[JURIST] A new report by the American Progress Fund [advocacy website] has savaged US television news networks for covering trivial legal stories such as the "runaway bride" [CNN.com report; interview on coverage with CNN president Jonathan Klein; Columbia Journalism Review blog post] and the Michael Jackson trial [CNN.com special report] at the expense of important matters such as the genocide allegedly taking place in the Darfur region of Sudan [CNN.com International special report], where a two-year conflict has killed 180,000 people and displaced some 2 million refugees. According to the study [overview and methodology], which looked at recent output from ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, the major news networks devoted 126 news segments to the Sudan situation in June 2005, but in the same month devoted 485 segments (four times as many) to the Georgia "runaway bride" case and an overwhelming 6248 segments (50 times as many) to the Michael Jackson trial. The study also noted that in the same month another popular news story about the engagement of actor actor Tom Cruise to actress Katie Holme got 12 times more coverage than the Darfur crisis. BeAWitness.org, a partnership between the American Progress Action Fund and the Genocide Intervention Fund [advocacy website], is urging Americans to press major television networks to "be a witness" to genocide so that people and governments will be informed and inclined to act to stop it. Media critics have suggested that stories like the "runaway bride" in particular testify not to correct standards of civically-responsible journalism, but rather to the mass media need to get high ratings and "pay the bills" [Atlanta Journal Constitution report]. Civilrights.org has more.

For the record, here is the balance of legal news stories reported by JURIST's Paper Chase over the same month as the APF survey:

Runaway bride - 0
Michael Jackson trial - 1
Sudan/Darfur crisis - 29 [for highlights, see JURIST's Darfur news archive]

[JURIST] UK Home Office minister Hazel Blears [official website] announced in a letter to opposition leaders released late Friday that the British government plans to create new criminal offenses covering incitement and the teaching or receiving of terrorist training in an effort to prosecute criminals before they commit terrorist acts. Under the proposed laws, it will also be illegal to provide or receive training in the use of substances deemed hazardous under international conventions, whether it occurs within the UK or abroad. Earlier this week Prime Minister Tony Blair supported the notion of identifying and deporting radical imams [JURIST report] who preached hatred and praised terrorists, and Blears confirmed that wide-ranging incitement laws would reach to clerics who glorified acts of terrorism in a way that incited further violence. From London, The Times has local coverage.

[JURIST] Leading Friday's states brief, the Wisconsin Supreme Court today extended [decision text] the "risk contribution theory" to lead paint manufacturers and allowed the suit of a 15-year old boy who can't prove which manufacturer produced the paint that may have injured him to continue. Risk contribution theory allows those who can not trace their injuries to a specific company to still collect damages if they can prove a product was dangerous, it created their injuries, the defendant marketed or produced it, and negligently produced or marketed it. Sherwin-Williams Co. [corporate website], E.I. DuPont De Nemours and Co. [corporate website], and American Cyanamid Co. are among the Defendants. AP has more.

In other state legal news ...

• The Washington Supreme Court has struck down [text] an attempt to force a voter referendum on a bill passed by the legislature which reduced the number of votes needed for any legislative action that raises state revenue or requires revenue-neutral tax shifts. The court ruled the bill [text] was not subject to a referendum because it contained a valid emergency clause, and Justice Charles Johnson wrote for the majority, "The Washington Constitution and our jurisprudence dictate that the Legislature may suspend the right of the people to order a referendum on a bill where the bill is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or in support of the state government and its existing institutions." By allowing legislative action that raises state revenue or requires revenue-neutral tax shifts to pass by a majority vote in each house, the bill amends I-601, passed by voters in 1993, which requires that such measures be approved by a two-thirds majority of each house. The bill is effective for legislation enacted through June 30, 2007. AP has more.
  
