[JURIST] A federal jury Wednesday convicted five East St. Louis (Illinois) Democratic Party officials on charges [Belleville News-Democrat report] of felony conspiracy to commit vote fraud, and election fraud in the November 2004 election. Charles Powell Jr., the local Democratic Party chairman, and four party employees were found guilty of misappropriating $76,150 to buy votes for cash, cigarettes and liquor. St. Louis Today has local coverage.

[JURIST] The US Justice Department Wednesday called a city invocation of the Patriot Act [text] as a defense in a suit by a homeless man an "overreaching application of the law." Summit, New Jersey [official website] cited the act in response to a lawsuit by Richard Kreimer [AP profile], alleging that the it violated his and other homeless persons' constitutional rights when local police officers forcefully removed them from the train station. The city argued that the Act allowed it to take actions to protect against potential "attacks and other violence against [the] mass transportation system". In 1991, Kreimer won a lawsuit against the town of Morristown when a federal judge held that the policy of evicting persons from public libraries based on personal hygiene violated the freedom of speech, due process and equal protection rights of homeless persons. The ruling was reversed on appeal [opinion text]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Wednesday's states brief, the California Supreme Court has let stand a new law granting registered domestic partners [PDF text] many of the same rights and protections of heterosexual marriages. Without comment, the Supreme Court upheld the decision of a California court of appeals which ruled that the law did not conflict with voter initiative Proposition 22 [text] that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman because the Proposition was clearly limited to "marriage." The constitutionality of Proposition 22 is still at issue as a ruling by a superior court judge which declared the Proposition unconstitutional is being appealed. AP has more.

In other state legal news ...

• Connecticut lawmakers voted Wednesday to authorize state attorney general Richard Blumenthal to sue the federal government [PDF bill text] over the No Child Left Behind Education Act [bill summary]. It is unclear whether Governor M. Jodi Rell [official website] will sign the legislation into law, but her spokesman said she will give it consideration. The state Board of Education has not yet backed the Attorney General's plans to file suit. Connecticut is currently seeking a waiver that would exempt the state from expanding standardized testing to grades three, five and seven next year. AP has more.
  
  
• The Rhode Island Legislature has passed a bill [Rhode Island General Assembly's press release] allowing for the use of medical marijuana in the state. The Medical Marijuana Act [text] allows those with a "debilitating medical condition" to receive a statement from their doctor saying they would benefit from marijuana and to receive a state registration card permitting them to possess or grow a certain amount of marijuana. Governor Donald L. Carcieri [official website] is expected to veto the measure, but supporters of the bill are confident they have the three-fifths majority necessary to override the veto. The passage of the legislation comes in the wake of a recent US Supreme Court decision [JURIST report] allowing federal authorities to prosecute those who use medicinal marijuana under state laws. The New York Times has more.
  
  
• A Wisconsin appeals court has upheld [PDF text] an almost $400,000 jury award to a Wisconsin Indian tribe against its accounting firm, after determining the jury properly found that the firm was negligent in performing its contract with the Sokaogan Chippewa Community [tribe website]. The accounting firm was hired to audit the Sokaogon Gaming Enterprise Corp., which was established to run the tribe's gaming operations. The appeals court also upheld the decision of the trial judge to strike the jury's award of $1.4 million for lost profits while the casino was shut down for investigation of illegal activity, based on public policy. In 1998, a former tribal planner pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the gaming establishment. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Wednesday's corporations and securities law news, on the day before SEC Chairman William Donaldson [Wikipedia profile] steps down, the Commission has voted 3-2 to keep a rule forcing mutual funds to be overseen by an independent chairman. The vote was a result of a federal appeals court ruling last week [JURIST report] that the SEC had not adequately considered the financial burden the rule placed on mutual funds. The ruling did not require the SEC to scrap the rule, only to reconsider it. As a part of the vote, the SEC added language to the rule concerning compliance costs. The US Chamber of Commerce [official website] vowed today in a press release to file suit again to prevent the SEC from enforcing the rule. Reuters has more.

In other corporations and securities news...

• The SEC also decided Wednesday to drop the unpopular "quiet period" rule today. The rule prevented companies from publicly discussing their stock in the time leading up to an IPO. Last year, Google's IPO was nearly delayed [JURIST report] after the company's founders gave an interview in the quiet period. Audio of today's SEC meeting is available in RealPlayer and WindowsMedia formats. Reuters has more.
  
