[JURIST] A deadlocked federal jury in a Texas Vioxx case [JURIST report] will resume its deliberations Monday after informing US District Judge Eldon Fallon on Saturday that it could not reach a unanimous verdict about whether Merck & Co.’s [corporate website] Vioxx [JURIST news archive] painkiller caused Richard Irvin’s heart attack and subsequent death. Fallon asked the jurors to continue, reminding them of their civic obligations to thoroughly consider the case. Merck faces up to 100,000 similar claims, though only 7,000 suits have been filed so far. In the first case to go to trial, a Texas state court jury in August ordered Merck to pay $253 million [JURIST report]. In November, however, Merck won its first Vioxx suit [JURIST report] in a New Jersey state court, and hopes that a second victory in the federal case will ease the pressure to settle the 7,000 claims that have already been filed. Bloomberg has more.

[JURIST] Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Sunday in an interview on Fox News Sunday that would support changing Senate procedures to ban judicial filibusters if Democrats attempt to use the device to block the US Supreme Coourt nomination of Samuel Alito [official profile; JURIST news archive]. “Supreme Court justice nominees deserve an up-or-down vote, and it would be absolutely wrong to deny him that,” said Frist. Senate Democrats have expressed concern recently that Alito lacks the “proper judicial temperament” and have threatened a filibuster [JURIST report] unless Alito calms their fears about his views on voting rights and abortion. AP has more.

Also on Fox News Sunday, Frist predicted that the Senate and the White House will soon reach an agreement on anti-torture amendment [PDF text] sponsored by Senator John McCain. The amendment passed [JURIST report] the Senate floor by a vote of 90-9, and McCain has steadfastly refused to compromise [JURISt report] on it. The White House worries that the broad statement that no person in US custody should be subject to “cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment” will prevent interrogators from gaining vital national security information, and has asked that the CIA be exempted from the bill [JURIST report]. Conversely, Senator Lindsey Graham [official profile] has said that the Senate is “not close to a deal,” indicating that negotiations have broken down on how best to protect American troops from unwittingly exceeding the confusing policy. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Iraqi government announced Sunday that it will enforce strict security measures for Thursday's parliamentary elections, including closing all borders, extending curfews and banning travel across provincial boundaries from Tuesday through Saturday. Meanwhile, US-led coalition forces and the Iraqi government released 238 detainees [Bloomberg News report] from Abu Ghraib [JURIST news archive] and Camp Bucca [JURIST news archive] Sunday, bringing the number to well over 400 detainees that have been released in the last week. The election will be the first under the new constitution [JURIST news archive], which was ratified in October. Voters will choose a 275-member parliament to serve a full four-year term. Iraq’s leading Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatolla Ali al-Sistani [official website; JURIST news archive], urged his followers to vote in large numbers, while US officials hope to see a strong Sunni turnout embrace the election and calm the Sunni led insurgency. Most Sunnis boycotted the previous interim parliamentary election [JURIST report] in January, leaving them with few seats in the interim government. AP has more.

[JURIST] The interim government of Haiti [JURIST news archive] has removed five of its ten Supreme Court judges in what it called an “administrative measure, to improve the efficiency of the court.” Many speculate that the forced retirement of the five is a political response to the presidential candidacy of Dumarsais Simeus [campaign website], a Haitian-born US millionaire. The Haitian constitution [text] does not allow dual citizenship, and the interim government fears that Simeus will cause a political crisis in the already fragile government. Two of the five judges retired Friday supported an earlier Supreme Court decision to allow Simeus to run for president because no one has proven that Simeus is a US citizen. The decision was announced in October [JURIST report] and upheld Thursday [Simeus campaign report]. In November, the Haitian Electoral Council defied the Supreme Court and ordered that Simeus be taken off of the ballot [JURIST report]. Michel Brunach, chief of staff for interim President Boniface Alexandre, disputed the charge that the retirement announcement was a political move, claiming the government decided to retire the judges long before the announcement on Friday. The December election marks the first since former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide [BBC backgrounder] was ousted in February 2004 [JURIST report]. AP has more.