  
• The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled [text] that evidence can not be used against murder suspect Matthew Knapp because he was intentionally not advised of his Miranda rights. In 2003, the court threw out the same evidence [decision text] by finding an intentional violation of the suspect's rights against unlawful search and seizure, but in a related case the US Supreme Court ruled the evidence was admissible even without a Miranda warning because the suspect voluntarily gave police a statement. For the majority Justice Louis Butler wrote, "When law enforcement is encouraged to intentionally take unwarranted investigatory shortcuts to obtain convictions, the judicial process is systematically corrupted." Dissenter Jon Wilcox said the state constitution [PDF text] and US constitution are similar enough on rights against self-incrimination to prevent the state Supreme Court from departing from US Supreme Court interpretations. Wisconsin's Watertown Daily Times has more.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit [official website] Friday upheld [PDF opinion] US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly's ruling [JURIST report] that regulations imposed by the Federal Election Commission [official website] undercut the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law [PDF text]. In September 2004 the FEC was forced to draft 15 new rules, including stronger regulations of advertisement fundraising by outside groups. The FEC had appealed the order for five of the rules but the court affirmed in all respects. Bloomberg has more.

[JURIST] A strong majority in Jordan’s House of Deputies [backgrounder], the country's lower house of parliament [official website], voted Thursday to reject an extradition agreement between Jordan and the US. The vote followed several lawmakers' speeches blasting the United States for the occupation of Iraq by US forces and American support for Israeli policy in Palestinian territories. Opposition lawmakers also saw the accord as “harmful to Jordan’s sovereignty” because of US failure to ratify [JURIST report] the Rome treaty establishing International Criminal Court [official website]. Arab News has more.

[JURIST] Former Qwest Communications [official website] CFO Robin Szeliga pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of insider trading. Szeliga, initially charged last month [JURIST report; DOJ press release], will likely face a term of 15 to 21 months in prison after admitting to improperly selling 10,000 shares of Qwest stock for a profit of $125,000. Because she may have been in a position to know the extent and timing of other executives knowledge of the scandal, including former CEO Joe Nacchio [JURIST report], she is expected to help government prosecutors in their continuing investigation. Qwest agreed to pay $250 million [JURIST report] last year to settle SEC fraud charges in a deal that did not include individuals. AP has more.

[JURIST] Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney [official website] has told the joint House and Senate Judiciary Committee that his proposal to reinstate the death penalty [JURIST report; press release] would ensure that no innocent people were executed by including multiple levels of review and a unique "no doubt" standard of guilt. The proposal would utilize scientific evidence such as DNA and a review by the Supreme Judicial Court [official website]. Testifying [DOC] Thursday, Romney called the proposal "as foolproof a death penalty as exists." Massachusetts is one of only 12 states without capital punishment and has not executed an inmate since 1947. AP has more.

[JURIST] Bankrupt energy company Enron Corporation [JURIST news archive] has agreed to pay over $1.5 billion to settle claims that it gouged California, Oregon and Washington and companies such as Pacific Gas & Electric Co., Southern California Edison Co., and San Diego Gas & Electric, during the 2000-2001 energy crisis. Parties settling with Enron will divide a bankruptcy claim of $875 million based on Enron's Chapter 11 reorganization plan. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Friday's international brief, Zimbabwe Local Government and National Housing Minister Ignatius Chombo admitted to reporters today that reconstruction plans announced by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe [Wikipedia profile] would be incapable of meeting the housing needs of individuals made homeless by "Operation Murambatsvina" (the African term sometimes translated "Operation Restore Order" or "Operation Drive Out Rubbish") [Wikipedia backgrounder] in time for the August 31 resettlement deadline that the Zimbabwe government [official website] had set. Chombo announced that while construction was occurring, it was not on pace to meet the housing demand, so the government was granting individuals license to build their own housing, though these plots would have no access to water or sewer facilities. Chombo also said that the goverment was granting individuals the right to occupy land and build makeshift dwellings, the same kind of dwellings demolished by police under Operation Murambatsvina. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Zimbabwe [JURIST news archive]. ZimOnline has local coverage.

