[JURIST] Leading Friday's states brief, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled today that Cedar Rapids [official website] does not have the authority to expand its control to include a preserve adjacent to the city because the city's extra-territorial jurisdiction does not extend to nature areas. The court said that while the Legislature intended to give cities extra-territorial jurisdiction over subdivisions located within 2 miles of the city, there are limits to that jurisdiction. After a 97-acre gift was added to the Rock Island Botanical Preserve, Cedar Rapids sought control over the property's development because state transportation officials had planned a 7-mile road through the area. AP has more.

In other state legal news ...

• The Mississippi Supreme Court [official website] has ruled that Monsanto Company [corporate website] cannot subpoena documents from three out-of-state companies because no state law allows a Mississippi court to compel the companies, which are not parties to the lawsuit, to produce documents located outside of the state. Monsanto was seeking documents from Syngenta Crop Protection Inc., Syngenta Seeds, and Dow Agrosciences, based on the company's belief that the three had documents that would aid its defense in a lawsuit filed by Delta and Pine Land Company [corporate website]. Delta and Pine Land Co. sued Monsanto in 2000 after Monsanto called off a proposed merger. AP has more.
  
  
• The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld [text] the traffic stop of a man later convicted of drunk driving by finding that the police officer who overlooked a temporary license plate acted properly in stopping the vehicle. The court's opinion said, "The primary issue presented in this case is whether a police officer may rely on his mistake of fact to justify a traffic stop. Our precedent answers this question in the affirmative and we see no reason to depart from it." The court further determined that the mistake was "an objectively reasonable one." The police officer stopped the vehicle for not having a license plate, but a temporary license plate was displayed in the rear window. AP has more.
  
  
• The Oregon Supreme Court has affirmed a defendant's right to a speedy trial by ruling that despite staff and budget shortages, judges must demand that prosecutors present legal reasons for keeping the charges alive when a defendant requests the charges against him be dropped because of a delay in going to trial. The court found the delays in three cases - 11 months [decision text], 21 months [decision text], and 23 months [decision text] - violated the defendants' right to go to trial in a "reasonable period of time." The state's Attorney General's office argued that the state court's fiscal problems often put a drag on the court system and cases should not be dismissed for reasons beyond court official's control. The Oregonian has local coverage.

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[JURIST] Leading Friday's corporations and securities law brief, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) [corporate website] has agreed to pay Enron Corp. [JURIST news archive] $250 million. The payment follows a a $2.4 billion settlement with Enron shareholders [JURIST report] earlier this week. In a press release, CIBC said that this settlement, made in satisfaction of claims that the bank facilitated accounting fraud, resolves all of Enron's claims against the bank. Bloomberg has more.

In other corporations and securities law news...

• The SEC has sued a Croatian man on suspicion of insider trading related to adidas' takeover of Reebok [AP report]. In a press release, the SEC says that in the days immediately preceding the August 3rd announcement of adidas-Solomon's purchase of Reebok, Sonja Anticevic bought nearly 2000 call option contracts [Wikipedia definition] on Reebok stock which he immediately sold following the announcement of the merger. Reebok's stock price rose around 34% following the announcement and the SEC says that Anticevic made over $2 million on the sale. Anticevic allegedly began wiring the proceeds to offshore bank accounts before the SEC received an injunction against him. Reuters has more.
  
  
• The FCC [official website] moved today to deregulate DSL internet service providers [FCC press release, PDF]. DSL, which is carried over standard phone lines, had previously been governed by the same rules as telephone service. The FCC also issued a policy statement encouraging the newly deregulated companies to not engage in anticompetitive practices with their new-found freedom. Reuters has more. Also Friday, the FCC responded to a petition from the US Department of Justice, the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Agency, by determining that providers of certain broadband and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services must be prepared to accommodate law enforcement wiretaps [FCC press release, PDF], just like phone companies.
  
  
• As reported earlier on JURIST's Paper Chase, former WorldCom [JURIST news archive] accounting executive Betty Vinson was sentenced Friday to five months in federal prison for her role in the company's collapse. Vinson, who testified against former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers [Wikipedia profile] in his recent criminal trial [JURIST report], was convicted of falsifying accounts and will also spend five months on house arrest. AP has more.

[JURIST] A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] on Friday rejected a US government plan [PDF opinion] that would have allowed vast undeveloped areas of the country's largest national forest to be open to logging. The Tongass National Forest [official website] in southern Alaska covers almost 17 million acres and is the world's largest untouched temperate rain forest. Environmental groups had filed suit, arguing the plan broke a public trust established nearly one hundred years earlier, regardless of increased market demand for Tongass timber. The appeals court agreed and found that the government's "error in assessing market demand fatally infected its balance of economic and environmental considerations, rendering the plan for the Tongass arbitrary and capricious." The case now returns to the district court with a request for a permanent injunction to be applied. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Two technology privacy groups have asked the Federal Communications Commission [official website] to block a proposal that would give the US Department of Justice broad powers to listen-in on cellphone calls and monitor online computer activity by airline passengers. The Center for Democracy and Technology [advocacy website] and the Electronic Frontier Foundation [advocacy website] have joined forces in a petition [PDF text], arguing that the FCC does not have jurisdiction to address all the constitutional, privacy and civil liberty questions raised by such a far-reaching initiative. Both groups also claim that the Justice Department is attempting to bypass Congress and obtain powers from the FCC with little public knowledge or interference. GovExec has more.

