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Today's Date: U.S. Attorney News Feed
Former Atlantic City Mayor Due in Court
Headline News | 2007/11/01 11:09
Three weeks after resigning amid a federal investigation, the former mayor of Atlantic City was due in court Thursday to enter an agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office, his lawyer said.

The lawyer, Ed Jacobs, refused to say if Robert Levy's agreement would be a guilty plea. Levy has not been charged with any crime.

"We're going to get it over with in one day of bad publicity," Jacobs said Wednesday.

Levy did not return a call seeking comment from The Associated Press. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office would not comment on the scheduled court appearance.

Levy was elected in 2005 to preside over a city where the political corruption is almost as famous as the casinos. Four of the last nine mayors have been charged with taking bribes; three men who were on the city council last year are now in prison in another bribery case.

Levy disappeared from city life in late September before resurfacing to resign on Oct. 10. He cited ill health and a federal investigation into his Vietnam war record as his reasons for leaving.

The Press of Atlantic City reported last fall that the Vietnam veteran's claims that he was a member of the Green Berets were untrue. He apologized, but federal authorities have been looking into whether Levy made that claim to increase his veteran benefit payments.

During his absence from city hall, Levy spent time in a substance abuse and mental health treatment center in northern New Jersey. Jacobs described the mayor's time there as "a detox situation."



Turkey: Fighting With Kurds Will Surge
Legal World News | 2007/11/01 09:06

Turkey's prime minister said Tuesday increased military action against separatist Kurdish rebels was "unavoidable" and pressed the United States for a crackdown on guerrilla bases in northern Iraq.

Turkish helicopters pounded rebel positions near the border with rockets for a second day and Turkey brought in troops by the truckload in an operation against mountainside emplacements.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told members of his party in parliament "it is now unavoidable that Turkey will have to go through a more intensive military process."

But he also suggested he was not seeking an immediate cross-border offensive against the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, holed up in bases in northern Iraq. "The responsibility of leadership does not allow for narrow mindedness, haste or heroism," he said.

"We must remember that Turkey is part of this world and diplomacy has certain requirements," Erdogan added, suggesting the world expected Turkey to exhaust all nonmilitary options.

Erdogan flies to Washington on Nov. 5 for talks with President Bush that could be key to whether Turkey carries out its threat of a major military incursion. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is also expected in Turkey later this week.

"We will openly express that we expect urgent steps from the United States, which is our strategic partner and ally and has a special responsibility regarding Iraq," Erdogan said.

The United States, Iraq and other countries have been calling on Turkey to refrain from a cross-border campaign, which could throw one of the few stable areas in Iraq into chaos. A Turkish incursion would also put the United States in an awkward position with key allies: NATO-member Turkey, the Baghdad government and the self-governing Iraqi Kurds in the north.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said Bush's discussions with Erdogan would include "the fight against terrorism _ in particular our joint efforts to counter the PKK."

Turkish Cobra attack helicopters blasted suspected PKK targets in the Mount Cudi area, near the southeastern border with Iraq for a second day, trying to hunt down some 100 rebels believed to be hiding in mountainside caves, the private Dogan news agency reported.

The fighting has claimed the lives of three Turkish soldiers and six guerrillas, local news reports said.

Transport helicopters flew in commando units to block possible rebel escape routes on Cudi, Dogan reported.

An AP Television News cameraman said attack helicopters escorted four Black Hawk helicopters on Cudi, as they airlifted soldiers to the mountain and picked others up. Smoke could be seen rising from areas that had been hit in the attacks.

Dogan reported a 100-vehicle military convoy traveling from Cizre toward the border.

A Kurdish political party warned that the fighting threatened to increase animosity between the Turkish and Kurdish populations in Turkey.

Turkey is "moving toward a dangerous war in our region which will seriously damage historical relations between Turks and Kurds," Nurettin Demirtas, a senior party official, told reporters.