In related news, South African President Thabo Mbeki [official profile] has pledged his support to relief efforts organized by the South African Council of Churches [official website], in what was his first public critique of Operation Murambatsvina [Wikipedia backgrounder]. SACC President Russel Botman said that Mbeki, who declined to make a public statement following his meeting with the SACC, has pledged government support for the SACC relief efforts focused on individuals made homeless by Mugabe, even though the SACC was merely seeking to inform the government of their intent, and had not asked for funding. Botman said that he and Mbeki had another meeting scheduled for the end of next week, when the report by UN Special Envoy Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka [official profile] is due to be made public. South Africa's Mail & Guardian has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• During peace talks between Aceh rebels and the Indonesian government [official website], the spokesperson for the Free Aceh Movement [Wikipedia profile], Bakhtiar Abdullah, has called for the creation of an international war crimes tribunal to investigate crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed by Indonesian military personnel in the northern Indonesia province. The demand comes only days after the UN and numerous international rights groups called on Indonesia to allow the creation of an international war crimes tribunal [JURIST report] for East Timor. Indonesia has repeatedly refused [JURIST report] to permit an international tribunal the right to prosecute its military personnel, claiming that its own human rights courts are sufficiently pursuing any valid human rights abuses. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Indonesia [JURIST news archive]. The Jakarta Post has local coverage.
  
  
• Kenyan Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Kiraitu Murungi [government profile] has accused politicians of limiting the effectiveness of government prosecutors in Kenya [government website] due to consistent interference with cases. Murungi, who made the statements in a speech read aloud at a workshop on private prosecutions hosted by the Kenya Law Reform Commission, said that public prosecutors had a poor record because Kenyan politicians continually interfered in cases where they had personal or professional interests at stake. Murungi announced that all prosecutions have been brought under the supervision of the Office of the Attorney General [government website], and that police prosecutors were being phased out. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Kenya [JURIST news archive]. Kenya's Standard has local coverage.

[JURIST] A memo dated Thurday obtained by Associated Press and prepared by the general counsel's office of the independent commission reviewing the base closings could disrupt US Department of Defense [official website] efforts to consolidate or dissolve up to 30 Air National Guard [official website] flying units in various states. The memo says the use of the base closure law [text, PDF] to make such changes to Air Guard units may fall outside the powers of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) [official website] and that some proposals may simply violate the base closure law. The memo is seen as good news for states that are trying to retain their guard units. AP has more.

[JURIST] Australian Prime Minister John Howard [official website] told a news conference [transcript] Friday in the wake of the London bombings that Australia should reconsider introducing a national identity card, an idea the country debated but shelved back in 1987. Howard, who opposed the 1987 plan for an Australia Card [academic paper], said circumstances had changed and the proposal should be back on the table. Last month British lawmakers narrowly backed a national ID card plan [JURIST report] in a first step towards the use of biometric technology in fingerprint, face, and iris recognition, a plan not seen in Britain since just after World War II. Though there has never been a major peacetime terror attack on the Australian homeland, its Jakarta embassy was bombed in 2004 [BBC report], 88 Australians were killed in the 2002 Bali bombings [Wikipedia backgrounder], and one Australian Friday died of wounds [SBS report] suffered in the London bombings last week. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Spokesmen for several of Iraq's religious minorites, including Chaldo/Assyrian Catholics [Wikipedia backgrounder], Iraqi Turkmen Muslims [UNOP backgrounder], and Mandaeans [WIkipedia backgrounder] have expressed concern that new Iraqi constitution due out in a month may leave out any meaningful provisions guaranteeing religious freedom. Panel members at a National Press Club [press association website] discussion Thursday called on the United States to ensure that the constitution benefits and protects their interests as well as those of the larger Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurdish communities. Orhan Keten, US representative of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, said he and others expect the US to make good on its promise to "bring equality, justice, democracy and pluralism to Iraq." The Washington Times has more.

[JURIST] Negotiations over a global anti-terrorism treaty get under way again the week of July 25, according to Mohamed Bennouna, chairman of the UN General Assemby's treaty-writing (Sixth) legal committee. Earlier this month G8 leaders called for early agreement [JURIST report] on a draft of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism [PDF proposed text], which has been stalled in the legal committee for nine years over the definition of "terrorism," in reaction to the recent terror attacks in London. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has also pressed for an agreement, urging "I think a simple, clear definition that gets across the message that killing of innocent civilians or noncombatants, regardless of one's cause, is terrorism pure and simple, will suffice." It is unclear whether the definition would apply to the US invasion of Iraq. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that a US federal appeals court has ruled that Guantanamo detainees may be tried by military commissions. Read the US DC Circuit Court of Appeals opinion [PDF] in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. JURIST's Paper Chase provides background coverage of the Hamdan case. AP has more.