  
• Nortel today apologized to its shareholders for its recent legal and financial troubles. Nortel has been rocked by accounting scandals and has recently filed suit against former executives who manipulated financial reports in order to trigger personal bonuses. The CBC has background on Nortel's recent struggles. Nortel will have a webcast of the shareholder conference available until July 12. Reuters has more.
  
  
• The National Association of Attorneys General [official website] has sent a letter to CardSystems Solutions demanding the company notify all consumers who may have been affected by the company's recent security breach. The letter, which was signed by 48 AGs, also demands that the company notify the states how the breach occurred and how breaches will be prevented in the future. The Washington state AG-who authored the letter-has issued a press release explaining the letter and containing a link to the text of the letter. CardSystems' press release about the breach is available. The Seattle-Post Intelligencer has more.

[JURIST] As anticipated [JURIST report], President Bush Wednesday announced the creation of a new intelligence service within the FBI, endorsing 70 of 74 recommendations presented by the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the US Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction [official website]. Bush also adopted changes that will consolidate US Justice Department counterterrorism, espionage, and intelligence units and will also ask Congress to create a new assistant attorney general position. The White House provides a full list of the changes. Sen. Charles Robb, D-Va, co-chairman of the committee, said it was "truly extraordinary" for Bush to adopt so many of their suggestions. AP has more. The President also signed an executive order [text] authorizing the freeze of US financial assets for individuals or companies suspected of trafficking WMDs. A government official said eight organizations - four in Iran, three in North Korea, and one in Syria - are being targeted. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Russian parliament on Wednesday gave second reading approval to amendments to the country's election law that could further strengthen President Vladimir Putin's government. The proposals would ban the formation of blocs by political parties and block the use of "against all" protest votes on ballots. The changes come after Putin previously abolished gubernatorial elections allowing the Kremlin to appoint regional leaders. New election rules in the State Duma [official website in Russian] functionally prohibit small parties and independent candidates from having access to the chamber. The pro-Putin United Russia party [official website in Russian; Wikipedia backgrounder] already controls enough of the Duma to pass legislation regardless of opposition. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A group of Iraqi women attending an international meeting of women's rights activists in Amman, Jordan, called Wednesday for a 40 percent representation quota in the Iraqi National Assembly. The two-day event, hosted by Women for Women International [advocacy website] was attended by 12 current members of the National Assembly. Currently, Iraqi law requires that women make up 25 percent of the Assembly. Zainab Salbi [profile], president of Women for Women, said protection for women's rights needs to be "clearly stated" in the new Iraqi constitution. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] According to a report in Malaysia's News Straits Times [newspaper website], government and opposition politicians in Malaysia are pushing for the release of dozens of terror suspects, many suspected of ties to al-Qaeda, held without trial for the past two years. The report says that over 100 detainees are being held at a prison camp in northern Malaysia under the authority of the Internal Security Act [Human Rights Watch backgrounder], a law which allows a two-year detention without trial that can be renewed indefinitely. The recent demand to free the prisoners comes after a group of lawmakers toured a facility earlier this month and heard concerns from the detainees themselves. Aljazeera has more.

[JURIST] Canadian Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh [official website] announced plans on Wednesday for Canada to ban the bulk export of prescription medicines [Health Canada press release] under certain circumstances and conditions. Legislation to change the Canadian Food and Drugs Act [text] to allow the government to ban the export of drugs as necessary will be introduced in the fall. Dosanjh said the proposed changes come in response to the possibility of the US allowing such imports and concerns about consequential shortfalls in Canadian supplies. "Canada cannot be the drugstore for the United States of America," Dosanjh said. CBC News has more.

[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [official website] announced [press release] Wednesday that it has ordered the release of former Bosnian Serb police chief Stevan Todorovic [PDF indictment] after only two-thirds of his ten year sentence had been served. Todorovic had been serving his sentence in Spain since 2001, when he struck a deal with prosecutors by pleading guilty to one charge of "ethnic cleansing" and agreeing to cooperate with the tribunal in other cases. Tribunal president Judge Theodor Meron commuted the rest of Todorovic's sentence last week. AP has more.

