crew that circled around the Moon on Christmas Eve, 1968, "God bless all of you - all of you on the good Earth." Review the verdict [PDF]. BBC News provides recorded audio of the verdict-reading.

[JURIST] Leading Monday's international brief, Sudan's domestic war crimes tribunal is scheduled to hold its first hearings Tuesday in the capital city of Khartoum, according to Sudanese Justice Minister Ali Mohammed Yassin. Yassin said that over 160 individuals indicted on various war crimes and crimes against humanity that allegedly occurred in the Darfur region of Sudan would begin appearing before the tribunal tomorrow. The UN has expressed doubt [JURIST report] over the capability of Sudan's judicial system to handle the trials, and Amnesty International [advocacy website] issued a statement Monday that attacked the Sudanese judicial system [Amnesty International report] as wholly inadequate to provide fair trials, unless a significant restructuring of an independent judiciary occurred. Many commentators have expressed concern that the Sudan tribunal is merely a way for the national government to avoid prosecution by the International Criminal Court [official website] under the recently opened investigation [JURIST report] referred by the UN Security Council. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Sudan [JURIST news archive]. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• South African President Thabo Mbeki [Wikipedia profile] called a special meeting of both houses of the South African Parliament [government website] for Tuesday, annoncing his intention to "deal with issues arising from the judgment of Judge Hilary Squires" who recently handed down a conviction [JURIST report] on corruption charges against Schabir Shaik [Wikipedia profile], long time financial advisor to South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma [official profile]. Mbeki, traditionally strong in his stance against corruption in the government, has faced increasingly strident calls for the dismissal of Zuma, who is widely believed to be Mbeki's personal choice for succession as South African president. Officials from the ruling African National Congress party [official website] have denied rumors of a split in their ranks concerning Zuma's fate, and have described calls for Zuma's dismissal as extreme and unnecessary. There is no word on what Mbeki is likely to tell Parliament. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of South Africa [JURIST news archive]. South Africa's News 24 has local coverage.
  
  
• Zimbabwean Social Welfare Minister Nicholas Goche [Africa People Database profile] has denied that there was any need for outside aid for the targets of the Zimbabwean government's mass eviction and arrest program called Operation Restore Order, and instructed all regional govenors in Zimbabwe [government website] to ban all aid from national and international NGOs that targeted those affected by the evictions and has warned that criminal charges will be filed against NGOs defying the ban. Over 22,000 shopkeepers and merchants [JURIST report] have been confirmed as arrested by the state, leaving their families with no income for food or clothing, and there are an estimated 200,000 families that have been evicted around the nation from their illegal shanties and squatter towns [JURIST report] in the major cities. The government has forcibly relocated many of these families to the rural areas, where the nation's already crippling food shortage is at its worst. Human rights groups are allegedly working secretly to provide housing, food, medicines, and clothing, and are publicly challenging the government to allow them to help, since the over 70% unemployment rate in Zimbabwe means that almost none of the evicted families will be able to find work. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Zimbabwe [JURIST news archive]. ZimOnline has local coverage.
  
  
• The Transitional Federal Government of Somalia has begun the transition back to Somalia from its current exiled location in Nairobi, Kenya. Somali Interim President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed [Wikipedia profile] and the rest of the government will take up residence in the town of Jowhar until arrangements are finalized for the return of the government [JURIST report] to the capital city of Mogadishu. There is a continuing debate on whether Somalia should request UN peacekeepers to secure the are while the transition is occurring. Somali Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Gedi [Africa People's Database profile] had been speaking in Modadishu earlier in the year when bombs were set off in protest of the transitional government, which has been opposed by many of the feuding warlord clans. IRIN has more.

[JURIST] The trial of reputed Ku Klux Klan member Edgar Ray Killen [JURIST report] began on Monday with jury selection in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Killen is charged in connection with the 1964 murder [UMKC backgrounder] of three civil rights workers. About 400 people received summonses for the jury pool; several dozen were excused by late Monday morning. Opening arguments are expected on Wednesday or Thursday. AP has more.

