[JURIST] Leading Friday's corporations and securities law news, the US Securities and Exchange Commission [official website] has announced that it will indefinitely extend filing deadlines for businesses in the areas affected by hurricane Katrina. In a press release, the SEC also said that it will work with banks and companies to ensure that SEC mandates do not interfere with recovery from the disaster. The SEC also said that it will closely monitor the recovery effort for Katrina-related scams. Reuters has more.

In other corporations and securities law news...

• Bank of America [corporate website] has disclosed that it has received a Wells Notice from the SEC. The notice informed the company that the SEC's staff has advised the agency to pursue civil charges against the bank. In a filing [text] with the SEC, the bank said that the agency had been investigating a subsidiary, Banc of America Securities, for trading and investment actions between 1999 and 2002. AP has more.
  
  
• Boeing's machinists union went on strike following an overwhelming vote on Thursday [union press release]. The International Association of Machinists [union website] said that the union was a result of a weak contract proposal during a time of economic prosperity for Boeing. The strike affects eighteen thousand workers who manufacture all of Boeing's airplanes. In a press release, Boeing said that it will not attempt to continue producing airplanes during the strike. AP has more.

[JURIST] California Attorney General Bill Lockyer [official profile] Friday opened an investigation into whether gasoline retailers in the state had participated in illegal profiteering in the wake of Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive]. Lockyer said his office would subpoena records from refiners and station owners and set up an e-mail address, gaspricinghotline@doj.ca.gov, where people can submit information about pricing practices. Lockyer said the state received little of its gasoline supply from those affected by Katrina, so price spikes should not affect the state as much as other regions of the country. A California law prohibits gasoline retailers from unduly raising prices by more than 10 percent during government-declared emergencies. Read a news release from Lockyer's office. In New Mexico, Gov. Bill Richardson [official profile] and Attorney General Patricia Madrid [official profile] said they were drafting legislation [New Mexico Business Weekly report] to investigate and punish gas retailers that engage in illegal profiteering after natural disasters. Read a joint news release from their offices. A ban on price gouging already exists in Louisiana under section 732 [text] of the Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Assistance and Disaster Act 1993. In an effort to fight rising gas prices across the country, the US has tapped into its reserves [Los Angeles Times report] and received pledges from the International Energy Agency for additional supplies. AP has more.

[JURIST] A Connecticut state judge has refused to approve an arrest warrant for former governor John G. Rowland on ethics charges, and the chief state's attorney [CT Division of Criminal Justice website] said the case was now closed. Christopher Morano [official profile] said he submitted the warrant request [AP report] this week, but an unidentified judge would not sign it. Rowland is currently serving a one-year federal prison sentence for corruption [JURIST report], but state officials were investigating whether a paid consulting deal Rowland had after resigning as governor was legal. State law prohibits former state officials from representing any parties adverse to their former agency, and Rowland took a job with Klewin Building Co. [corporate website], which was in a contract dispute with the University of Connecticut. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Friday's states brief, a federal judge will hear arguments next week in Missouri's attempt to prevent the closing [Missouri AG press release] of the Air National Guard in St. Louis, with the state arguing that the Pentagon must first consult with state governors before closing bases. Attorney General Jay Nixon [official website] has filed for a preliminary injunction to stop the closure of the 131st Air National Guard F-15 Fighter Wing at Lambert Field. Illinois has also filed suit against the Pentagon for recommending Air National Guard bases in the state be closed and yesterday state officials requested a temporary restraining order to block the BRAC Commission [official website] from sending President Bush its recommendation for the 183rd Fighter Wing in Springfield. A court hearing was scheduled for today. Last week, a federal judge ruled in favor of Pennsylvania's Governor in his suit filed against the Pentagon [JURIST report] by finding that the loss of a Air Guard division there would eliminate a unit vital to the state's homeland security. AP has more.

In other legal news ...

• Wisconsin Attorney General Peggy Lautenschlager has announced [AG press release] that she and attorneys general from Illinois and Iowa will conduct a joint investigation into whether anyone is tampering with the gas market in their states. The three attorneys general will consolidate their resources to look into gas prices, but none of the states have laws barring price gouging. Lautenschlager is drafting legislation with Sen. Dave Hanson and Rep. Josh Zepnick to remedy the state's lack of a price gouging law. Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle has asked [Governor's press release] the Environmental Protection Agency to temporarily lift a requirement to sell only cleaner-burning reformulated gas. Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe also announced [AG's press release] yesterday that his office will begin to monitor wholesale and retail gasoline prices. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has local coverage. In related news, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue signed [Governor's press release] an Executive Order today calling for a temporary moratorium on state collection of all motor fuel taxes. The Walker County Messenger has local coverage.
  