[JURIST] Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo [BBC profile] of the International Criminal Court [official website] told the UN Security Council in a statement [PDF] Wednesday that the ICC's preliminary investigation into the situation in Darfur [JURIST report] begun June 1, had already revealed "a significant amount of credible information disclosing the commission of grave crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court having taken place in Darfur...". He said:

These crimes include the killing of thousands of civilians, the widespread destruction and looting of villages, leading to the displacement of approximately 1.9 million civilians. The conditions of life resulting from these crimes have led to the deaths of tens of thousands from disease and starvation, particularly affecting vulnerable groups such as children, the sick and the elderly. Information also highlights a pervasive pattern of rape and sexual violence.

[JURIST] Egypt's Higher Constitutional Court on Wednesday ruled that a new law that would have allowed more than one person to run for president is unconstitutional. The proposed change, seen as an important political reform, was ordered by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak [JURIST report] in February 2005, passed by the Egyptian parliament [JURIST report], and finally approved by popular referendum [JURIST report] in late May. A number of opposition groups had opposed the law [JURIST report], saying that associated regulations imposed too many strictures on candidates who did not have the support of members of Mubarak's National Democratic Party. The court's official ruling in the case is expected later this week. UPI has more.

[JURIST] An Algerian court Wednesday sentenced Mohamed Meguerba [BBC profile] to 10 years in prison for masterminding an al-Qaeda plot to execute a bio-terror attack on London using ricin [BBC backgrounder] and other agents. Meguerba, an Algerian native, skipped bail in Britain in 2002 and was rearrested in Algeria later that year. Information he gave Algerian interrogators was crucial to the capture and conviction in Britain of another Algerian, Kamel Bourgass, accused of being the leader of the group [London Metropolitan Police Service press release] and found guilty in April this year [JURIST report] of plotting to "use poisons or explosives to cause disruption, injury or fear" and jailed for 17 years. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Iranian daily newspaper Etemaad is reporting that the Iranian Supreme Court [official website] has rejected the appeal of a man, known only as Vahid, sentenced to have his eyes surgically gouged out for throwing battery acid in the face of another man during a fight 12 years ago. The court judged the crime on "Qesas" [Islamic law backgrounder], a Koranic term for strictly defined penalties where the judge has no discretion. Originally, the sentence called for acid to be sprayed into Vahid's eyes, but his lawyers argued the rest of his face could be damaged. Vahid could escape punishment by paying $330,000 in blood money, which he does not have. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have denounced the sentence [press release] as "judicial torture," but say that these punishments are rarely carried out and are used as leverage in collecting financial compensation for the victim. IRIN has more.

[JURIST] A proposed amendment to the Russian Constitution [text in English] that would have allowed President Vladimir Putin [official website] to serve a third term [JURIST report] fell far short of approval by the State Duma on Wednesday. Only 32 members of Russia's lower house voted for it, with 99 voting against. The measure needed 226 votes to pass. Putin's term expires in 2008; he took no public position on the amendment, introduced by a member of the United Russia party. MosNews has more.

[JURIST] Two US citizens pleaded not guilty to terror-related charges against them in federal court on Tuesday. Tarik Shah, 42, of New York, and Rafik Abdus Sabir, 50, of Boca Raton, Florida, each face a single count of conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaida [PDF complaint]. Prosecutors say [JURIST report] Shah agreed to teach hand-to-hand combat and that Sabir, a doctor, agreed to treat jihadists in Saudi Arabia. The two are being held without bail [JURIST report]. Shah's lawyer said the charge was "ridiculous" and Sabir's lawyer said his client was a victim of entrapment. AP has more.

