[JURIST] Advocacy groups must be allowed to run issue ads in the two-month period immediately prior to elections, a three-judge panel from the US District Court for the District of Columbia held [opinion, PDF] Thursday. The ruling was based on the US Supreme Court's January remand of Wisconsin Right to Life v. Federal Election Commission [opinion, PDF; Duke Law case backgrounder] for the purpose of reexamining whether the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) [text] violates the First Amendment right to free speech when it bans corporate and union sponsorship of political issue ads that mention a specific candidate from airing within two months of the election. Thursday's 2-1 ruling held that such speech is constitutionally protected because it addresses genuine issues, and that the ads must be allowed to air. Critics fear that the decision will compromise the BCRA's attempt to limit the influence of well-funded special interest groups. The Supreme Court will now examine the case under automatic review. AP has more.

The case began in 2004 when the Federal Election Commission [official website] issued an injunction barring Wisconsin Right to Life [advocacy website] from airing an advertisement mentioning US Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) [official website] in the run-up to his reelection. The lower court had ruled [text] against the anti-abortion group, prompting a request that the Supreme Court strike down [JURIST report] the part of the law that called for the two-month ban. The Supreme Court said the lower court had misread a 2003 ruling [text] by the high court which upheld a federal campaign finance law, saying that ruling "did not purport to resolve future as-applied challenges," and returned the case to the lower court.

[JURIST] Former Tyco [corporate website; JURIST news archive] executive Richard "Skip" Heger reached a $450,000 settlement on financial reporting and record-keeping charges, the US Securities and Exchange Commission announced [press release] Thursday. The charges are connected to a fraud case in which Tyco agreed to pay a $50 million civil penalty [JURIST report] and a $1 disgorgement fee for fraudulent accounting procedures used between 1996 through 2002. Heger, who at the time was in charge of the company's fire and security services division finances, was accused of approving financial results that he knew, or should have known, were inflated; he reached the settlement without entering a plea on the charges. Two other former executives, Richard Power and Edward Federman, were charged with fraud in overstating Tyco's operating income by hundreds of millions of dollars through the use of a sham transaction. Reuters has more.

The April settlement allowed Tyco to avoid admitting any of the allegations [SEC press release] in the SEC's complaint [PDF, text]. According to the SEC, Tyco executives inflated key figures - including its operating income by more than $567 million and its cash flow by $719 million - in official reports to the SEC. Former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski and former CFO Mark Swartz were found guilty of looting the company and its shareholders out of more than $150 million in unauthorized personal compensation, and have been sentenced to prison [JURIST report] for 8 to 25 years. The company still faces a likely onslaught of shareholder litigation, which analysts predict could cost the company up to $4 billion.

[JURIST] US Marines Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich was charged Thursday with 13 counts of murder in connection with the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha [JURIST report] last November, according to Wuterich's lawyer. Officials at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton [official website] are expected to announce charges against several other military personnel later Thursday. Wuterich, commander of the platoon implicated in the Haditha incident [JURIST news archive] said earlier this year that his unit followed the rules of engagement [JURIST report] and did not purposefully attack civilians. In August, Wuterich filed a defamation and invasion of privacy lawsuit [complaint, PDF] against Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) [official website], alleging that Murtha falsely accused him of war crimes during press conferences where Murtha discussed [JURIST report] the Haditha killings. AP has more.

The 24 deaths prompted two separate military investigations: one conducted by the Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) [official website], aimed at determining whether to prosecute the soldiers involved, and an investigation into decisions made by Marine leadership led by US Army Major General Eldon Bargewell [Wikipedia profile]. An anonymous US official familiar with the NCIS investigation, speaking in May, suggested the Marines murdered in cold blood [JURIST report], and the probe concluded in August that evidence exists [JURIST report] to support murder allegations. Bargewell's report [JURIST report] has not yet been released, but officials briefed on the investigation said that there was evidence that soldiers concealed and destroyed evidence [JURIST report] relating to the incident and were reluctant to hand over evidence.

