[JURIST] Vietnamese state media Saturday reported the release of 36-year-old lawyer and political dissident Le Quoc Quan [advocacy blog], the second pro-democracy dissident released by the Vietnamese government ahead of President Nguyen Minh Tribet's June visit to the United States. Quan, who has detained since March 8, was charged with violating Article 88 of the Vietnamese criminal code, which prohibits the dissemination of anti-government "propaganda," by advocating that Vietnam [JURIST news archive] should adopt a multi-party system of government. Last Saturday, Vietnamese authorities released Ngyuyen Vu Binh, a pro-democracy dissident jailed for promoting democracy on the Internet. Tribet's planned visit to the US, which has prompted the Vietnamese government to release dissents as a gesture of goodwill, will be the first for a Vietnamese head of state.

In May, two Vietnamese human rights lawyers were sentenced [JURIST report] to five years and four years in prison for promoting democratic reforms. In March, a Catholic priest received an eight year prison sentence [JURIST report] for communicating with pro-democracy activists and distributing anti-government documents. AP has more.

[JURIST] US District Judge William M. Acker Jr. of the Northern District of Alabama Friday asked federal prosecutors to charge prominent Mississippi plaintiff's attorney Richard Scruggs with criminal contempt, saying that Scruggs "willfully violated" a preliminary injunction ordering Scruggs to turn over all documents secretly copied by two whistleblowers who allege that State Farm Insurance Co. and claims adjusting firm E.A. Renfroe and Co. Inc. [corporate websites] intentionally committed fraud to deny claims following the Hurricane Katrina disaster [JURIST news archive].

Instead of handing the documents to Renfroe, Scruggs sent the documents to Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood [official website]. Hood subsequently sent the documents to Renfroe and Co. On Tuesday, Hood filed a lawsuit against State Farm Insurance Co. [JURIST report], alleging that the insurance company committed bad faith breach of contract related to a settlement reached on January 23. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US District Court for the District of Colombia Friday ordered [PDF text] the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) [official website] to release approximately 100,000 pages of documents detailing the FBI's use of national security letters (NSL) [CRS backgrounder, PDF; FBI backgrounder] pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) [DOJ backgrounder] request by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) [advocacy website; press release]. The order set a July 5 deadline for the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI to begin releasing documents to the EFF, and ordered the DOJ and FBI to release an additional 2500 pages of documents every 30 days thereafter. The EFF submitted its FOIA request on March 12, but sued the FBI in April after the FBI's failure to respond. The EFF is seeking to conduct an independent investigation of the FBI's improper use of NSLs [JURIST report], revealed in March by a DOJ review.

On Wednesday, the FBI published new draft guidelines [JURIST report] concerning the use of NSLs, which require FBI agents to identify the specific information being requested and justify its necessity pursuant to an investigation. The guidelines are intended to correct privacy violations which the Washington Post reported [Washington Post report] Thursday were more numerous than previously reported by the DOJ's March report. AP has more.

[JURIST] Mike Elston, chief of staff to US Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty [official profile; JURIST news archive], announced his resignation Friday, making him the fifth Department of Justice (DOJ) official linked to the controversial firing of at least eight US Attorneys [JURIST news archive] to resign. Elston, whose resignation becomes effective at the end of next week, is accused of making threatening phone calls to at least four of the dismissed former US attorneys, urging them to remain silent about the circumstances of their firings.

On March 5, Director of the Executive Office for US Attorneys (EOUSA)[official website] Michael A. Battle announced his resignation. Battle, who was responsible for the administrative management direction and oversight to all 93 US Attorneys, made the phone calls firing seven US attorneys in December of 2006. Former DOJ Chief of Staff Kyle Sampson [DOJ press release; JURIST news archive], who reportedly compiled three separate lists [JURIST report] of US attorneys that were considered for removal, resigned [DOJ press release] on March 12. Monica M. Goodling [JURIST news archive], who had been on voluntary leave from her post as special counsel to the US Attorney General, submitted her resignation on April 6 [JURIST report]. Goodling has since contradicted statements [JURIST report] made by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales concerning the firings and has also admitted to improperly considering applicants based on political consideration [JURIST report]. US Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty [official profile] announced on May 14 his resignation [JURIST report] as early as the end of the summer, or when a successor receives Congressional approval. McNulty has admitted that one of the firings was conducted to allow Tom Griffin, former aide to Karl Rove, to assume a US Attorney position, an allegation that Gonzales denies. AP has more.