The first year of "Prince of Poets" was marred by controversy; there were claims that the judges, hoping to engender national pride, awarded the top prize to the Emirati poet Karim Maato, when the Palestinian poet Tamim Al-Barghouti was favored to win (he came in fifth).
The Newbery, which picks "the most distinguished American children's book published the previous year", has been criticised in recent weeks for being out of touch with its readers; the choice of Gaiman - a perennial bestseller - as winner, puts paid to claims that the judges favoured books with a limited appeal.
Lawyers for the defendant, Anthony Sowell, claim that the judge made biased comments about him in postings on a newspaper's Web site.
The judge, Stephen A. Rapp, recused himself after a lawyer for several voters claimed that the judge made derogatory comments last week about the Democrats and Palm Beach County voters.
Local media claimed that the judge in the first case requested records relating to alleged members of the First Capital Command, Brazil's most powerful organised crime group.
Shabeeb claimed that the judge, Saeed Elgazar, sentenced the men out of spite after being told during Saturday's 45-minute-long session that his behaviour was unconstitutional.
The Gurkhas were not, however, discriminated against on grounds of race, a claim that the judge ruled to be "wholly unfounded".
But bail was again denied, leading Fahmy, as he was led from the courtroom, to claim that the judge was acting for political rather than legal reasons.
MOSCOW — An assistant to the judge in the latest trial of Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, the oil magnate jailed eight years ago after defying Vladimir V. Putin, went public Monday with the claim that the judge's superiors pressured him to deliver a harsh sentence.
