[JURIST] A US military contractor who pleaded guilty [press release; JURIST report] in February to voluntary manslaughter for the 2008 shooting of an Afghan detainee was sentenced in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia [official website] Friday to five years probation and a $12,500 fine. Don Ayala had been charged with second-degree murder for shooting and killing detainee Abdul Salam in retaliation for Salam's earlier attack on Ayala's fellow contractor Paula Lloyd [HTS in memoriam profile]. At the time of the incident, Ayala was stationed in Afghanistan as a contractor for Strategic Analysis [corporate website] as part of the US Army's Human Terrain System [official website] program. Ayala was prosecuted under Section 3261 of the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) [text], which allows criminal charges to be brought against military contractors overseas.

Crimes committed by military contractors abroad have also occurred in Iraq and are considered to be the impetus behind provisions in the US-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement [PDF text; JURIST report] that give Iraqi courts limited jurisdiction over contractors working there. Earlier this week the security company known formerly as Blackwater Worldwide [corporate website] concluded its operations in Baghdad [JURIST report] as its contract to protect American diplomats in Iraq expired. The decision by the Iraqi government not to renew the contract was motivated in part by the alleged killing of 17 civilians by Blackwater guards [JURIST report] in September 2007. In January, five Blackwater guards pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, and weapons charges. A sixth guard pleaded guilty [text, PDF] to charges of voluntary manslaughter and attempt to commit manslaughter for his role in the same incident.

[JURIST] The US Department of the Interior (DOI) [official website] will maintain [press release] a controversial Bush-era rule [text, PDF; DOI backgrounder] that limits how polar bears are protected from global warming [JURIST news archive], Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar [official profile] announced Friday. Salazar had received special permission from Congress to amend the rule, which prevents the use of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) [text, PDF] to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Polar bears are protected under the ESA, and environmentalists have argued that the release of greenhouse gases has contributed to global warming, which is destroying the polar bear's arctic habitat. Salazar said:

We must do all we can to help the polar bear recover, recognizing that the greatest threat to the polar bear is the melting of Arctic sea ice caused by climate change. However, the Endangered Species Act is not the proper mechanism for controlling our nation’s carbon emissions. Instead, we need a comprehensive energy and climate strategy that curbs climate change and its impacts – including the loss of sea ice. Both President Obama and I are committed to achieving that goal.

[JURIST] US President Barack Obama [official website] on Thursday proposed $17 billion in cuts to the fiscal year 2010 federal budget, including cutting $400 million [proposals, PDF] from the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) [program website]. SCAAP is a program that subsidizes state and local governments for the costs of incarcerating illegal aliens who commit crimes, and Obama's proposed cut would effectively eliminate the program. The White House said the cut was made because the $400 million could be better spent by the federal government to enhance federal immigration programs, specifically:

In place of SCAAP, the Administration proposes a comprehensive border enforcement strategy that supports resources for a comprehensive approach to enforcement along the Nation's borders that combines law enforcement and prosecutorial efforts to investigate arrest, detain, and prosecute illegal immigrants and other criminals. The initiative also enhances the Department's ability to track fugitives from justice, combat gunrunners and illegal drug traffickers.

[JURIST] Croatian parliament member Branimir Glavas [TrialWatch backgrounder] was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison [Javno report] for the killing of Serbian civilians during the Croatian war of independence [GlobalSecurity backgrounder]. Glavas stood accused of ordering the torture and death of Croatian Serbs in the town of Osijek in 1991, a charge he denied. As a safety precaution, Glavas was not in court to hear the verdict. His son was present and, like his father, blamed Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader [Javno report] for the trial and verdict. Glavas is the first Croatian lawmaker to be sentenced for war crimes related to the Croatian war of independence.

In 2008, Glavas had his parliamentary immunity stripped [JURIST report] after winning re-election in November 2007. That 2007 victory restored the immunity that the Croatian Parliament had originally taken away in 2006 after he was arrested [JURIST report] and an investigation began into his potential role in war crimes committed during the Croatian war for independence.

[JURIST] A jury in US District Court for the Western District of Kentucky [official website] on Thursday convicted former Pfc. Steven D. Green [JURIST news archive] of the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl [JURIST news archive], and the murder of her family in Mahmudiya. Prosecutors had previously elected to seek the death penalty [JURIST report] against Green, one of six soldiers [JURIST report] who was initially charged with the various crimes resulting from the rape and murders. Prosecutors painted Green as the ringleader [JURIST report], saying he had raped the girl, burned her body, and bragged about it later. Green's lawyer had argued [Reuters report] that his client was suffering from extreme stress from combat, and was unable to distinguish friend from foe. Green, who was discharged honorably pursuant to a psychiatric disorder diagnosis before the Army knew of the incident, had been diagnosed with having "homicidal tendencies" [JURIST report] before the rape and murder by Army mental health workers. Sentencing is scheduled for next week. Under federal law, the fact-finder must consider aggravating and mitigating factors [18 USC § 3592] being sentencing someone to death.