12:35 PM ET - The ruling overturned a lower court decision [JURIST report] which had held that military commissions were not competent to determine whether Hamdan, allegedly a former driver for Osama bin Laden, was a prisoner of war. The appeals court Friday ruled that as Hamdan was a member of al Qaida, the 1949 Geneva Convention did not apply to him and he could not assert the unlawfulness of the military commissions on that basis. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Pakistan government Friday asked the Supreme Court of Pakistan [official website] to rule on a controversial Islamic law [JURIST report] passed Thursday by the conservative Islamist legislature of the country's North West Frontier Province [Wikipedia backgrounder]. President General Pervez Musharraf [Wikipedia profile] is seeking the Court’s ruling on the constitutionality of the new law which bears a resemblance to Afghan regulatons under the former Taliban regime that allow the government to monitor individuals' compliance with Islamic principles. The Court is planning to consider the changes, which create a department for “the promotion of virtue and prevention of evil” to be headed by an Islamic cleric, on July 26. DPA has more.

[JURIST] At a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing [witness list, statements; JURIST report] Thursday, three top military lawyers said they had lodged complaints about the definition of torture [text] put forth by the US Department of Justice [official website] and its application to the interrogations of enemy combatants held by the US. The testimony marked the first time the JAGs have publicly acknowledged objections to the policy as it was being developed by the Pentagon in 2003. Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) [official website] who chaired the hearing yesterday, expressed concern that the objections might have been ignored, leading to policies that fostered an abusive environment at detention facilities. Graham stated, "If they had listened to you from the outset, we wouldn't have a lot of the problems we've dealt with." The Washington Post has more.

[JURIST] US Army Gen. Geoffrey Miller [Wikipedia profile] has made contradictory statements regarding his interactions with high-level Pentagon officials on the Abu Ghraib scandal, according to Friday's Chicago Tribune. In May 2004 Miller, a former Guantamao commander later transferred to Abu Ghraib, told the US Senate Committee on Armed Services [official website] that he had simply filed a report on a recent visit to the Abu Ghraib facility, and had not spoken to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld [White House profile] or his top advisors about the investigatory trip. Three months later, in a recorded statement to attorneys, Miller said he briefed then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz [Wikipedia profile] and Undersecretary for Intelligence Steve Cambone about his trip and offered recommendations. If the briefing did occur it suggests that top US officials may have been more involved in overseeing prison operations and more aware of problems than previously thought. Miller, Cambone and Wolfowitz, who have all denied knowledge of detainee abuse, declined to respond to questions about the statements. The Chicago Tribune has more.

[JURIST] Britain's most senior military figures in the House of Lords Thursday assailed the UK Ministry of Defense [official website] for subjecting soldiers to litigation arising out of their conduct in Iraq. The English Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, is shortly expected to announce charges against soldiers arising from the murder of Baha Mousa [Guardian report] and other Iraqis allegedly abused by UK personnel in September 2003. Lord Boyce, chief of defense staff during the war in Iraq, declared that potential litigation against British soldiers was harmful to "the close relationship between the commanding officer and his or her people." Boyce stated, "Our armed forces are under legal siege and are being pushed in the direction in which an order could be seen as improper or legally unsound. They are being pushed by people not schooled in operations but only in political correctness." Another former defense head, Lord Bramall, added that Britain's refusal to get an International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] opt-out for its military, as France had done, has had harmful effects, as without the opt-out, British soldiers can be charged with war crimes in the ICC. The Guardian has more.