[JURIST] Ismael Diallo, Chief of the Human Rights Division of the UN Operation in Burundi [official website], has deplored ongoing rights violations in the central African state, indicating that 53 summary executions of civilians were reported in Burundi in July 2005 alone. The majority of human rights violations have happened in Bujumbura Rural, a province west of the capital Bujumbura where a conflict between the government army and the rebel forces is still ongoing. Diallo encouraged Burundian police and courts to work with the UN to help protect human rights in Burundi and urged the government to punish those responsible while supporting a UN investigation. Read a UN press release on the ongoing rights violations. Angola Press has more.

[JURIST] Former WorldCom accounting executive Betty Vinson was sentenced Friday to five months in jail with an additional five months under house arrest for her role in the $11 billion fraud at the telecommunications giant that resulted in its bankruptcy. Vinson initially pleaded guilty to fraud in October 2002 and later aided the government's prosecution of former WorldCom Chief Executive Bernie Ebbers [JURIST news archive], who was recently sentenced to a 25-year prison term [JURIST report]. At Ebber's trial, Vinson claimed she was pressured in 2000 into making improper accounting entries to keep the stock from plummeting. Accountant Troy Normand is likely to face sentencing later today as well. AP has more.

[JURIST] Australian Prime Minister John Howard [Wikipedia profile] on Friday announced a planned summit meeting of Australian state leaders and security advisors next month to mull over ways to reduce Australia's vulnerability to terrorist attacks. Howard is debating whether terror laws should be strengthened following comments by some Australian Muslim clerics expressing support for Islamic jihadists attacking the US, Britain, and other countries. He denounced the statements saying, "Supporting a jihad has no place in the values of this country." The meeting next month is set to include British terror experts and Australian police officers who traveled to London and gained firsthand knowledge of the events surrounding the July 7 suicide bombings [JURIST report]. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The Pentagon has released 32 new or recently uncensored images of the coffins of US soldiers and agreed to quickly fulfill any future Freedom of Information Act [US DOJ backgrounder] requests for images of US war casualties. The release came as a result of a lawsuit filed by University of Delaware professor Ralph Begleiter [faculty profile], who was aided by the nongovernmental National Security Archive [NGO website] research group. The parties agreed to dismiss the suit after the Pentagon in April 2005 released 721 images of coffins taken by the US military in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries that the Archive later published on its website [images and backgrounder]. The latest release includes images that had been censored, obscuring the faces of priests and service members involved in the ceremonies. The Pentagon said Thursday that "further consideration" of the lawsuit led it to release the latest images with unobscured faces. The Washington Post has more.

[JURIST] Iraqi leaders Friday put off a high-level constitutional meeting for two days while the Iraqi Kurdistan National Assembly [official website] convened in an emergency session and consultations between major players continued. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani [Wikipedia profile] had called the constitutional summit in order to break a deadlock regarding issues such as federalism and the potential influence of Islamic law [JURIST report]. Leaders in Kurdish areas had called their delegates back to discuss recent comments made in Baghdad about issues important to the Kurdish constituency. Doubts have arisen over the ability of Iraq's constitutional committee to meet the August 15 deadline [JURIST report] of the permanent Iraqi constitution. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Updating an earlier story, the US is now reportedly engaged in discussions with three countries about the transfer of detainees currently being held in Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] back to their home jurisdictions. A US agreement with Saudi Arabia and Yemen for the turnover of prisoners similar to that reached with Afghanistan would reduce the prisoner population at Guantanamo Bay by up to 70 percent. Allegations of prisoner abuse [JURIST report] have made the facility a target for criticism and investigation, but human rights groups are also concerned about the potential implications of transferring prisoners to countries with suspect human rights records [JURIST report]. The Washington Post has more.

[JURIST] At an emergency summit Thursday, African Union [official website] member states reaffirmed their commitment to a plan for UN Security Council reform that rejects a competing plan by the G4 nations [JURIST news archive]. African states voted 46 to 9 to continue to press for two permanent seats on the Security Council with veto power, a plan that would not bode well for the aspirations of the G4 of Germany, Japan, Brazil, and India, who seek permanent seats on the Council and are willing to forego veto power to attain them. The US and China have agreed to block all current efforts to reform the Security Council [JURIST report], including those of both the G4 and the African Union. Deutsche Welle has more.