Green is the only one of the five soldiers to be tried in federal court because he had been discharged prior to the trial. Three others pleaded guilty in court-martial proceedings, and a fourth was convicted. Spc. James P. Barker and Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, were sentenced to 90 and 100 years respectively [JURIST reports], while Pfc. Bryan L. Howard [JURIST reports], who stayed at the checkpoint and had prior knowledge of the plans, was sentenced to 27 months in jail. The fourth, Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman, was convicted by a military jury and sentenced to 110 years. Prosecutors dropped charges of dereliction of duty against the sixth member, Sgt. Anthony Yribe, who was other than honorably discharged.

[JURIST] Newly-declared Democratic Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA) [official website] was appointed chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs [official website] on Thursday. Specter received [press release] that post from Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) [official website] who voluntarily gave up his position as chairman and is expected to head a newly created subcommittee on human rights and the law [press release]. For his part, Specter, a former Philadelphia District Attorney, now has "jurisdiction over the Department of Justice, the US Sentencing commission, federal programs under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, criminal justice and victim's rights legislation, and oversight of the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the US Secret Service." Specter formerly served as ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website].

After his switch from the Republican party to the Democrats, Senate Republicans appointed [JURIST report] conservative Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) [official website] to serve as ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee. Sessions, a former US attorney whose 1986 nomination to a federal court post was blocked [Washington Post report] because of allegations of racism, is expected to play a leading role in the upcoming Supreme Court nomination hearings to replace retiring Justice David Souter [JURIST report]. Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website] has said that he hopes to have the new Supreme Court justice confirmed [JURIST report] before the start of the Court's October 2009 term.

[JURIST] The New Jersey Supreme Court [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Thursday that local ordinances prohibiting convicted sex offenders (CSOs) from living near schools, playgrounds, and other public areas were preempted by the state's Megan's Law [text] and, therefore, invalid. The court affirmed a July 2008 decision [JURIST report] in the Appellate Division of Superior Court of New Jersey [official website], in which the "all-encompassing" nature of the registry system was cited in reaching the conclusion that the local ordinances were preempted. The New Jersey Supreme Court noted the "present, stark language" of Megan's Law, under which CSOs must register their location with state officials. The ruling is expected to affect ordinances in more than 100 New Jersey communities.

Courts in other states have also overturned or restricted laws seeking to limit housing options for registered sex offenders. In May 2008, the Indiana Court of Appeals [official website] overturned [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] a 2006 state law that prohibited sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school, public park, or youth center. In November 2007, the Supreme Court of Georgia [official website] unanimously overturned [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] a state law that prohibited registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of schools, playgrounds, and other areas where children gather. In February 2007, a federal judge ruled that California's Proposition 83 [JURIST news archive], which prohibited California sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of any place where children regularly gather, could not be applied retroactively [JURIST report] to more than 90,000 paroled sex offenders because there was nothing in the measure to indicate that intent.

[JURIST] Republican leaders in the US House of Representatives [official website] on Thursday announced [press release] the "Keep Terrorists Out of America Act," which would require approval from a state's governor and legislature before Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees could be transferred or released into it. Under the the proposed measure, the federal government would be required, at least 60 days before any such action, to certify to the state that a specific detainee does not pose a security risk. The executive branch would be required to assure Congress that any release or transfer would not impede the detainee's detention or prosecution. House Minority Leader John Boehner [R-OH] said legislative action is necessary because President Barack Obama [official website] has not announced a plan to handle the roughly 240 detainees still housed at Guantanamo since deciding to close the facility [JURIST report]. Attorney General Eric Holder [official profile] testified [video] to the Senate Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee [official website] that the administration would not endanger Americans in its handling of the remaining Guantanamo detainees.

If successful, the Republican proposal might block a US plan to accept a group of Uighur Muslims [JURIST report] who have been cleared for release. Last week, Holder said that the US had cleared 30 Guantanamo Bay detainees for release and would begin formally requesting [JURIST report] that European countries accept them within weeks. In March, top officials from the Obama administration met with leaders from the European Union (EU) [official website] to discuss preliminary plans to transfer [JURIST report] Guantanamo Bay detainees to European countries. Individual member states have also indicated their openness to accepting detainees, including Lithuania, Ireland, Germany, and Portugal [JURIST reports]. Other states have expressed reservations about accepting detainees, including Poland and Spain, while Italy [JURIST reports] and the Netherlands [AFP report] have said they will not accept detainees.