[JURIST] Outspoken Serbian human rights activist Natasa Kandic [Time profile] of Belgrade's the Humanitarian Law Center [advocacy website] said Monday that war crimes suspect Gen. Ratko Mladic [BBC profile] is preparing his surrender to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website]. Though the Serbian government denies negotiations for Mladic's surrender are occurring, two popular Serbian newspapers, Nezavisne Novine and Kurir [article in Serbian], support Kandic's claims. Kandic believes that some of the issues being worked out between Mladic and the ICTY are the location of his surrender, where he would serve his sentence, and financial stability for his family. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Lawyers for detainees being held at Guantanamo [JURIST news archives] say as many as six of those being held were captured before they turned 18 [NYT report]. One lawyer says his client was not even 15 when captured, and was physically abused. According to the military, only three juveniles have been held at the terror detention facility, and they were released in January 2004. Amnesty International had previously urged their release [AP report, AI press release] and Human Rights Watch had written to US Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld [HRW letter] urging the United States to strictly observe international children's rights standards regarding the detainees. Also still being held is Omar Khadr, a Canadian who was 17 when sent to Guantanamo in September 2004, who the military said admitted to being a terrorist [CBC News report] and is accused of killing an American soldier with a grenade [CBC News report]. Two problems cloud the issue of detaining minors: the military defines juveniles as those under 16 instead of 18, and military officials cannot always be certain how old a detainee is.

[JURIST] The National People's Assembly [official website] in Algeria on Monday began debating the country's first draft law to try and combat widespread corruption that has thus far hindered foreign investment in the oil-rich nation. According to a 2003 report [PDF text] from Transparency International [advocacy website], Algeria ranked 88 out of 133 countries with regard to the infiltration of corruption into sectors of business and public works. Analysts point to recent prison sentences for public officials as a sign that Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika [profile] is adamant about reform. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Despite reforms giving women the right to vote, drive, and run for many government offices, hundreds of Iranian women staged a protest on Sunday [AKI report] demanding a right still denied them - the right to run for president [JURIST report]. Activists are campaigning for a constitutional amendment which would give them this right. Currently, the president must be chosen from political "rijal", which literally means men but can be interpreted as not being gender-specific [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] A man identified from a graphic video [JURIST Monitor file] shot during the Srebrenica [BBC timeline] massacre of Bosnian Muslims in 1995 was arrested on Monday in Croatia. Slobodan Davidovic had recently admitted to the New York Times [New York Times report] that he was part of a paramilitary group called the Scorpions [JURIST report] that was allegedly responsible for thousands of killings in Srebrenica. If indicted, he will be tried in Croatia since that country's constitution [text] does not permit extradition. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Iraqi Special Tribunal (IST) [official website] said Monday that an Iraqi investigatory judge has questioned former dictator Saddam Hussein regarding the killing of nearly 160 men in the predominantly-Shiite village of Dujail, a case identified last week [JURIST report] as the first on which Hussein might be tried. The village was the site of an assassination attempt on Saddam prior to the killings. The IST Monday also released video footage of a haggared-looking Saddam and other members of his government being questioned by presiding judge Raad Jouhi in a court session believed to have taken place Sunday. Although Iraqi officials would like to start Saddam's trial in the next few months, the IST has not set a timetable [IST press release], not has it specified the exact charges for any such proceeding. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] In a significant denial of certiorari Monday, the US Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge [PDF cert petition] by accused "dirty bomber" Jose Padilla [BBC profile] to his status as an enemy combatant [JURIST report] after Padilla asked the justices to bypass the federal appeals court level in his case [JURIST report]. The US government claims it has new evidence tying Padilla to Taliban fighting as well as evidence linking him to explosives training. Padilla's status appeal will now be heard in the US Fouth Circuit Court of Appeals. Bloomberg has more. Human Rights First provides background materials and filings on the Padilla case.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court on Monday let stand without comment a lower court ruling that overturned new FCC regulations that would have allowed greater media consolidation. Several major media conglomerates, including News Corp. [corporate website], Clear Channel [corporate website], and Viacom [corporate website], originally sought the rules in order to allow a single company to own more media outlets in a market [Bloomberg report]. Consumer advocates challenged the laws [Reuters report], fearing they would hurt diversity in viewpoints. The Third Circuit then ruled [backgrounder; opinion PDF] that the FCC "has not sufficiently justified its particular chosen numerical limits. . . for ownership of media within local markets." AP has more.