[JURIST] US ambassador Joseph LeBaron [official profile] was called Thursday to Mauritania's foreign ministry in Nouakchott by the Military Council for Justice and Democracy, a militia group that has taken control of the West African nation. LeBaron met with leaders of the military coup that ousted President Maaouiya Ould Taya [Wikipedia profile] and called on them to return constitutional rule to an Islamic state whose relationships with many Western nations have improved recently. Britain, the European Union and the United Nations have all urged a return to constitutional order [UN press release] as well and the African Union has temporarily suspended Mauritania's membership [PDF statement]. Though the junta has vowed to return to democratic government within two years, a spokesman for the US State Department said the US and an international coalition would work to restore constitutional rule in Mauritania "as quickly as possible." CNS has more.

[JURIST] Mahmud Faruq Brent, a Southern Maryland resident, was charged in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website] Thursday with aiding and abetting a terrorist organization. According to prosecutors, Brent openly bragged about his decision to attend a terrorist training camp in Pakistan and continued to pledge assistance to radical Islam. The investigation began because of a connection between Brent and Tariq Shah, the subject of another criminal terrorism proceeding. The case is similar to the "Virginia jihad" cases, which were recently reviewed for sentence reductions [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] In a report [text; press release] issued Friday, human rights group Amnesty International [advocacy website] claimed that the abuses currently taking place in China are directly related to the country's preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games to be held in Beijing. The group pointed out that 3,400 people were put to death in China in 2004, more than all other countries in the world combined. Amnesty also urged the International Olympic Committee [official website] to monitor developing human rights violations that are linked to China's preparation for the Games, including those evicted from their homes to make room for Olympic site development and jailings of individuals who have requested that the IOC demand human rights reforms in China. DeHavilland has more.

[JURIST] The Indonesian government began its criminal pollution case [JURIST report] Friday against Denver-based gold giant Newmont Mining Corp. [official website] and its American regional chief executive Richard Ness. The government claims that studies prove Newmont placed arsenic and mercury into the waters of Buyat Bay [New York Times report], but the World Health Organization [official website] found no such evidence, and Newmont claims its activities in the bay were properly approved by the government. Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, has been attempting to encourage investment in industries such as mining to spur economic growth. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] In a victory for Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf [Wikipedia profile], the country's Supreme Court Thursday blocked a proposal by the Islamist-controlled North-West Frontier Province [official website] to introduce a set of controversial morals laws [JURIST report] to be enforced by religious authorities. Musharraf, a strong advocate for a progressive Muslim state, asked the high court to issue an opinion [JURIST report] after the controversial Taliban-style bill was pushed through the Province's assembly last month. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry spoke for the panel of nine judges, detailing several clauses in the proposal that were unconstitutional. A law minister from the Province said the bill would be re-drafted and resubmitted to the assembly, adding, "We will not budge an inch from our objective to implement (an) Islamic system." Reuters has more. From Pakistan, the Daily Times has local coverage.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Canada [official website] on Thursday granted a one-year stay of its June ruling [JURIST report] that the Quebec government can't block people from obtaining private insurance for health care procedures covered under the public system. In its June 9 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that unreasonably long waiting times for procedures under Canada's Medicare program [Wikipedia backgrounder] violated the Quebec Charter of Rights [text] by not providing access to health care in a timely manner. The government in Quebec had asked for an 18-month delay [JURIST report] to plan for a new two-tiered health care system and the court seemed to agree that a private system could compromise funding for the public system. Thursday's ruling is retroactive to when the court issued its judgement. CBC news has more.

[JURIST] European delegates offered Iran's government long-term support for efforts to develop a sustainable nuclear energy program Friday. The offer would include the possibility of Iran acquiring nuclear fuel from Europe but it requires assurances from Iran that it will not withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty [PDF text]. The offer comes only days after Iran announced it would restart uranium enrichment [JURIST report], a move most thought would dissolve negotiations with the EU. Iranian official Hamid Reza Asefi said the proposal would be studied in the coming days and a response would be issued "soon." AP has more.

[JURIST] British Prime Minister Tony Blair [official profile] on Friday announced a new set of measures to combat terrorism [statement text], saying anyone who "has anything to do with [terrorism], anywhere, will automatically be refused asylum in our country." Blair went so far as to say that the UK may review the 1998 Human Rights Act, which integrates the European Convention on Human Rights [text] into British law, to decide whether it provides enough room to adequately prevent terrorism. As part of the new plan to deport hardline Islamic clerics who advocate terrorism, Blair also announced [Reuters report] that his government will ban Hizb ut-Tahrir [Wikipedia backgrounder], an organization that claims its goal is to create an Islamic caliphate centered on the Middle East but denies supporting terrorism. Blair also said a successor organization to al Muhajiroun [Wikipedia backgrounder], a group that praised terror attacks in the US, will be banned as well. AFP has more.

10:34 AM ET - Hizb ut-Tahrir has struck back at Prime Minister Tony Blair's proposed ban of the radical Sunni group. British spokesman Imran Waheed called Blair's remarks "most unjust" and vowed the group would fight any ban via the courts. Ireland Online has more.

1:12 PM ET - The UK Home Office has published a press release on the newly-proposed anti-terror measures, as well as a brief consultation paper [PDF].