Erdogan's Cabinet scheduled a meeting for Wednesday to discuss possible economic measures against groups supporting the Kurdish rebels.

Deputy Prime Minister Hayati Yazici said Turkey was considering a series of sanctions against the self-governing Kurdish administration in Iraq's north.

Yazici would not give any details, but the Iraqi region is heavily reliant on Turkish electricity and food imports, as well as Turkish investment in construction. There has been talk of shutting down the Habur border crossing _ the only vehicular route into Iraq from Turkey.

Jamal Abdullah, a spokesman for the Iraqi Kurd regional government, complained that economic sanctions "would represent a collective punishment against Kurdistan's people."

He warned that Turkey and the U.S. Army also would suffer if the border crossing was closed. About 70 percent of U.S. air cargo headed for Iraq goes through Turkey, as does about one-third of the fuel used by the U.S. military there.

In an interview printed Tuesday in Turkey's Milliyet newspaper, Massoud Barzani, the leader of Iraq's Kurdish region, called for a peaceful solution to the crisis. He said that if the PKK did not give up violence, it would "confront not only Turkey but the whole Kurdish nation."

But he questioned Turkey's motives, suggesting it is interested in targeting not only the PKK but also Iraqi Kurds.

At least 46 people have been killed by the PKK in Turkey over the past month, according to government and media reports. Those included at least 30 Turkish soldiers killed in two ambushes that were the boldest attacks in years and increased domestic pressure on Erdogan to act.



Supreme Court stays execution of Mississippi man
Lawyer Blog News | 2007/10/31 14:45
The US Supreme Court late Tuesday halted the execution of a Mississippi prisoner just moments before he was set to die, officials from the state Department of Corrections said. Executions have been effectively placed on hold across the United States until the Supreme Court rules on whether lethal injections -- used in virtually all US executions -- are "cruel and unusual" punishment, as banned under the US constitution.

Earl Wesley Berry was set to be executed at 6 pm (2300 GMT Tuesday), but the procedure was halted when the Mississippi Department of Corrections received the ruling from the Supreme Court ordering a stay of execution at 5:41 pm (2241 GMT).

"Now that the United States Supreme Court has deemed the method of execution needs to be reviewed, the state (of Mississippi) will await the final order of the court," read a Department of Corrections statement.

"The agency will work within any newly established guidelines to ensure that executions are carried out in a constitutional manner."

The Supreme Court did not give reasons for the stay or say who voted for or against it, but an earlier Court statement said that two of the court's conservative justices, Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito, opposed staying the execution.

Five votes of the seven top US justices must approve a stay of execution for it to be enacted.

Berry was on death row for killing a woman in 1987.



Senior Democrats Want Blackwater Case Details
U.S. Legal News | 2007/10/31 14:44

The State Department said yesterday that it had provided "limited protections" to Blackwater Worldwide security guards under investigation in the deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians but insisted that its actions would not preclude successful prosecution of the contractors. Signed statements the guards provided to State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 16 shooting deaths included what law enforcement officials said was a standard disclaimer used in "official administrative inquiries" involving government employees. It said that the statements were being offered with the understanding that nothing in them could be used "in a criminal proceeding."

New details about the "protections" given Blackwater contractors allegedly involved in the shootings sparked outrage from congressional Democrats yesterday, along with a flood of letters to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from committee chairmen demanding more information.

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), who heads the Judiciary Committee as well as the appropriations subcommittee overseeing State's budget, called the contractor issue the latest example of the Bush administration's refusal to hold anyone from "their team" accountable for misconduct or incompetence. "If you get caught," Leahy said in a statement, "they will get you immunity. If you get convicted, they will commute your sentence."

Most of the questions centered on who had authorized what many critics interpreted as a form of immunity from prosecution and why such protections -- designed for government employees -- were extended to private contractors.

Meanwhile, Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates have reached agreement that the U.S. military command in Iraq will exert tighter controls over security contractors in Iraq, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said yesterday.

