JURIST's legal news service, powered by a team of over 40 law student reporters and editors led by Professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. http://jurist.org/paperchase JURISTremove_this@jurist.org (Jurist Webmaster) Sat, 26 May 2012 15:07:51 -0500 [JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Friday that an employee with a claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) [text] does not need to show that his or her disability was the sole reason he or she was fired, only that the disability was a "but-for" cause of the termination. This decision overturns 17 years of precedent in that circuit, which the appeals court now says was followed because of... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/federal-appeals-court-rules-on-standard-for-disability-discrimination-claim.php Sat, 26 May 2012 15:07:51 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/federal-appeals-court-rules-on-standard-for-disability-discrimination-claim.php Jaimie Cremeans ... [JURIST] UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General Dr. Augustine Mahiga told the press on Friday that the Elders of Somalia will select delegates for the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) by June 20, which will convene on July 2 to approve Somalia's new constitution [press release, PDF]. The NCA will have until July 10 to adopt the constitution, and the new Somali Parliament will be chosen by July 15. Mahiga announced this after returning from a three-day trip to Somalia for... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/somalia-to-set-up-assembly-to-adopt-new-constitution.php Sat, 26 May 2012 14:19:36 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/somalia-to-set-up-assembly-to-adopt-new-constitution.php Jaimie Cremeans ... [JURIST] Moshe Harel was arrested in connection with the organ trafficking operation in Kosovo during the 1998-1999 Kosovo War [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] the European Union Rule of Law Mission to Kosovo (EULEX) [official website] said Friday. A report [text] authored by Council of Europe (COE) [official website] member Dick Marty [BBC profile] details how criminals harvested the organs of civilian detainees killed on Albanian territory near the Albania-Kosovo border and sold the organs on the black market for... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/kosovo-organ-trafficking-suspect-arrested.php Sat, 26 May 2012 11:17:24 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/kosovo-organ-trafficking-suspect-arrested.php Matthew Pomy ... [JURIST] US resident Dejan Radojkovic was deported to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on Thursday in order to face charges related to his actions as a police commander in Srebrenica during the Bosnian Civil War [JURIST news archive] in 1995. Radojkovic is accused of rounding up more than 200 Bonian-Muslims who were then taken to another area where they were executed. He immigrated to the US in 1999. After an investigation uncovered that Radojkovic had not disclosed his involvement in the... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/us-resident-deported-to-bosnia-to-face-war-crimes-charges.php Sat, 26 May 2012 10:01:25 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/us-resident-deported-to-bosnia-to-face-war-crimes-charges.php Matthew Pomy ... [JURIST] The Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) war crimes court [official website] ruled [materials] on Thursday that two former Bosnian Serb police officers were guilty of aiding and abetting genocide. The court convicted Dusko Jevic and Mendeljev Djuric for taking part in the killing of 1,000 Muslim men during the 1995 Srebenica massacre [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. Jevic and Djuric oversaw the transportation of Srebenica's men to execution sites [RFE/RL report]. The court sentenced Jevic to 35 years in jail... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/two-bosnian-serbs-sentenced-to-prison-for-roles-in-srebenica-massacre.php Fri, 25 May 2012 15:58:35 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/two-bosnian-serbs-sentenced-to-prison-for-roles-in-srebenica-massacre.php Max Slater ... [JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile] insisted on Friday that anyone who engaged in violent acts relating to the April 12 coup d'etat in Guinea-Bissau [BBC backgrounder] should be held accountable [press release] for their actions. In the press release, Pillay voiced concern that the unstable situation in Guinea-Bissau following the coup could lead to crackdowns on human rights:I cannot stress enough the importance of full respect for the fundamental human rights of freedom of... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/un-human-rights-chief-urges-accountability-for-coup-in-guinea-bissau.php Fri, 25 May 2012 15:03:12 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/un-human-rights-chief-urges-accountability-for-coup-in-guinea-bissau.php Max Slater ... [JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] criticized the Hungarian government [press release] on Friday for ignoring recommendations by the Council of Europe [official website] to change its media laws that allegedly curtail press freedom. HRW expressed concern that the media laws' requirement for journalists to register with the national government, as well as a mandate of "balanced" reporting would have a chilling effect on investigative journalism. In the press release, Lydia Gall, an HRW researcher, declared that the Hungarian... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/hrw-hungary-ignored-recommendations-to-change-laws-limiting-media-freedom.php Fri, 25 May 2012 14:34:59 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/hrw-hungary-ignored-recommendations-to-change-laws-limiting-media-freedom.php Max Slater ... [JURIST] The appeals chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] on Thursday rejected challenges [press release] to the court's jurisdiction in two cases stemming from the 2007 Kenyan post-election violence [JURIST news archive], clearing the way for trial. The pre-trial chamber confirmed charges [JURIST report] against four suspects in January, and their defense lawyers appealed, arguing that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the cases. The appeals chamber rejected the appeals of Francis Muthaura and Uhuru Kenyatta... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/icc-rejects-jurisdiction-challenge-in-kenya-cases.php Fri, 25 May 2012 14:05:37 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/icc-rejects-jurisdiction-challenge-in-kenya-cases.php Jaclyn Belczyk ... [JURIST] A senior judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida [official website] approved a settlement agreement on Thursday between JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPMC) [corporate website; JURIST news archive] and more than one million litigants nationwide who sued over excessive overdraft fees. The settlement requires JPMC to pay $110 million to customers in order to resolve the litigation. Judge James Lawrence King, who approved the settlement, stated [Reuters report] that the agreement was fair, reasonable... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/jp-morgan-wins-court-approval-for-settlement-on-overdraft-fees.php Fri, 25 May 2012 13:57:10 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/jp-morgan-wins-court-approval-for-settlement-on-overdraft-fees.php Max Slater ... [JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] on Wednesday ordered [opinion, PDF] the US Department of Defense (DOD) [official website] to turn over three videotapes depicting Kuwaiti Guantanamo Bay [JURIST backgrounder] detainees being forcibly removed from their cells. The ruling came in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) [official website] lawsuit [materials] filed in 2008 by the International Counsel Bureau [firm website] on behalf of relatives of several detainees. The government argued... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/federal-judge-orders-pentagon-to-turn-over-guantanamo-videos.php Fri, 25 May 2012 12:49:31 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/federal-judge-orders-pentagon-to-turn-over-guantanamo-videos.php Jaclyn Belczyk ... [JURIST] A federal judge ruled [order, PDF] on Thursday that California's state pension system must afford same-sex spouses of state workers the same access to long-term care insurance as heterosexual spouses. Judge Claudia Wilken of the US District Court for the Northern District of California [official website] struck down a provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) [text; JURIST news archive], declaring that the provision unconstitutionally prevented same-sex couples from getting equal pension benefits. Wilken declared [Mercury News report]... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/federal-judge-strikes-down-provision-of-defense-of-marriage-act.php Fri, 25 May 2012 12:31:53 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/federal-judge-strikes-down-provision-of-defense-of-marriage-act.php Max Slater ... [JURIST] The US Department of State (DOS) [official website] on Friday released the 2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices [materials]. The reports outline the prevailing trends that shaped human rights last year. These include uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa, positive reforms in Myanmar, the persecution of religious minorities and the use of new connective technologies. In her preface to the reports, Secretary of State Hillary of Clinton [official website] said:Our reports are founded on the simple... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/us-state-department-releases-2011-annual-rights-reports.php Fri, 25 May 2012 10:59:00 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/us-state-department-releases-2011-annual-rights-reports.php Jaclyn Belczyk ... [JURIST] The top UN human rights official urged Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] on Thursday to ensure that Zimbabwe's next elections are legitimate and free from violence [press release]. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile; JURIST news archive], visiting Zimbabwe for the first time, stated in the press release that her meeting with Mugabe was productive:It was a very important meeting with President Mugabe, where he recounted to me the past history... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/un-rights-chief-urges-zimbabwe-president-to-make-elections-fair.php Fri, 25 May 2012 10:12:05 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/un-rights-chief-urges-zimbabwe-president-to-make-elections-fair.php Max Slater ... [JURIST] US Supreme Court [official website] Justice Stephen Breyer rejected a stay application [text, PDF] Thursday evening by Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee [official website] attempting to prevent the release of alleged murderer Jason Pleau to federal authorities. Chafee has been arguing since last year [JURIST report] that he has the authority to have Pleau tried in state court, rather than have him face a potential death penalty in federal court. The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/supreme-court-justice-rejects-rhode-island-attempt-to-keep-suspect-in-state-custody.php Fri, 25 May 2012 10:02:52 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/supreme-court-justice-rejects-rhode-island-attempt-to-keep-suspect-in-state-custody.php Julia Zebley ... [JURIST] A court in Bahrain on Thursday sentenced [Gulf Times report] Zainab Al-Khawaja, the daughter of jailed pro-democracy activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] to one month in prison for trying to organize an anti-government protest, according to Bahraini opposition groups. The court also fined her $530 on Monday on a separate charge of insulting a government employee. Zainab Al-Khawaja refused to pay the fine [Al Jazeera report] and will face an additional 40 days in prison unless... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/bahrain-activists-daughter-sentenced-to-month-in-jail-for-staging-protest.php Fri, 25 May 2012 09:40:33 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/bahrain-activists-daughter-sentenced-to-month-in-jail-for-staging-protest.php Max Slater ... [JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] 6-3 Wednesday in Blueford v. Arkansas [SCOTUSblog backgrounder] that the double jeopardy [Cornell LII backgrounder] clause does not prevent the re-prosecution of a greater offense if a jury deadlocks on a lesser-included offense. In this case, a mistrial was declared after a jury reached a unanimous decision to acquit on capital murder and first-degree murder but was deadlocked on lesser charges, including manslaughter. When the state attempted to retry Alex... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/supreme-court-rules-double-jeopardy-does-not-attach-in-jury-deadlocks.php Fri, 25 May 2012 09:26:11 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/supreme-court-rules-double-jeopardy-does-not-attach-in-jury-deadlocks.php Julia Zebley ... [JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled unanimously [opinion, PDF] Wednesday in Freeman v. Quicken Loans Inc. [SCOTUSblog backgrounder] that to prove a violation of Section 8(b) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) [text], a plaintiff must demonstrate that a fee was split between two or more persons, even though there appears to be no ostensible explanation for the fee. The goal of the statute was to prevent kickback and referral fees, but several couples sued under... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/supreme-court-rules-on-real-estate-fees.php Fri, 25 May 2012 08:57:07 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/supreme-court-rules-on-real-estate-fees.php Julia Zebley ... [JURIST] Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] on Wednesday published its annual report entitled State of the World's Human Rights [materials], which details the human rights landscape across the world in 2011. Much of the report focuses on the pro-democracy protests and civil unrest that swept the Middle East and Northern Africa in the last year. The report indicates that governmental responses to the protests were repressive, and that arbitrary arrest and detention and the suppression of freedom of expression are... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/amnesty-international-publishes-annual-human-rights-report.php Fri, 25 May 2012 08:19:28 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/amnesty-international-publishes-annual-human-rights-report.php Maureen Cosgrove ... [JURIST] The Supreme Court of Nepal [official website, in Nepali] on Thursday ordered the government to complete the final draft of the nation's new constitution by Sunday. The current administration had requested a three-month extension of the deadline, but the court denied the plea. The Constituent Assembly of Nepal (CA) [official website], the group tasked with creating the document, was elected to a two-year term in 2008, but the term has already been extended four times [AP report]. UN Secretary-General... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/nepal-high-court-orders-government-to-finish-new-constitution.php Fri, 25 May 2012 07:42:12 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/nepal-high-court-orders-government-to-finish-new-constitution.php Maureen Cosgrove ... [JURIST] Police in Papua New Guinea on Thursday stormed the country's supreme court and arrested the chief justice on charges of sedition. Chief Justice Salamo Injia was arrested after the court ruled for the second time that former prime minister Michael Somare should be reinstated. There has been a struggle for power since last August when Prime Minister Peter O’Neill took office after Somare was ruled ineligible because of an extended absence due to illness. The Supreme Court ruled in... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/papua-new-guinea-top-judge-arrested-for-sedition.php Thu, 24 May 2012 14:40:20 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/papua-new-guinea-top-judge-arrested-for-sedition.php Jaclyn Belczyk ... [JURIST] A Tunisian military prosecutor called Wednesday for the death penalty in the trial of former Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. Currently exiled to Saudi Arabia, Ben Ali is being tried in absentia in a military court for ordering the shooting deaths of dozens of civilian protesters [CNN report] during last year's Tunisian revolution. It is the first time the death penalty has been sought against the former dictator, who is being tried only... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/tunisia-prosecutor-seeks-death-penalty-for-ousted-president.php Thu, 24 May 2012 13:54:35 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/tunisia-prosecutor-seeks-death-penalty-for-ousted-president.php Dan Taglioli ... [JURIST] The European General Court [official website], the EU's second highest court on Thursday rejected [judgment] a challenge by MasterCard [corporate website] over its cross-border credit card fees. The court upheld a decision by the European Commission [official website] that the fees violate EU antitrust rules. The commission welcomed the ruling, but MasterCard expressed disappointment [press releases]:MasterCard balances the interests of both consumers and retailers, so that each party pays its fair share of the costs for the benefits it... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/eu-court-rejects-mastercard-challenge-over-fees.php Thu, 24 May 2012 13:18:58 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/eu-court-rejects-mastercard-challenge-over-fees.php Jaclyn Belczyk ... [JURIST] Both the Syrian government and anti-government groups are killing opponents, torturing children as young as 10 years old and committing other human rights abuses, a UN-appointed group of human rights experts reported [text, PDF] Thursday. The report, issued by the three-member Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, declared that Syrian security forces are predominantly responsible for the violence:Despite the human rights imperative to employ lethal force only as a last resort to protect life, state security forces continued... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/un-panel-syria-government-opposition-both-violating-human-rights.php Thu, 24 May 2012 12:05:44 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/un-panel-syria-government-opposition-both-violating-human-rights.php Max Slater ... [JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) [official website] lawsuit [complaint, PDF; press release] against the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official websites] Wednesday seeking information on the use of electronic surveillance tools. At issue are tools called pen registers and trap and trace devices which allow law enforcement to monitor phone calls, emails and websites visited under the Pen Register Act [text]. The attorney general is required to report annually... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/aclu-sues-doj-over-surveillance-information.php Thu, 24 May 2012 11:50:21 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/aclu-sues-doj-over-surveillance-information.php Jaclyn Belczyk ... [JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] ruled Wednesday that the legal definition of maritime piracy [JURIST news archive] includes an armed attack to hijack a ship, even if the attempt is unsuccessful. In one case, the court upheld [opinion, PDF] the convictions and life sentences [JURIST reports] of five Somali pirates who attacked the USS Nicholas [official website] in April 2010. The appeals court rejected their contention that the definition of piracy as defined... http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/federal-appeals-court-rules-on-legal-definition-of-piracy.php Thu, 24 May 2012 10:39:32 -0500 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/federal-appeals-court-rules-on-legal-definition-of-piracy.php Jaclyn Belczyk ...