For the Fort Collins, CO couple who received dead pot plants back from the police.

After a Fort Collins, Colorado judge last week ordered the police to return 39 plants to two medical marijuana caregivers, the police department has complied: by returning dead plants.

James and Lisa Masters, the former defendants and owners of the plants, will sue. Their lawyer puts the value of the plants at $100,000.

The Judge ordered the plants and the grow system returned after ruling the search was illegal. The D.A. says there was no obligation to preserve the plants because the Masters weren't on the registry at the time of the search. (They couldn't afford it and with help from others, were placed on the registry several days later.)

Via Crooks and Liars, the 8th Circuit has struck down public funding for faith-based prisons.

The opinion is here (pdf.)

In the present case, plaintiffs demonstrated (and defendants do not seriously contest) that the InnerChange program resulted in inmate enrollment in a program dominated by Bible study, Christian classes, religious revivals, and church services.
The DOC also provided less tangible aid to the InnerChange program. Participants were housed in living quarters that had, in previous years, been used as an “honor unit,” and which afforded residents greater privacy than the typical cell. Among other benefits, participants were allowed more visits from family members and had greater
access to computers.

More...

Jena Six defendant Mychal Bell has reached a plea agreement with prosecutors. He will get an 18 month sentence to a juvenile facility and receive credit for time served. He will serve about 8 more months before being released.

Bell's attorneys said they agreed to the plea bargain to spare the former high school football star the danger of being convicted of more serious charges and also to win early release from juvenile custody.

In October, Mauffray sentenced Bell to 18 months in a juvenile facility for four prior juvenile convictions for battery and destruction of property. But under the terms of Monday's plea agreement, that time will be served concurrently with the new 18-month sentence for the Dec. 4 attack, and Bell will get credit for the nine months he spent in jail while awaiting trial. His attorneys said he could be released by June.

The D.A. is trying to work out plea deals for the remaining defendants.

(Speaking for myself only.)

As a weak Obama supporter at this time, folks will likely take my thoughts, rightly, with a grain of salt. But this most recent Gallup poll demonstrates, to me at least, that Barack Obama has a real chance to grab the Democratic nomination from Hillary Clinton:

Clinton's standing among Democrats dropped by 11 percentage points from early November and Giuliani's standing among Republicans fell by 9 points, though both continue to lead their fields. . . . Among Democrats, Clinton's fall wasn't matched by a statistically significant rise for chief rivals Barack Obama and John Edwards. Obama's standing rose 2 points from early November while Edwards was steady.

Clinton has slipped significantly. But Obama has not moved up. Why? I believe the reason is the doubts I have had and written about for some time - the doubt that Obama can fight for Democratic values against a vicious Republican Party. And I am not just talking about in a campaign. I mean as President as well.

Obama needs to demonstrate that he can fight FOR Democratic values and AGAINST Republican values. He needs to change this:

Clinton leads Obama by 26 points among Democratic partisans and 22 points among women.

Here is news of a poll that not only shows Hillary Clinton leading, but Obama behind Edwards, thus "disproving" my theory that Edwards is done:

Dems: Clinton 31, Edwards 24, Obama 20, Richardson 11.

GOP: Romney 25, Huckabee 22, Giuliani 16, Thompson 9, McCain 8.

Margin of error: 6%

My response? All polls stink are questionable.

Bump and Update: Larry Craig denies the new allegations.

There are now a total of 8 accusers. (ABC News report here, but see McJoan's comment below.) Where's Larry Craig this week? Heading to Bali.

****
Original Post: 12/2/07

The Idaho Statesman has new allegations against Larry Craig.

This is a big week for the Center for Constitutional Rights with the Supreme Court about to hear oral arguments in the Guantanamo case, Al Odah v. United States. To raise consciousness on the case, it tried to buy an ad on Fox News. Fox rejected the ad. CCR says (no link yet, received by e-mail):

In our ad, Danny Glover says the Bush administration is “destroying the Constitution,” and they said we needed proof. Were they expecting video of Bush sneaking into the Library of Congress with a shredder? I wonder how many times Bill O’Reilly has accused someone of destroying America or destroying Christmas?

You can watch the ad, Rescue the Constitution, here.

The CCR also has a campaign to send President Bush a copy of the Constitution as a Christmas present.

Unfortunately, Hillary Clinton in Iowa yesterday said she has problems with making the reduction in crack-powder cocaine penalties, minimal as they are, retroactive.

“In principle I have problems with retroactivity," she said. "It’s something a lot of communities will be concerned about as well."

Five other Dems at the forum favor retroactivity:

Her five rivals present on stage — Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich — all said they favor making the shorter sentences retroactive.

Hillary needs to rethink this. As Law Prof Doug Berman says at Sentencing Law and Policy, her position is a huge disappointment. But I'm not convinced Obama's position will result in any future change of the excessive mandatory minimum sentences (as opposed to the minimal guideline reduction) for crack offenses. [More...]

Markos writes about it:

On 11/30, Rasmussen's tracking poll had Giuliani at 27%, 14% ahead of his nearest competitor. Today, he limps in at 20% after three consecutive days of losses. Meanwhile, Huckabee, at 13% on the 30th, is now at 17% and surging.

With Rudy a sure fire also ran in Iowa and trailing badly in New Hampshire, with the government funded trysts still to be explained, Rudy seems to be, well, over.

Tweety and MoDo will weep.

Timothy Rutten at the LA Times skewers CNN over the questions asked of the Republican candidates at the You Tube debate, calling it a masquerade and suggesting the focus on immigration was done to boost Lou Dobbs' ratings.

When CNN brought the Republican presidential candidates together this week for what is loosely termed a "debate," what did the country get but a discussion of immigration, Biblical inerrancy and the propriety of flying the Confederate flag?

....CNN chose to devote the first 35 minutes of this critical debate to a single issue -- immigration. Now, if that leaves you scratching your head, it's probably because you're included in the 96% of Americans who do not think immigration is the most important issue confronting this country.

The Pew Center which studies issues of concern to voters, ranks the issues of most importance as:

A repentant Don Imus returned to the airwaves this morning.

He's hired two African-American comedians as "sidekicks" and the three will provide "“an ongoing discussion about race relations in this country.”

He's vowed to avoid making racially disparaging remarks. He says he deserves this second chance. Among his guests this morning, willing to provide it to him:

Senator John McCain of Arizona, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president, and Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, who is seeking the Democratic nomination; the author Doris Kearns Goodwin, and the political strategists James Carville and Mary Matalin.

Some of his targets remain the same:

“Dick Cheney is still a war criminal,” Mr. Imus, 67, told the audience, in an effort to reassure them that he did not intend to completely alter his style, or curb his tongue. “Hillary Clinton is still Satan. And I’m going on the radio.”