[JURIST] In a unanimous decision Monday, the US Supreme Court [official website] declined to impose [JURIST report] stricter procedural limits on decisions by state officials to place certain inmates in "super-maximum security" prisons. Read the Court's opinion [PDF text] in Wilkinson v. Austin [Duke Law backgrounder].

Also Monday, the Supreme Court allowed the removal of cases from state court to federal court when disputes center around a quiet title action and the IRS has not provided adequate notice of seizure of private property. Read the Court's opinion [PDF text] in Grable & Sons v. Darue Engineering [Duke Law backgrounder].

The Court also ruled that if a defendant on trial or his defense attorney shows that the defense attorney explained the elements of the charge to the him, the voluntariness of a guilty plea can be inferred. Read the Court's opinion [PSF text] in Bradshaw v. Stumpf [Duke Law backgrounder].

Finally, the Court granted certiorari Monday in Wachovia Bank v. Schmidt, regarding whether a national bank is to be treated as a citizen of every state in which it conducts business. No other cases were granted cert; Monday's full Order List is here.

[JURIST] A referendum [JURIST report] to liberalize Italy's assisted-fertility laws has failed due to low voter turnout. The two-day referendum [official site, in Italian] needed over 50 percent turnout for its results to count, but only 18.7 percent voted Sunday and early figures reported by the Italian Interior Ministry after the polls closed at 3 PM Rome time Monday suggested a final turnout of only 26% [Interior Ministry figures], far short of what was required for any result to be binding. The Catholic Church had urged people to boycott the referendum in support of current laws [Telegraph report], which ban sperm and egg cell donation and embryo research. AP has more.

[JURIST] In a 6-3 decision Monday the US Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a black inmate on death row who claimed that Texas prosecutors purposely eliminated black jurors to fill the jury with whites. Justice Souter, writing for the majority, rejected the state's claim that the strikes were not intended to discriminate against the jurors. Read the Court's opinion [PDF text] in Miller-El v. Dretke [Duke law backgrounder]. AP has more.

In a related ruling Monday, the Supreme Court rejected a California Supreme Court requirement that a racially discriminatory bias can be found only if it is more likely than not that the striking of a juror can be explained exclusively by racial factors. Read the Court's opinion [PDF text] in Johnson v. California [Duke Law backgrounder].

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court in a unanimous decision has ruled that drug companies can do "pre-clinical studies" under FDA rules on an existing patented drug in the process of developing a generic alternative to market in the future. Read a summary of Merck KGaA v. Integra Lifesciences [Duke Law backgrounder]. AP has more.

11:35 PM ET - The opinion is now available via Cornell LII.

[JURIST] Some 8,000 refugees from Rwanda face deportation Tuesday after neighboring Burundi declared them illegal immigrants over the weekend. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [official site] has urged Burundi to reconsider and warned it might be violating international law if the refugees are involuntarily returned [Reuters report]. Burundi has been fighting since late April to return the refugees [JURIST report]. Mostly Hutus, they fled to Burundi in fear of retribution [AFP report] from the Tutsis, who suffered almost 800,000 deaths in the Rwandan genocide 1994. BBC News has more.

12:17 PM ET - More than 3,700 asylum seekers have left a transit center [UNHCR press release] in Burundi against UNHCR wishes and it is unsure whether they left voluntarily. UNHCR has more.