  
• Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist [official website] has asked the state Supreme Court to review a citizen initiative that would amend the Florida Constitution to ban same-sex marriages [JURIST report]. The review is mandatory to determine whether the proposed amendment is constitutional and takes place after 10% of the signatures needed to place the proposal on the ballot are collected. Florida4Marriage.org [advocacy website] hopes to have the amendment on the November 2006 ballot. The court was also asked to review a proposed amendment that would lift some sales tax exemptions. Floridians Against Inequities in Rates [advocacy website] wants exemptions that are unjustified to be repealed. AP has more.

[JURIST] A federal bankruptcy judge on Friday approved a settlement agreement between US Airways [corporate website] and the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation [agency website] over nearly $2.7 billion in claims stemming from the airline's Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Under the approved deal, PBGC receives cash, guarantees and an ownership stake in the restructured airline to cover its claims after the airline terminated pensions [PBGC news release] for 51,000 employees in January. PBGC's claims were the last major hurdle to US Airways' emergency from bankruptcy following a merger with America West [JURIST report] expected to be completed this fall. AP has more.

[JURIST] The International Atomic Energy Agency [official website] released a report Friday that found Iran [JURIST news archive; IAEA issue backgrounder] had resumed previously suspended nuclear activities, raising the possibility that the issue will be referred to the UN Security Council [official website]. The report by IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei [official profile] was critical of Iran's cooperation and transparency regarding its nuclear program and confirmed that Iran had resumed work suspended under an agreement with the EU. The report concluded that the IAEA was "still not in a position to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran." Even as the report appeared to set the stage for a UN referral, UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the EU hoped Iran would rejoin negotiations [Reuters report] on its nuclear programs. The US has supported UN action on the issue and maintained that Iran is seeking to produce nuclear weapons rather than the energy program it claims. Iran said in response to the IAEA report that it would continue to cooperate with the agency [Reuters report] despite some of the criticism in the report. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Kenyan Transport Minister Chris Murungaru has asked the UK High Court [UK Court Service website] to review a July UK government decision to ban [BBC News report] him from entering the country. British authorities did not announce the reason [Nation report] for the ban, but it has been widely speculated that it was due to Murungaru's links to corruption [JURIST report]. He was involved in several public disputes with former UK High Commissioner in Kenya Sir Edward Clay, who has been critical of the Kenyan government's record on corruption. Murungaru had been traveling frequently to the UK for medical treatment following surgery in April, and his attorneys argued that the ban violated his human rights. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] A Maryland judge has set trial dates for John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo [Wikipedia profiles] on charges from six Maryland deaths in the pair's 2002 DC-area sniper shooting spree. Muhammad is scheduled to stand trial May 1, 2006, and Malvo's trial will follow on Oct. 10, 2006. Both face six counts of first-degree murder in Maryland, after already having been convicted for shootings in Virginia [JURIST report]. The two states agreed to allow the pair to be tried in Maryland if they are returned to Virginia's custody afterward. Both trials are expected to last about two months. Muhammad already has been sentenced to death [JURIST report] in Virginia, while Malvo is serving a life sentence [JURIST report] because he was 17 at the time of the shootings. The two were also linked to shootings in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Washington state. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] has withdrawn an order allowing a student to file a response to a rehearing petition by Kamehameha Schools [education website] in a lawsuit over the school's admissions policy. The court issued an order last week permitting a non-native Hawaiian to file papers in the school's appeal, but the court said Thursday the order was mistakenly issued. The court ruled [PDF opinion; JURIST report] last month that an admissions policy barring non-natives violated federal civil rights laws. Thousands protested [JURIST report] in Hawaii following the court's ruling, and Kamehameha petitioned for a rehearing en banc. The Honolulu Advertiser has more.

[JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union [official website] has announced that it will file a challenge to a recent ban on panhandling [JURIST report] in downtown Atlanta. Gerald Weber, legal director for the ACLU of Georgia, said the group plans to sue the city as soon as it found a proper plaintiff for the challenge. The city has said it will not enforce the ordinance [PDF draft text], which was signed by Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin [official profile] two weeks ago, for up to a month to allow law enforcement officials time to prepare. Similar panhandling bans have been successful in other cities around the country, such as Fort Lauderdale, FL. From Georgia, WMAZ-TV has more.