4:44 PM ET - Marine Corps officials have announced that eight Marines have been charged [list of charges and specifications] in connection with the Haditha killings:

Based on the findings of the investigations, various charges have been preferred against four Marines relating to the deaths of the Iraqi civilians on 19 November 2005. Also, charges have been preferred against four Marines for failure to properly report and/or investigate the deaths of the Iraqi civilians. These charges include murder, dereliction of duty, false official statement and obstruction of justice.

ALSO ON JURIST  Op-ed: Haditha and My Lai: Lessons from the Law of War

[JURIST] The Zambian government will hold a national referendum on its proposed new constitution [draft constitution, PDF], Justice Minister George Kunda said Thursday. Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa [official profile] has to date voiced objections to the draft constitution proposed by the Constitution Review Process Implementation Committee, but has now agreed to put the draft to a national vote by issuing a statutory order to initiate the referendum. The announcement came the day after opposition party Patriotic Front [party website] and a coalition of activist groups revealed plans to hold nationwide demonstrations demanding a new constitution.

Zambia's constitution [text] has been in place since the nation's independence in 1964 and has been amended several times. In 2003, Mwanawasa ordered the Constitution Review Process Implementation Committee to submit proposals [speech excerpt] for a new constitution. Mwanawasa has objected to the Committee's recommendations that the president must be elected by a margin of 50 percent plus one vote, as well as other limitations on presidential power. AFP has more.

[JURIST] New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine signed into law Thursday legislation [PDF text] providing legal recognition to same-sex civil unions [JURIST news archive]. The New Jersey Legislature passed the civil unions bill last week in response to an October New Jersey Supreme Court ruling [PDF text; JURIST report] that same-sex couples must be given equal rights. The court said the state legislature must decide within 180 days whether the state would recognize same-sex marriage or another form of civil partnership. The civil unions law will take effect February 19. AP has more.

Currently, Massachusetts is the only US state to allow full same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive], which was legalized when the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled [JURIST report] in 2003 that a ban on such marriages was unconstitutional.

[JURIST] Sandy Berger [Wikipedia profile], President Clinton's National Security Adviser from 1997 to 2001, hid classified documents from the National Archives [official website] under a construction trailer while preparing himself, Clinton administration witnesses and documents for testimony before the 9/11 Commission, according to a report [PDF] released Wednesday. Berger later unsuccessfully tried to retrieve documents he discarded from a garbage collector, though Berger's lawyer said that all of the contents of the documents were made available to the commission and still exist today. The report, prepared by National Archives Inspector General Paul Brachfeld [official website], says that Berger lied to Archives officials when confronted about the missing documents and that Berger removed the classified documents by hiding four documents in his pockets and taking a break to go outside without an escort.

Berger was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine and surrender his security clearance for three years last year after pleading guilty to taking and destroying classified documents [JURIST reports] from the National Archives. He was also sentenced to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service. Berger said his actions were an "honest mistake" [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] The California Supreme Court [official website] agreed Wednesday to hear a case challenging California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive], after California Attorney General Bill Lockyer [official website] requested [JURIST report] that the Court review an intermediate appellate court's decision to uphold [JURIST report] the same-sex marriage ban. In the appeals court, Lockyer argued [JURIST report] that California should be allowed to maintain its traditional definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman, approved by the Legislature in 1977 [text] and by voters in 2000 [text], and that most benefits afforded to spouses under state law are also available to same-sex couples through domestic partnership registration.