[JURIST] Former Deputy President of South Africa Jacob Zuma [ANC profile] was released on $150 bail Wednesday after prosecution lawyers asked for more time to prepare a corruption case against him and trial was postponed until October 2005. Bail was granted on condition that witnesses "not...be interfered with directly or indirectly". South Africa President Thabo Mbeki [BBC profile] fired Zuma [JURIST report] earlier this month, shortly after one of Zuma's advisors, South African businessman Schabir Shaik [Wikipedia profile] was found guilty [JURIST report] of corruption and fraud. Zuma, once believed to be a strong presidential candidate, was found to have had a "generally corrupt" relationship with Shaik according to the judge who convicted the businessman. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] A Serbian court Wednesday sentenced 10 former members of the Slobodan Milosevic [JURIST news archive] regime to jail for their roles in 1999 assassination attempt on then-Yugoslav opposition leader Vuk Draskovic [Wikipedia profile]. Draskovic is now the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Serbia-Montenegro. Six individuals were sentenced to 15 years for orchestrating a highway crash intended to kill Draskovic, including special police commander Milorad Ulemek. Radomir Markovic, then the chief of state security, was sentenced to 10 years for covering up the plot; three others were sentenced to 1 to 3 years, and two were acquitted. Markovic was originally convicted in 2003 but the verdict was overturned on appeal. Ulemek is also suspected of being involved in three other assassination plots, including the 2003 murder of Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic [Wikipedia profile]. Draskovic said the sentences were too lenient. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Irish Public Prosecution Service [official website] has dropped charges against Anthony Joseph Donegan, suspected of providing the car used in the Omagh car bombing in 1998. A spokesman for the PPS said Wednesday that the "test for prosecution was not met." Twenty-nine people were killed and 220 were injured when a car bomb [BBC backgrounder] set by the Real IRA [DOS backgrounder], a splinter group of the former provisional Irish Republican Army opposed to the peace process, exploded in the Northern Ireland town of Omagh. Sean Gerard Hoey remains the only person in custody [JURIST report] for the attack. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] A Kuwait court Wednesday cleared Nasser al-Mutairi of committing an act of aggression against a foreign nation. Mutairi, the first Kuwait to be freed from Guantanamo Bay [JURIST report] in January, had been charged with endangering Kuwait's foreign relations by taking up arms against a foreign nation. He had been captured by the US in the wake of operations in Afghanistan in 2001. Mutairi maintained his innocence claiming he was relief worker rather than a trained terrorist; his lawyer argued at the outset of his case that a Kuwaiti court had no jurisdiction to try him [JURIST report]. AFP has more. For more information on Kuwaiti prisoners at Guantanamo, visit Project Kuwaiti Freedom [advocacy website], sponsored by the Kuwaiti Family Committee.

[JURIST] Al-Quds al-Arabi [newspaper website], a London-based Arabic-language newspaper, reported Wednesday that Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] turned down an offer from US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to take the death penalty off the table in his upcoming trial if Hussein would call for insurgents to lay down their arms. The report also says Saddam has refused to meet with any US officials as a prisoner but only as "the President of Iraq." UPI has more.

[JURIST] The US-led Combined Review and Release Board [military press release] created in August 2004 to expedite the screening process for detainees taken into custody in Iraq by US and Iraqi forces has so far approved the outright release of more than 2,700 detainees, released another 5,300 to guarantors, and denied the release of 6,500, a spokesman for detention operations said Tuesday. The board meets 3-4 times a week and is comprised of 15 members, including six Iraqi government officials, two representatives each from the Iraqi justice, interior and human rights ministries and three Multinational Forces officers. A second panel of the same size was created last month "to cut the time detainees wait for board review in half." The Iraqi government and the military examines each case within the first 90 days of detention while the review board examines the files within 180 days. Iraq's Central Criminal Court [Wikipedia profile] also screens detainees for possible prosecutions, and has so far flagged more than 1,700 detainees and conducted 286 trials leading to more than 338 convictions. AP has more.

[JURIST] The intergovernmental Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe [official website] has urged US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to drop subpoenas against two journalists demanding that they name their sources to a grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA operative's name. The US Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear the reporters' case [JURIST report]. While there is no federal shield law to protect journalists, many states have them. In a letter to Gonzales quoted in an OSCE press statement Wednesday, OSCE media freedom representative Miklos Haraszti noted that "A journalist's right to freely access information and deal with sources in confidence is paramount for free reporting and discussion of public issues." Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The son of late Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau [Wikipedia profile], the architect of Canada's civil rights charter, denounced the Canadian government's controversial use of security certificates [official backgrounder] to indefinitely detain uncharged terror suspects in a court hearing Tuesday. Alexandre "Sasha" Trudeau [Wikipedia profile] took the witness stand in Federal Court on behalf of Hassan Almrei [CBC profile], a Syrian national with alleged links to al-Qaeda. Trudeau had offered to be one of several people who would voluntarily accompany Almrei if he were granted bail and left his home at any point, and told a prosecutor that "It's in the interest of Canada to not be detaining people who haven't been charged." Canada's security certificate policy has also been criticized by the UN and Amnesty International [AI call for reform] as a violation of fundamental human rights. Almrei, who has been held in solitary confinement for four years in Toronto, argues that he must not sent back to Syria because he will face torture. Canadian Press has more.

