Two decades after being convicted of murder in Tennessee and sentenced to death, after losing an appeal, losing a habeas proceeding, and losing an appeal from the denial of his habeas petition, Paul House persuaded the Supreme Court that new DNA testing established his probable innocence. The Court therefore applied the "actual innocence" exception to the rule that a habeas proceeding must be commenced within a year after the state proceedings become final -- much to the dismay of the Tennessee prosecutors who can't admit they sent the wrong man to death row.

That might have been a happy ending, but the story isn't over. Two years later, House is still behind bars "while a prosecutor methodically battles every effort from the courts to have him retried." [More...]

Thanks to Big Tent Democrat and TChris for their posts today -- I'm at work and won't be writing until tonight.

Here's an open thread for those of you with other topics on your mind. Please, as always, keep it civil.

More reaction to the Gitmo detainee decision (pdf):

• National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
• ACLU
• Center for Constitutional Rights
• Human Rights First

[More...]

Via Somerby, Nancy Giles, who claims to be a Democratic political strategist (NOTE: Apparently not. Just a random Democrat. Which begs the question, why is she on TV?):

ABRAMS (6/11/08): Well, let me ask you this. Nancy, if the numbers show—if it’s close by the time he has to make the decision, and the numbers show in the polls that Hillary could make the difference, would that make the difference to you?

GILES: No. [. . .] No, it’s not worth losing over because I don’t think he’ll lose...I think it would be a real liability. But his whole campaign is new—change, not old politics. And Hillary—look, if he gets Hillary as his VP, he’s got to hire somebody to be the official presidential taster because you don’t know what`s going to be in your food. You don’t know what could happen. I literally feel that way.

(Emphasis supplied.) She literally feels that way. Oy. What synonyms can be used for the words disgusting and idiotic? Because I am not allowed to name call at Talk Left.

Speaking for me only

Three passages from the majority opinion's conclusion in Boumediene are worth your time (so is the rest of the opinion, but weighing in at 70 pages, it takes some time to digest):

Security depends upon a sophisticated intelligence apparatus and the ability of our Armed Forces to act and to interdict. There are further considerations, however. Security subsists, too, in fidelity to freedom’s first principles. Chief among these are freedom from arbitrary and unlawful restraint and the personal liberty that is secured by adherence to the separation of powers. It is from these principles that the judicial authority to consider petitions for habeas corpus relief derives. ...

[more ...]

In my previous writings on the Boumediene constitutional habeas corpus cases, I argued that the DC district court and the DC Circuit court misread the important Eisentrager precedent.

MSNBC just flashed the report that in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court just ruled that the detainees in Guantanamo have a constitutional right to habeas corpus. Apparently, the Supreme Court agreed with me and disagreed with the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.

AP:

Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the court, said, "The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times." . . . In dissent, Chief Justice John Roberts criticized his colleagues for striking down what he called "the most generous set of procedural protections ever afforded aliens detained by this country as enemy combatants."

More to come when I read the opinion . I want to compare it to my prior analysis. [More...]

The most recent electoralvote.com electoral map provides a picture of the election that I largely agree with. What it means in my opinion is what I have been saying for a while now - this election will be decided by Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan (now add Missouri.)

Right now, the map shows McCain holding the Solid Republican South and Obama holding the Gore/Kerry states (plus Iowa, Colorado and New Mexico). Obama's ability to take his electoral vote number comfortably over 270 depends on a showing of a 1 point lead in Ohio, a 3 point lead in Michigan, a 1 point lead in Missouri and a 5 point lead in Pennsylvania.

To get to 270, McCain needs to hold Ohio and take Michigan and/or Pennsylvania from the Gore/Kerry column (assuming he holds Virginia, if Obama wins Virginia, then he won in a landslide and all of this is moot). More . . .

The NBC/WSJ Poll that has Obama leading McCain 47-41, also has a lesson in reading a poll. Let's look at this excerpt from the poll:

Twenty-two percent say that adding Clinton as Obama’s vice presidential running mate makes them more likely to vote for Obama in November; 21 percent say it makes them less likely to vote for him; and 55 percent say it makes no difference.

Hmmm. That does not sound very good. Sounds like Clinton is a wash at best. Ahh, but let's learn about how to read a poll. What is the real effect?

Ryan Singal reports newly declassified documents show that the FISA Court had concerns the FBI was wiretapping innocent Americans:

Does the FBI track cellphone users' physical movements without a warrant? Does the Bureau store recordings of innocent Americans caught up in wiretaps in a searchable database? Does the FBI's wiretap equipment store information like voicemail passwords and bank account numbers without legal authorization to do so?

That's what the nation's Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court wanted to know, in a series of secret inquiries in 2005 and 2006 into the bureau's counterterrorism electronic surveillance efforts, revealed for the first time in newly declassified documents.

A review of the declassified documents shows: [More...]

The judge in the Tony Rezko trial has released a two page letter Rezko wrote her while seeking to have his bail reinstated in April. In it, he defends Sen. Barack Obama, saying the Government was overzealous in its pursuit of "a crime that never happened" and sought information from him about Obama but he had none to give. The actual letter is here.

Two months before he was convicted of federal corruption charges, political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko told his trial judge that "overzealous" prosecutors were pressuring him to tell them about any wrongdoing involving Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama or Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

But in a two-page typed letter, Rezko said he was never involved in any wrongdoing with either of the Democrats and wouldn't make up stories about them in an attempt to benefit himself.

[More...]

A new U.S. study finds that marijuana potency has increased in recent years. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy responds like Henny Penny claiming the sky is falling. :

[Drug Czar John Walters] cited the risk of psychological, cognitive and respiratory problems, and the potential for users to become dependent on drugs such as cocaine and heroin.

A more rational view: [More...]