[JURIST] Nevada Attorney General Brian Sandoval [official website] has challenged a Nuclear Regulatory Commission [official website] decision on regulations for the proposed nuclear waste site at Yucca Mountain [official project website], adding to a rash of litigation that has stalled the project for years. Sandoval's office on Thursday filed a suit over the NRC's refusal to consider its petition to alter a regulation that assumes a nuclear waste site will be open by 2025. The Department of Energy [official website] has been preparing an application to have the site licensed by the NRC, and Sandoval claimed the regulation made it more likely that the application would be approved without considering its merits. The regulation does not reference Yucca Mountain specifically, but it is the only site being considered by DOE. The suit is the eighth to challenge the project, which has remained bogged down since DOE received a green light to proceed in 2002. Read a Nevada Attorney General press release [PDF text] on the suit. The Las Vegas Review-Journal has more.

[JURIST] Russia [JURIST news archive] on Friday released two former Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees from a Moscow detention center. Airat Vakhitov and Rustam Akhmyarov, who were extradited to Russia by the US in 2004, were arrested [JURIST report] earlier this week on suspicion of plotting terror attacks in the Povolzhye region of the country. Vakhitov sued the US [JURIST report] in June for alleged rights abuses while he was held at Guantanamo. He now reportedly participates in human rights activities in Moscow. From Russia, Mosnews has more.

[JURIST] Human rights groups are pressuring the Canadian government to open a new investigation into the role the government played in allegedly allowing a number of Muslim Canadians to be imprisoned and tortured in Syria. Testimony ended Thursday in an inquiry [official website; JURIST report] into the detention of Maher Arar [advocacy website; Wikipedia profile], but three rights groups said Friday the process was not sufficient. The groups cite three other Muslim Canadians in particular who were allegedly imprisoned in Syria at the same time as Arar and say this indicates a pattern by the government. Arar was allegedly deported to Syria by the US in 2002, where he was imprisoned for a year and tortured. The rights groups, which include the Council on American-Islamic Relations [advocacy website], have acted as intervenors in the Arar inquiry. The Canadian government has come under increasing pressure [Globe and Mail report] recently to investigate its complicity in the rendition of people to the Syrian government. The Toronto Globe and Mail has more.

[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour [official profile] wrapped up an official visit to China [UN press release] Friday, calling for China to release data about its use of capital punishment and urging cooperation with international standards. "It is not appropriate to say: 'We are doing this our own way'" she said, citing optimism for improvement but objecting to China's position [Reuters report] that nations work on their own to protect human rights. Arbour also expressed concern [UN News report] that those executed in China may be victims of discrimination, or guilty of crimes that international standards don't consider serious enough to warrant the death penalty. Earlier this week, the Chinese government signed a memorandum of understanding [JURIST report], committing to legal reforms that will enable the country to join the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [text]. AP has more.

[JURIST] 160 US law professors have signed a letter [text] declaring their opposition to Supreme Court nominee John Roberts [JURIST news archive]. The group of professors expressed concern about Roberts' record, claiming he favors expansion of government power and reduction of individual rights:

The record made available to date suggests that Judge Roberts holds a limited view of Congress' authority to enact key worker, civil rights and environmental protections and a similarly narrow view of the vital role our courts and our government play in safeguarding individual rights, especially civil and women's rights. In contrast, Judge Roberts holds an expansive view of presidential power and law enforcement authority. If transformed into decisional law, these views, taken together, could produce a government with little power to protect its citizenry and a citizenry with greatly reduced power to protect itself from the abuses of government and other powerful interests. In other words, they could produce a national order contrary to the promises of our Constitution and the rights it guarantees.

[JURIST] Youssef Hmimssa [Detroit News profile], a Moroccan man whose testimony was at the center of a terrorism trial that later unraveled, was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison on Thursday on charges of credit card fraud and visa misuse. Hmimssa was in the US illegally and has lived in five countries under as many as a dozen names. He received almost four years credit for time served and will likely be deported after his release. Previously, he was a key prosecution witness in the trial of four suspects on terrorism charges. Convictions resulting from the case were eventually overturned [JURIST report] after the Department of Justice admitted to "patterns of mistakes and oversights" [JURIST report] during the proceedings. AP has more. The Detroit News has local coverage.

[JURIST] President Bush has used a recess appointment to fill an opening at the Justice Department [White House press release] that was stalled in the Senate, naming attorney Alice S. Fisher to the top post in the DOJ's criminal division. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) [official website] had blocked Fisher's nomination in order to question a government agent who named Fisher in an email about alleged abusive interrogations at Guantanamo Bay. The email says Fisher attended meetings about using certain techniques to gather information from detainees. Fisher says she can't recall participating in the discussions, and the DOJ says the writer didn't mean to say she did. Longstanding policy prevented the agent from testifying. Levin also had blocked a Pentagon nominee who was given a recess appointment [JURIST report] in August. AP has more.