[JURIST] Saddam Hussein's family has approached a leading London media lawyer about suing the Sun [newspaper website] for publishing secretly-taken pictures [JURIST report; BBC photo] of the former Iraqi leader in his underwear. Hussein's Iraqi lawyers also threatened to sue the paper for $1M after the photos were released. Some believe the deposed Iraqi president has a good chance of winning a misuse of private information claim, a new form of action which has developed under Britain's Human Rights Act [text], because there is little public interest in showing him partially dressed. Others argue "the Sun's public interest defense was that they were showing that he was fit and healthy and wasn't being treated the way a mass murderer should." Even if Saddam were to prevail in such a case, damages awarded would likely be very small. The Guardian has more.

[JURIST] Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern [Wikipedia profile] said Tuesday he would begin discussions with Attorney General Rory Brady [official profile] about bringing London before the European Court of Human Rights [official website] for failing to release files about car bombings occurring in 1974 [BBC report]. The bombings by Protestant loyalists resulted in the largest loss of life in Ireland's recent history, killing 34 people in Dublin and Monaghan. Ireland sought the documents after an Irish judicial inquiry two years ago suggested there had been collusion between British security forces and the loyalist bomb teams, though UK Prime Minister Tony Blair claims Britain has found no similar evidence. A group of victims' relatives, Justice for the Forgotten [advocacy website], has already filed a complaint with the Strasbourg-based court alleging the Ulster Volunteer Force [BBC backgrounder] was assisted by British Army intelligence in planting the bombs. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The government of British Prime Minister Tony Blair [official website] won a key vote in Parliament late Tuesday on the proposed national ID card plan [official background; PDF text of the bill], but its 66-seat majority was cut in half with Conservatives and some Labor Party members voting against the measure. The proposed cards would use biometric technology in fingerprint, face, and iris recognition and would be the first ID cards in Britain since just after World War II. Opponents in the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties point to the government's projected $10.5 billion cost over the next decade and the risks posed to civil liberties as reasons for rejecting the plan. Liberty UK and other British rights groups also oppose the plan [Liberty UK background materials]. Blair maintains that the cards would combat fraud and slow illegal immigration [press release]. The bill will be debated further in the House of Commons then go to the House of Lords before it can be sent to the Queen and signed into law. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] US-born Israeli soldier Avi Bieber was sentenced to 56 days in jail Tuesday for refusing to participate in the evacuation of settlers from Gaza [JURIST news archive]. Military officials said the stiff sentence is meant to send a message to other soldiers who claim they will refuse similar assignments and an Israeli Defense Force [official website] statement said "soldiers can under no circumstances choose their own missions." New Jersey native Bieber claimed he was motivated to refuse the mission by his belief that God had given the land to the Jews. Bieber is expected to appeal the conviction. AP has more.

[JURIST] A new report by a UN Commission of Experts [JURIST report] says Indonesia's efforts to examine atrocities committed in East Timor [BBC backgrounder] in 1999 was "manifestly inadequate" and show "scant respect for or conformity to relevant international standards," after Jakarta failed to jail any senior officials [BBC report], and all but 1 of the 18 tried were acquitted. In 1999, 1,400 supporters of East Timorese independence from Jakarta were killed by pro-Indonesian militia allegedly directed by the Indonesian army while some 250,000 people were forcibly deported and much of the country's infrastructure was destroyed. The three member panel has recommended that the UN Secretary General require Jakarta to account for the prosecutions within 6 months or allow an international tribunal to handle the matter. Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda [profile] has denied any need for a UN tribunal and said last month that the country's human rights tribunal was "imperfect" but emphasized they were "trying to move forward." AFP has more.

[JURIST] Mexican lawmakers Tuesday approved a law permitting Mexicans living abroad to vote by mail in next July's presidential election. The lower house of Congress passed the measure 455 to 6, with 6 abstentions. The measure has already been passed by the Mexican Senate [official website] and will be presented to President Vincente Fox [official profile] for signing, which he has promised. Approximately 11 million Mexicans, or 14% of the country's population, live abroad with most of that number residing in the United States, but up to now they have been effectively unable to participate in the Mexican political process. Despite the law's popularity, some have expressed fears that the country's notoriously corrupt and slow postal service will be charged with mailing out the ballots. AP has more. So-called "postal voting" has run into problems in other Western democracies, most recently including the United Kingdom [JURIST report], where the mails are considered relatively secure.