Go Gators! Just to kick off our nightly college football discussion. Just kidding.

This is an Open Thread.

The U.S. Army has scheduled its first execution since 1961.

Ronald A. Gray has been scheduled to die by lethal injection at the Federal death camp at Terre Haute on December 12.

Only the President, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, can approve the execution of a death sentence [Article 71(a), Uniform Code of Military Justice]. On July 28, 2008, the President approved the death sentence in the case of the United States v Ronald A. Gray. The President took action following completion of a full appellate process, which upheld the conviction and sentence to death. Two petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court were denied during the appellate processing of Pvt. Gray's case.

President Bush approved the death order. Gray was sentenced to death by a court-martial panel in 1988 for "two murders, an attempted murder, and three rapes."

Gray was 22 at the time of his sentencing. According to the 1999 U.S. military appeals court opinion here, there were psychiatric and organic brain damage issues, as well as a host of other issues, all decided adversely to Gray.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon today ordered the release of five of the six habeas defendants in Boumediene v. Bush/Al Odah v. U.S (pdf). The opinion will be out later today.

In the first case of its kind, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon said the government's evidence linking the five Algerians to al-Qaida was not credible as it came from a single, unidentified source. Therefore, he said the five could not be held indefinitely as enemy combatants, and should be released immediately.

"To allow enemy combatancy to rest on so thin a reed would be inconsistent with the court's obligation," Leon told the crowded courtroom.

[More....]

The Bush administration may claim the right to ignore the law when it engages in electronic surveillance, but it seems unwilling to share its unlimited power with the states. When the New York Police Department wants to use federal electronic surveillance laws to spy on suspected terrorists, it must convince the Justice Department to seek a warrant from the FISA court. The NYPD is complaining that the Justice Department "unfairly blocked the city’s applications for surveillance warrants, first in June and then in September."

[Attorney General] Mukasey said that the Police Department had sought authority ... to eavesdrop on “numerous communications facilities” without providing an adequate basis for their requests. Some officials who have been briefed on the cases said the requests, from the police Intelligence Division, were unusually broad, and included telephones in public places, like train or subway stations, rather than phones used by a specific individual.

Sure, go ahead and listen to every call made from a public telephone. Don't worry about the privacy rights of the New Yorkers you're supposed to be protecting. [more ...]

Susie Madrak and Anglachel point to two funny "blog analyzer" tools. One attempts to determine whether you can tell if a blog is written by a man or a woman. Here is the TalkLeft result:

We guess http://talkleft.com is written by a man (51%), however it's quite gender neutral.

The other is a readability analyzer. Here is TalkLeft's result:

This blog's reading level: High School

Not sure if that is good or bad.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

I've yakked enough. TChris and J, schedules permitting, will surely follow with some interesting posts on criminal law and politics.

For now, it is your turn.

One last thing, CA Pol Junkie apparently has some gizmo that projects the result of the MN Sen recount based on returns as they come in. Right now, with 18% recounted, he projects Coleman winning the recount by 21 votes. But the trend is our friend I think.

This is an Open Thread.

Via Glenn Reynolds, the the Right's brief against Holder - it is the Marc Rich pardon. Interestingly, it does not focus on the Clintons, but on Holder himself:

Steve Benen has a good post on it and what it means. As I have said repeatedly, not knowing a damn thing about health care policy, I leave commenting on this to those who do.

Update (TL): The New York Times reports Pritzger has taken herself out of the running for the position.

Politicial Wire:

CNN reports that Chicago businesswoman Penny Pritzker is President-elect Obama's choice to become Secretary of Commerce.

I do not know what the Secretary of Commerce does. I do know that Pritzker was possibly Obama's largest fundraiser. Still and all, it is good to see another woman in the Cabinet.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

So sez Politico:

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) has been chosen to serve as secretary of the vast and troubled Department of Homeland Security for President-elect Obama, Democratic officials said. Napolitano is a border governor who will now be responsible for immigration policy and border security, which are part of Homeland Security’s myriad functions.

I've never really understood what the Department of Homeland Security does so I will not venture to comment if she is a good choice. I am pleased to see a woman chosen for a high profile post.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

When I discuss Clinton Derangement Syndrome, this is what I mean:

Mr. Clinton pledged the same without elaboration. “Whatever they want,” he said. He added that it was between the president-elect and his wife. “You should talk to them. I’ll do whatever they want.” . . . Some in the Obama camp are bristling at what they see as strategic leaks by the Clintons aimed at boxing in the president-elect and forcing him to offer the post.

Excuse me? As I have seen the story, the Clintons were minding their business when, last Thursday (yes, it has only been a week) President-Elect Obama asked Senator Clinton to come see him in Chicago. President Clinton has offered to remove any impediments he may cause. And "some in the Obama camp bristle?" What in the hell? Meanwhile, it turns out Tom Daschle did some negotiating of his own:

They have a strange way of doing things in Texas, at least in Willacy County where the prosecutor persuaded a grand jury to indict Dick Cheney and Alberto Gonzales. Usually the indicted person has to be hauled in front of a magistrate for an arraignment. In Willacy County, they have to go get the district attorney.

In the latest bizarre development in the case, the lame-duck prosecutor who won the indictments was a no-show in court Wednesday. The judge ordered Texas Rangers to go to Willacy County District Attorney Juan Guerra's house, check on his well-being and order him to court on Friday.

Cheney and Gonzales, on the other hand, get to stay home. In a disappointing bit of news, Presiding Judge Manuel Banales said that Cheney, Gonzales and the other indicted defendants will not be arrested. Banales' decision is understandable. Wouldn't you be a little worried that signing an arrest warrant for Dick Cheney would be a lot like signing your own death warrant? [more ...]