[JURIST] EU lawmakers now appear set to extend the ratification period for the European Constitution [JURIST news archive] after rejection of the charter by voters in France [JURIST report] and the Netherlands [JURIST report] threw its status into doubt. On Sunday Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose country formally approved the constitution [JURIST report] in May, recommended an extension [CRI report] to European Union foreign policy head Javier Solana and other EU representatives. The EU now sees a budget deal [AP report] as a more pressing issue. An extension on ratification at this week's EU summit in Luxembourg could bump the deadline for agreement to the end of 2008. France is unlikely to hold another vote on the matter until after its presidential elections in 2007 [Financial Times report].

[JURIST] Citing ongoing disagreements over process, the head of the International Crisis Group [advocacy site] conflict-monitoring organization called the initial August 15 deadline for the drafting of the permanent Iraqi constitution "unrealistic" in a Monday editorial in the Financial Times and suggested that the deadline be put off for the single six month period permitted in the country's interim constitution, the Transitional Administrative Law [text]. Last week the group released a report [PDF file; accompanying press release] on the process urging that it not be rushed. Sunnis are currently sticking [NYT report] to their demand of 25 seats [JURIST report] on the parliamentary drafting committee; so far the Shiite-dominated government has offered only 15 full seats and 10 non-voting advisory positions.

[JURIST] Microsoft [corporate website] has agreed to block Chinese users of its new MSN Spaces [corporate website] blogging portal from using certain words and phrases including "democracy", "freedom", "human rights", and "Taiwan independence". A blogger entering those terms gets a message along the lines of "This item should not contain forbidden speech such as profanity. Please enter a different word for this item." The Chinese government strongly encourages Chinese websites not to publish anything politically-charged, and will begin shutting down websites that are not registered [advocacy site]. Microsoft joins Yahoo and Google in cooperating with the Chinese government's censorship requirements in order to gain access to the market. AFP has more.

[JURIST] A member of Saddam Hussein's defense team said Sunday that any trial of the former Iraqi dictator should take place not in Iraq, but in Europe. Giovanni di Stefano [profile] told a Swedish television interviewer that he would prefer to see Saddam tried in Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, or the Hague, Netherlands where a "fair trial" is more likely. Iraqi officials said last week that Saddam could appear before a special tribunal with two months [JURIST report] but backed off that statement later. Di Stefano went on to say that Saddam had sovereign immunity from prosecution under the Iraqi Constitution, claiming that it was accepted and ratified by the UN in 1969 and has not been altered since. He added that guarantees had been given by the US, Britain, and Italy that the former dictator would not receive the death penalty though current Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari [Wikipedia profile] has indicated that capital punishment is a possibility. AP has more.

[JURIST] US senators Chuck Hagel [official website] and Dianne Feinstein [official website] have responded to a newly released log of a Guantanamo interrogation [excepts] with anger and bewilderment. Hagel, a Vietnam Veteran, said the practices reflected in the record telling of prisoner Mohammed al-Khatani being stripped naked and forced to bark like a dog and do other things was "not only wrong, but dangerous, and very dumb, and very short-sighted." Senator Dianne Feinstein referred to the method of interrogation as a "terrible mistake." Pentagon officials countered that al-Khatani revealed valuable intelligence information to help fight the war on terror. The log first emerged as part of a TIME magazine article released Sunday [JURIST report] detailing the tactics used to interrogate al-Khatani, whom the Pentagon believes trained to be one of the hijackers of September 11. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez [BBC profile] said Sunday that he will sue the US in an international court if the US does not comply with a request to extradite Cuban exile and naturalized Venezuelan Luis Posada Carriles [BBC profile]. Posada, accused of blowing up a Cuban airliner in 1976, was arrested in May 2005 [JURIST report] in Miami on charges that he entered the US illegally. The controversy over Posada's extradition has strained interactions between Venezuela and its biggest oil customer - the US - and Chavez has said that his relationship with Washington will undergo a "full and severe revision" if Posada is not extradited. Chavez's strong demand comes after Venezuela released additional information last Friday [JURIST report] supporting its extradition request. Reuters has more.