Preliminary guidelines established by a State-Defense working group include common training standards and rules for the use of force for contractors as well as coordination of all contractor "movements" with the U.S. military headquarters in Iraq. The new guidelines will be presented to the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker for review before Gates and Rice make a final decision in the matter, Morrell said.

Military officers have complained that contractors guarding U.S. diplomatic convoys interfere with military operations and that their aggressive behavior undermines efforts to win "hearts and minds" in Iraq.

One major concern for Gates involves keeping the military abreast of the movement of contractors through the combat zone, Morrell said. "If it is unsafe or deemed not advisable to go there, someone is going to have the control to say: 'No, not at this time.' It would be MNF-I [Multi-National Force-Iraq] that would have that authority. Ultimately, the military has to sign off, in the battle zone, of movements into particularly dangerous areas." The decision to offer Blackwater guards protection from any use of their statements was made by State Department personnel in Baghdad without approval from Washington, sources said. Department lawyers subsequently determined that decades-old federal court rulings required such guarantees against self-incrimination for all government employees during internal investigations; the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that the protections also applied to federal contractors.

But the inability of State's own law enforcement branch to pursue a possible criminal case based on the Blackwater statements, as well growing controversy over the Sept. 16 shootings here and in Baghdad, led Rice early this month to ask the FBI to take over the investigation.

To avoid compromising their own investigation, a team of FBI agents sent to Baghdad was not allowed to speak to the original investigators about the case or see the statements. Some of the dozen or so Blackwater personnel involved, at least two of whom have returned to the United States, declined FBI interviews.

In a statement yesterday, the Justice Department confirmed that no broad immunity from prosecution had been granted. But in a reflection of law enforcement dismay over what are considered impediments to a criminal case, Justice added that it would proceed "knowing that this investigation involves a number of complex issues."

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said yesterday that State has no power to immunize anyone from federal criminal prosecution. "We would not have asked the FBI and the Department of Justice to get involved in a case that we did not think that they could potentially prosecute."

But several law enforcement officials, none of whom would speak on the record about an ongoing investigation, said it remained uncertain -- even without the protections -- whether the contractors could be prosecuted under U.S. law.



Hub law giant plans to join forces with London firm
Headline News | 2007/10/31 13:57

Boston legal powerhouse Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge is expanding across the pond. Edwards Angell announced plans yesterday to acquire U.K. law firm Kendall Freeman, adding some 50 London lawyers to its current stable of 550 attorneys, about half of whom work in Boston.

“London is the largest legal market by far in Britain and one of the largest anywhere in the world,” Edwards Angell’s Chip DeWitt said. “We think this merger gives us a great platform to add to the number of attorneys we have there.”

No cash will change hands as part of the deal, nor are any layoffs planned at Kendall Freeman, which specializes in insurance and reinsurance law. Instead, plans merely call for the British firm to phase in the “Edwards Angell” name over the next 18 months.

DeWitt said the deal also opens the door for Edwards Angell to help Kendall Freeman expand beyond insurance law. The U.S. firm specializes in several areas, including private equity, initial public offerings and patent law.

“The game plan would be to try to increase the number of attorneys in London,” DeWitt said.

Yesterday’s announcement came almost two years to the day after Providence’s Edwards Angell and Boston’s Palmer & Dodge - two old-line New England law firms - merged to create Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge.

Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly ranks the combined entity as the state’s sixth-largest firm in terms of how many Bay State attorneys it employs.



Court overturns ban on Ind. House prayer
Court Feed News | 2007/10/31 13:48
Sectarian prayers, including those to Jesus Christ, could return to the front of the Indiana House chamber after a court ruling Tuesday, but opponents warned of a legal challenge if that happens. The ruling by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a defeat for the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, overturned a lower court’s decision that sectarian prayers on the floor of the House violated the constitutional separation of church and state. But Tuesday’s decision didn’t center on whether the prayers should be allowed. It focused more narrowly on whether the plaintiffs, a group of four taxpayers, had the legal standing to sue.

House Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, called the ruling a victory for free speech.

“I am honestly elated that the 7th Circuit has protected the rights of individuals to speak openly and freely in every way before the crucible of free speech, the state legislature,” Bosma said.

The lawsuit came after a minister led the House in singing “Just a Little Talk With Jesus.” In November 2005, U.S. District Judge David Hamilton ruled that opening prayers in the Indiana House could not mention Jesus or endorse a particular religion.

Bosma, then House speaker, appealed the decision; current Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, pressed ahead.

In its 2-1 opinion, the court ruled there were no expenditures directly tied to the prayers. Therefore, as taxpayers, the plaintiffs had no standing to sue.

But that doesn’t mean the legislature should resume its practice of sectarian prayers, said Ken Falk, an attorney for the ACLU of Indiana.

“The one bit of caution is that the 7th Circuit did not approve the prayer practices, and I would hope that the result of this is that the state does not go back to this practice of sectarian prayer,” Falk said. “If that would occur, there could be people who could bring litigation.”

Falk said his organization would not hesitate to file another lawsuit if approached by someone who “regularly attends the sessions and is subjected to the unwanted prayers.”

Under Tuesday’s ruling, he argued, such people would have the standing to sue.
“This doesn’t in any way make the practice any less unconstitutional than it was,” Falk said. “It just indicates that the people who brought this lawsuit, in the estimation of the two judges, were not the proper people.”

Bosma dismissed the threat of another suit.

“I’m sure the Civil Liberties Union won’t rest until all prayer is erased from every aspect of public life,” he said.

Bosma said he wasn’t concerned that the ruling wasn’t based on the case’s merits.

“We’ll take a win any way,” he said. “A hole in one is a hole in one no matter if it hits a tree or you hit it right in the cup.”

Falk said he is recommending his clients ask for Tuesday’s decision to be heard by the 7th Circuit’s full panel of 11 judges. Bosma said he’s confident the ruling would stand.

Carl Tobias, a constitutional law expert at the University of Richmond in Virginia, said he isn’t so sure.

“I think it is really a close case, and I think it will go to the whole court of the 7th Circuit to make the decision,” Tobias said. “A majority of that whole court might yet find that there is standing. So it’s not over yet.”

Judge Diane Wood, who wrote the dissenting opinion Tuesday, argued, “In my view, “the taxpayer-plaintiffs before us have alleged enough to win the right to present their challenges to the House prayer.”

During the 2006 legislative session, lawmakers responded to Hamilton’s ruling by huddling in the back of the chamber for a group prayer before the start of business.

This year, Bauer read prewritten prayers that did not invoke specific religious beliefs; state senators also offered nonsectarian prayers.

Bosma called for a return to sectarian prayers during next year’s session. Bauer said in a statement that he needed more time to review the decision but added he was “delighted that the court has left alone a tradition that has been a part of House proceedings for nearly 190 years.”

He said a prayer would be recited in the House when the legislature convenes for Organization Day on Nov. 20, though his statement left it unclear whether it would be a sectarian prayer.

Yaqub Masih said he hopes all prayers are back for good.

The pastor of a small immigrant church on the Northwestside, he said he felt “humiliated” by the 2005 decision. “It was a matter of freedom of speech and freedom of religion,” Masih said.

Rabbi Arnold Bienstock said prayers in government forums should be neutral, and he fears the resumption of sectarian prayers in the Statehouse will hurt Indiana’s efforts to show its openness to non-Christians.

“It is very hard to encourage people to come to a state that basically seems to be exclusivist,” said Bienstock, whose Northside congregation, Shaarey Tefilla, is about to move to Carmel. “The bottom line is that non-Christians feel uncomfortable, and they don’t feel like they are part of the group.”


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