[JURIST] Intel [corporate website] filed an answer [PDF text; Intel summary; press release] in federal court on Thursday to an anti-trust suit [PDF complaint] brought by rival computer chip maker Advanced Micro Designs (AMD) [corporate website], denying allegations of anti-competitive practices and blaming AMD themselves for lagging behind in the market. AMD filed suit in late June [JURIST report], claiming that Intel pressured 38 companies into using their products in violation of the Clayton Anti-Trust Act [Wikipedia backgrounder]. Intel also faces a similar lawsuit brought by AMD in Japan [JURIST report], prompted by rulings [PDF text] from Japan's Fair Trade Commission [official website], as well as an investigation by European Union anti-trust watchdogs [JURIST report]. Both Intel and AMD have their own FAQ documents about the suit. AMD also released a response [press release] to Thursday's filing. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The US Federal Bureau of Investigation [official website] arrested Russian UN official Vadim Kouznetsov Thursday on money laundering charges. An FBI official said the still-sealed charges against Kouznetsov, who heads a UN budget oversight panel, are only remotely connected to the defunct UN Oil-for-Food program [official website; JURIST news archive]. Kouznetsov will be arraigned Friday in a federal court in Manhattan. Last month, fellow Russian UN official Alexander Yakovlev pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to accepting and soliciting bribes, wire fraud, and money laundering. Yakovlev worked in the UN procurement office and accepted almost $1 million in bribes in connection with the Oil-for-Food program. Yakovlev's arrest and plea prompted UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to order an investigation into UN contract procurement [JURIST report]. AP has more.

3:30 PM ET - Kouznetsov was charged Friday with conspiracy to commit money laundering, after UN Secretary General Kofi Annan waived Kouznetsov's diplomatic immunity [UN News report]. According to the indictment, Kouznetsov set up an offshore company in 2000 which helped hide payouts from companies seeking UN contracts. Kouznetsov receive the money from an unnamed UN procurement officer. AP has more.

[JURIST] At least 5,000 Shiite Muslims held a rally Friday in the Southern Iraqi city of Basra, in a show of support for the draft Iraqi constitution [English translation; JURIST news archive]. Friday's rally follows smaller Sunni demonstrations [JURIST report] held earlier this week to protest against the constitution. The Shiite demonstration was organized by Iraq's two largest Shiite political groups, the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq and the Shiite Dawa Party, and was designed to garner support for the document which must be approved by voters in an October 15 referendum. Under Iraq's Transitional Administrative Law [text], a majority must vote in favor of the charter, but if two-thirds of voters in any three of Iraq's provinces reject the draft, the constitution will be defeated. AP has more.

10:45 AM ET - Iraq negotiators said Friday that discussions continue on the draft constitution, in an effort to gain Sunni Arab approval. Sunnis did not sign on to the agreement submitted to the Iraq parliament [JURIST report] last Sunday, citing concerns [JURIST document] on the charter's stance on federalism, de-Baathification and other sensitive issues. A Shiite negotiator said Friday that "Discussions are under way to make minor changes in the language to improve the text to satisfy some parties." Sunni negotiators and Western diplomats also confirm that there are ongoing talks, but did not elaborate on specifics. AP has more.

[JURIST] In an emergency session Thursday night, the US Senate [official website] passed a bill to provide $10.5 billion in emergency relief [White House request] to the victims of Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive]. The measure was approved by voice vote with only four Senators present on the floor. Read Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's floor statement [transcript]. An identical bill is expected to pass in the House on Friday and the legislation will then go to President Bush for his signature. House and Senate leaders decided to reconvene legislative sessions early, the first time Congress has cut short its vacation since its failed efforts in March to prevent Terri Schiavo's feeding tube from being removed. The disaster relief bill will authorize the Federal Emergency Management Agency [official website] to control $10 billion of the funds, with the Pentagon using the remaining $500 million for National Guard deployments and evacuation efforts. Bush has said that he anticipates asking Congress for further emergency funding in the coming weeks. Reuters has more.

2:05 PM ET - The US House of Representatives has approved the $10.5 billion emergency relief bill by a voice vote, sending the legislation to President Bush for his signature. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Iraqi Special Tribunal [official website; JURIST news archive] will put Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] on trial in mid-October, a government official said Thursday. Hussein will face charges [JURIST report] related to the 1982 killing of 150 Shiites in the village of Dujail [NPR report] "between Oct. 16 and at the latest Oct. 20," just days after Iraq will hold a referendum to approve the draft Iraqi constitution [English translation; JURIST news archive]. The special tribunal will hold a series of trials for specific offenses; in addition to the Dujail charges, the court is also investigating [JURIST report] the 1988 poison gas attack [Wikipedia backgrounder] against the northern Iraq village of Halabja. AP has more.