The lawsuits stem from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's 2005 decision to issue marriage licenses to 4,000 same-sex couples. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) [official website] on Wednesday approved new rules [press release, PDF] to prevent local governments from blocking the entrance of companies in the cable television market, highlighting a sharp partisan divide in the five-person panel. The new rules will require local cable franchising authorities to make decisions on applications from new competitors within six months, and make decisions on applications from competitors with access to easements within 90 days. The rules also prevent localities from making the new companies build out their systems more quickly than existing carriers, and requires local governments to count some set up costs for new carriers as part of the five percent franchise fee imposed by the local governments. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin expressed hope that the new rules will help increase competition and ultimately lower prices for consumers [statement, PDF], reflecting on staggering increases in cable prices. The FCC released a report [press release, PDF] Wednesday on cable prices over the last decade, showing that prices increased by 93 percent between 1995 and 2005.

Democrats on the FCC panel, Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps [statements, PDF], criticized the new rules, arguing that the FCC presented questionable evidence of the existing barriers to entry for new competitors, and also questioned whether the FCC has authority to impose the new rules. US Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), the incoming chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee [official website], on Tuesday warned that the FCC may "exceed the agency's authority and usurp congressional prerogative" by implementing the new rules. Critics also argue that increasing local competition by allowing phone companies to enter the market more easily may not actually lower prices for consumers and may not offer their service in low-income areas. AP has more.

[JURIST] Former US Attorney General and Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] defense lawyer Ramsey Clark [JURIST news archive] on Wednesday urged President Bush to keep Hussein and his Dujail trial [BBC trial timeline] co-defendants in US custody, expressing concern that Iraqi officials will torture the convicted defendants. Hussein and two of his co-defendants, Awad Hamed al-Bandar and Barzan al-Tikriti, were all convicted and sentenced to death [judgment; JURIST report] last month for crimes against humanity [charging instrument, PDF] committed in the Iraqi town of Dujail [JURIST news archive] in 1982. The deadline to file appellate papers for the Dujail trial is on Saturday, and many expect the appellate court to make a decision on the appeal in a matter of days. If Hussein and his co-defendants lose the appeal, their execution will likely occur within 15 days, unless the US refuses to hand them over to Iraqi custody. Clark claims that the US has the "highest moral and legal obligation" to keep them in US custody, arguing that Iraqi officials will torture the co-defendants before their execution. Last week, an Iraqi official said that Hussein and his co-defendants will face a quick execution [JURIST report] and possibly a secret burial if the appellate court upholds their conviction.

Hussein is currently on trial on separate genocide charges [JURIST news archive; BBC trial timeline] for allegedly killing 100,000 Kurds during the so-called "Anfal" campaigns [HRW backgrounder] in the late 1980s. The Anfal trial could continue posthumously [JURIST report] should Hussein be executed before proceedings in the second trial conclude. CNS News has more.

[JURIST] Spain's High Court ruled Wednesday that it does not have jurisdiction to try former Argentinean naval officer Ricardo Miguel Cavallo [TrialWatch profile] for crimes committed during Argentina's "dirty war" [GlobalSecurity backgrounder]. Cavallo has been in Spanish custody since 2003 and early this year was charged with genocide [JURIST report], organized terrorism and crimes against humanity. The charges carried a total prison sentence of up to 17,000 years.

The court said Wednesday that Argentina could seek to extradite Cavallo back to his home country to face charges. BBC News has more. From Spain, El Mundo has local coverage.

[JURIST] The Indonesian Supreme Court overturned the conviction of militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir [BBC profile] Thursday, saying only that the decision was based on the testimony of some 30 witnesses. A written decision has not yet been released. Bashir was convicted on conspiracy charges [JURIST report] in early 2005 in connection to the 2002 Bali bombings [BBC backgrounder] but was released from prison [JURIST report] earlier this year after serving 26 months of his initial 30-month sentence. He received a reduction in sentence [JURIST report] in August 2005 as part of the celebration of Indonesia's Independence Day. It is Indonesian custom to reduce the sentences of inmates who exhibit good behavior on national holidays, with the exception of those serving life sentences.

Bashir is accused of being the spiritual leader of the Southeast Asian extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah [CFR backgrounder], which has ties to al Qaeda and has been blamed for the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings [BBC report]. AP has more.