Most people accept the need to detain or quarantine individuals with highly communicable, potentially deadly diseases. Most people accept the need to detain mentally ill individuals who pose a serious risk to the safety of others. Too many people accept the need to detain sex offenders after they've finished their sentences for fear that they pose a substantial risk to reoffend if released.

The concept of preventive detention has prevailed at Guantanamo, albeit in unrecognizable form. When the diseased are no longer contagious, they are released from quarantine. If the mentally ill or "sexual predators" respond to treatment and are no longer dangerous, they're released. It's never been clear what condition, other than an unrecognizable victory in the war against terror, would trigger the release of the Guantanamo detainees. And unlike individuals detained pursuant to civil commitment laws, no Guantanamo detainee has had a hearing the meets even minimum standards of due process to establish a basis for his detention.

A New York Times article today examines whether the Obama administration might adopt a preventive detention law to continue holding Guantanamo detainees. [more ...]

The United States Supreme Court is usually inclined to let states police their own courts, but West Virginia is plainly out of control.

Don Blankenship, the chief executive of Massey Energy Co., spent more than $3 million to help elect Justice Brent Benjamin to the West Virginia high court. Benjamin twice was part of 3-2 majorities that threw out a verdict in favor of Harman Mining Co. in its coal contract dispute with Massey.

The case on which Benjamin's vote provided Massey the margin of victory saved Massey $50 million. Not bad for a $3 million investment. [more ...]

This is the verdict of a Maryland commission that examined the state's death penalty:

capital punishment doesn't deter crime and is affected by racial and jurisdictional disparities. ...

The panel found death penalty cases cost more and that there is "a real possibility" a mistake could cause an innocent person to be executed.

Gov. Martin O'Malley hopes the commission's work will convince the legislature to reexamine Maryland's need for capital punishment.

"I think the proper course of conduct now is for us to take a fresh look at the death penalty, ask ourselves why we need to continue to have the death penalty on the books," O'Malley told reporters today. "It is ineffective. It does not work."

Maryland has executed five inmates since 1978 and has five men currently on death row.

If the Democratic Party had a few dozen more Congressmen like John Conyers and Henry Waxman, the nation would know a whole lot more about its recent past. Conyers has been doggedly pursuing the Justice Department's firing of U.S. Attorneys who refused to bring groundless prosecutions against Democrats, or who brought legitimate prosecutions against Republicans, or who just didn't follow Karl Rove's dictates.

During that investigation, Conyers' Judiciary Committee considered evidence that former Alabama governor Don Siegelman's prosecution for corruption was politically motivated. Today Conyers wrote a letter (pdf) to Attorney General Mukasey detailing startling new information that was leaked by a whistleblower.

Conyers says the evidence raises "serious questions" about the U.S. Attorney in the Siegelman case, who, documents show, continued to involve herself in the politically charged prosecution long after she had publicly withdrawn to avoid an alleged conflict of interest relating to her husband, a top GOP operative and close associate of Bush adviser Karl Rove. Conyers' letter also cites evidence of numerous contacts between jurors and members of the Siegelman prosecution team that were never disclosed to the trial judge or defense counsel.

Unauthorized contacts with jurors? Yikes! [more ...]

This is big news if true:

President-elect Barack Obama offered Sen. Hillary Clinton the position of Secretary of State during their meeting Thursday in Chicago, according to two senior Democratic officials. She requested time to consider the offer, the officials said.

Adam Cohen writes:

Before the election, Senator Russ] Feingold argued that whoever won should make a priority of rolling back Bush administration policies that eroded constitutional rights and disrupted the careful system of checks and balances. Now that Mr. Obama — a onetime constitutional law professor who made this issue a cause early in the campaign — has won the election, there is both reason for optimism and increased pressure on the president-elect to keep his promises.

. . . Many reforms could be implemented directly by the next president. Mr. Obama could renounce Mr. Bush’s extreme views of executive power, including the notion that in many areas, the president can act as he wants without restraint by Congress or the judiciary. Mr. Obama also could declare his intention not to use presidential signing statements as Mr. Bush did in record numbers to reject parts of bills signed into law.

[MORE . .

Flipping through the various broadcast and cable news networks on election night, I was struck by two things. First, the remote control is the greatest technological advancement since indoor plumbing. Second, Chris Wallace and Karl Rove on Fox News, desperate to find a silver lining in the public's wholesale rejection of Republican governance, loudly proclaimed throughout the night that the United States was still a center-right country, based on exit polls showing more voters who identified themselves as conservative than liberal.

The "center-right nation" theme has been picked up by other conservative pundits since November 4 (unsurprisingly, since most of them can't think for themselves and need Uncle Karl to hand them their daily talking points). Turns out, it's not true. [more ...]

The New York Times is asking.

My answer - while "From Russia With Love" and "You Only Live Twice" are two of my favorites, "Goldfinger" is the greatest Bond movie ever - "No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die":

Though of course, the failure to just shoot Bond in every movie is one of the Bond highlights.

This is an Open Thread.

This information gets firmer and frankly, more fascinating:

A Democratic official confirms to the Huffington Post that Sen. Hillary Clinton met with President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday to discuss her role in the new administration. Clinton's trip to Chicago, described in press reports as "personal business," came following a request from Obama, the official said.

Is it about State? Or perhaps HHS to be Obama's Administration point person on health care reform? Is it a play for Doris Kearns Goodwin?

This seems more serious than mere trial balloons.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only?

While I think Barack Obama is right (and if anyone is kidding them self that Obama is not calling the shot on this, well . . ) to look for a way to neutralize Joe Lieberman while keeping him in the Dem caucus, there is certainly a strong argument for not keeping him. Ed Kilgore makes it here. And Rachel Maddow gave the brief last night on her show:

I admit I am more concerned with the John Brennans and Cass Susnteins surrounding Obama than this, but hey, maybe folks are right to pressure on this. It would be more interesting I think if they actually pressured the guy who is calling the shot- Barack Obama.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Via Digby, Newsweek reports:

Although both [intelligence chiefs] McConnell and Hayden expressed a willingness to stay on for some period of time, sources close to the Obama transition say this is unlikely, given that both men zealously defended controversial Bush administration policies-such as the warrantless-wiretapping program-that the incoming Democratic president opposed during the campaign.

Of course Digby is right that Obama voted for expanding the wiretapping program and telco immunity. But just as importantly, Obama's intelligence issues transition chief John Brennan vehemently championed it and McConnell in particular. Something is not right here.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

I drove up to pull into my garage this afternoon around 4pm and thought it was strange the garage door was open. As soon as I opened the door to the backyard, I saw glass all over, and the back door had been punched in. I walked inside, immediately saw my flat screen tv, dvd recorders and my Sony laptop and Macbook were gone, and called 911.

They told me to go outside and wait for the police in case the robbers were still in the house. The police arrived very quickly and were very nice. They had their guns out as they made their way through the house, backs against the wall, just like on tv. No one was in the house. [More...]