[JURIST] Moazamm Begg [Wikipedia profile; JURIST news archive], a UK national formerly detained at Guantanamo Bay, has told the Associated Press that rampant racism in Britain, a lack of assimilation in certain communities, anger over US involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, and conditions in Guantanamo may have contributed to the motivations of those involved in the London bombings earlier this month [JURIST report]. After Britain negotiated his release Begg, 37, came forward with allegations of torture and abuse by US personnel, claiming his captors had threatened his family, killed other prisoners, and interrogated him more than 250 times [JURIST report]. He says that conditions at the camp have lately been a major concern in Britain's Muslim community. Although the identity of the London bombers is now known, there is little evidence as yet of their actual motivations. AP has more.

[JURIST] US District Court judge Jeffrey Miller has thrown out a lawsuit filed in March 2005 [JURIST report] against the Associated Press [media website] and reporter Seth Hettena claiming that the news group violated privacy and copyright laws by publishing photos of Navy SEALs with Iraqi prisoners. All four counts of the lawsuit were dismissed Tuesday when Miller concluded that the claims were meritless, but he did leave open the possibility that the plaintiffs could clarify and refile allegations of copyright infringement. The photos, widely distributed with a December 2004 story by Hettena [text], seem to show the SEALs in Iraq holding weapons up to bloodied detainees. A lawyer for the plaintiffs said he intends to appeal the decision and refile the copyright claims. AP has more.

[JURIST] Brandon Mayfield [Wikipedia profile; JURIST news archive], a Portland lawyer and Muslim convert, returns to a federal courthouse in Portland Friday for a pretrial hearing in his civil lawsuit against the US government. A little over a year ago Mayfield was arrested as a suspect in the Madrid train bombings [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] that killed 191 people. The FBI originally claimed that his fingerprints were found on a bag of detonators near the scene but later backpedaled and apologized [FBI press release], admitting the prints didn't match, and blaming its make on faulty analysis. Mayfield, who has never traveled to Spain, claims he was pursued because of his faith and is challenging key portions of the Patriot Act [text] that allow wiretaps and clandestine home searches as unconstitutional. The US Department of Justice is seeking to dismiss the parts of the lawsuit challenging the Act. AP has more.

[JURIST] A legal professional speaking on condition of anonymity has told the Associated Press that chief presidential adviser Karl Rove [Wikipedia profile] testified to a grand jury that he learned the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame [Wikipedia profile] from the media. Rove allegedly testified that columnist Robert Novak [Wikipedia profile] informed him Plame worked for the CIA before he publicly revealing [Townhall article; response to investigation] her identity, attributing the leak to two senior administration officials. According to the AP's source, Rove testified that he belived he had similar information from another member of the media before speaking with Novak. The source also avers Rove testified that three days after speaking with Novak he informally told TIME magazine reporter Matt Cooper [JURIST report] that he believed Wilson's wife worked for the CIA.

According to the 1982 Intelligence Identities Protection Act [50 USC s. 421 text; CNN interview], the federal statute at the center of the investigation into the leak, it is a crime for someone with authorized access to classified information to knowingly disclose the identity of a covert agent. However, according to Plame's husband, former US Ambassador Joseph Wilson [Wikipedia profile], she "was not a clandestine officer the day that Bob Novak blew her identity." AP has more.

[JURIST] A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] ruled [PDF text] Thursday that that US meatpackers can resume Canadian cattle importation, ending a two-year ban put in place after Canada discovered its first domestic case of mad cow disease [Wikipedia backgrounder]. The court said in a brief order that the injunction blocking a US plan to lift the ban had to be reversed and that the order was "effective immediately." The court added that a later opinion would provide a more detailed explanation of its ruling. American meatpackers supported the USDA's case, saying shipments of live cattle were needed to avoid laying off workers and limiting plant production while R-CALF [advocacy website], a group of based in Montana representing 18,000 ranchers and feedlot owners, argued that opening the border to Canadian cattle would increase uncertainty about the safety of US beef and encourage other countries to reject US meat exports. Read the USDA press release on the ruling. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] BBC News is reporting that chemistry student Magdi al-Nashar has been arrested in Cairo in connection with the London bombings. BBC News has more.

11:36 AM ET - Magdi al-Nashar has denied any role in the London attacks during interrogations by Egyptian authorities, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. AP has more.