A federal judge in Tennessee has ruled the state's death penalty amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

The protocol "presents a substantial risk of unnecessary pain" and violates inmate Edward Jerome Harbison's constitutional protections, U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger said.

The new protocol, released in April, does not ensure that inmates are properly anesthetized before the lethal injection is administered, Trauger said, which could "result in a terrifying, excruciating death."

For more on how the current cocktail of drugs fails to assure a pain-free death see the Human Rights Watch Report, So Long as They Die and this article submitted to TalkLeft in 2004, You Wouldn't Do a Dog This Way.

For more news coverage of the opinion, see the Stand Down Texas Project.

Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu waived extradition to California today. He's expected to be returned tomorrow.

According to one news report, a spokesman for his lawyer's office says Hsu may have boarded the wrong train:

Jason Booth says Hsu was “sick and confused” and may have thought he was boarding a Bay Area Rapid Transit Train when he instead caught an Amtrak train to Colorado.

But according to the first article linked above, Booth had no comment on that explanation.

Jason Booth, a friend of Hsu's and a spokesman for the San Francisco law firm representing him, would not comment on an Associated Press story that reported Hsu was disoriented and ill and got on Amtrak train thinking he was boarding San Francisco's rapid-transit system.

Did James Brosnahan's office hire a friend of Hsu's as their spokesman? I tend to doubt it. I'm also having a little trouble crediting the wrong train scenario. His English reportedly isn't perfect, but still, he bought a sleeper ticket. And one would think after an hour or so on the train, he might have noticed, asked, or called someone.

The Spector-Leahy bill to restore the right of habeas corpus to detainees has been defeated. An "aye" vote of 60 Senators was needed. The final tally was 56 to 43. The nay votes included 42 Republicans and Joe Lieberman.

The roll call vote is here.

What it means: Executive imprisonment without judicial review. President Bush can continue to designate and detain individuals as "enemy combatants" and they have no meaningful ability to challenge their confinement.

People for the American Way:

Once, people the world over had faith that America was a country where you couldn’t just suddenly ‘disappear,’ taken away by the police in the night, never to be heard from again. Guilty or innocent, you would have your day in court.”

No more.

[More...]

[Via live tv] The judge has set O.J. Simpson's bail at $125,000. There was no legal battle, the defense and D.A. agreed on the amount. He can post it in cash or using a bail bondsman.

O.J. can return to Florida, he must surrender his passport and he can't have any contact with witnesses.

My view: an appropriate result.

Most bizarre moment: Watching former O.J. prosecutor and current entertainment reporter Marcia Clark leave the courthouse. Talk about flashbacks.

Matt Browner Hamlin informs us:

The cloture vote on the Leahy-Specter-Dodd amendment to restore habeas corpus will take place this morning at 10:30 AM Eastern. We need 60 votes to overcome the Republican filibuster of this crucial legislation. As you can see, we're closing in on the votes we need to take this first critical step towards restoring America's moral authority in the world. With almost 700 calls logged through our Citizen-Generated Whip Count tool at Restore-Habeas.org, we've watched the number of "Yes" votes steadily rise. This is going to be a close vote. Almost every Republican office is punting on telling their constituents how they will vote. It seems most will announce whether or not they think America should continue to stand by the Great Writ of habeas corpus with their vote alone.

Like other progresssive blogs, I support the Webb Amendment, but I think for reasons different than they do. For example, Matt Stoller writes:

If there is still any chance for the 110th Congress to draw down the war in Iraq, it probably rests on the fight over this amendment. Already, Bush will be forced to end the escalation next summer because there are not enough fresh troops to keep it going, and this measure would restrict the amount of troops that can be used in Iraq far more. Of course, 60 votes is still not 67, and there is not word on how much Republican support this bill would have in the House. Still, this is a major step forward, and makes me think that as long as there is another funding fight in a few months time, this might be one piece of legislation where a veto-proof majority is possible.

A veto proof majority is a pipe dream. The Webb Amendment will be useful in making clear to the entire country that the only way to end the Iraq Debacle is to not fund it after a date certain.

Kevin Drum highlights this Why Is Bob Herbert Boring? piece by T A Frank that I find ok, but lacking in self examination. Consider this:

All fair enough. Nevertheless, many of my sources who criticized Herbert's column underscored their admiration for the work of writers like Jason DeParle and Katherine Boo, who also illuminate the lives of the poor. Granted, these writers operate outside of the column format—in longer articles and books—but their ability to generate interest in Herbert's chosen subjects suggests that elite readers aren't incontrovertibly apathetic about the lives of those less fortunate.

The idea that Jason DeParle and Katherine Boo are big agenda setters seems laughable to me. Sounds like the people who mentioned them were name dropping in the way people do to seem deeper than they are.

I have read Bob Herbert since he was a columnist at the Daily News and no one doubted Herbert was an influential columnist or thought he was boring then. Of course, he wrote about New York mostly then.

Frankly, I think Drum and Frank let themsleves and the "elite" of this country off the hook. The problem is them. Not Bob Herbert. And yes, I am a Bob Herbert fan and read almost every column he writes.

P.S. Will Washington Monthly be doing a "Why Is Nick Kristof Boring?" column? Just wondering.

Bump and Update: O.J. is charged with ten felonies and a misdemeanor, including kidnapping with a deadly weapon. Here's the Criminal Complaint (pdf.) The kidnapping charge is directed at Bruce Fromong, who is now in critical condition in a hospital in LA, having suffered a heart attack. I hope he recovers, but I wonder whether if he dies, they'll charge O.J. with that too.

****

Original Post:
Judge Denies Goldman Attempt to Seize All O.J.'s Property

A Los Angeles judge today denied a request by the family of Ron Goldman to seize all O.J.'s property. [More...]

The Judge sent the Phil Spector jury home today after it advised the judge it was deadlocked, 7 to 5. (Background here.)

The Judge is hearing arguments this afternoon as to what to do. I think he should declare a mistrial. One thing he shouldn't do, as apparently he's contemplating, is give the jury a lesser charge to consider at this late date.

The parties agreed to only submit the murder charge. The Judge endorsed that decision.

Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler told attorneys Wednesday he pondered whether there could be "lesser included offenses," which might allow the jury to consider voluntary or involuntary manslaughter rather than murder. "I don't see it," he concluded. Both the prosecution and defense agreed that the legal definitions of lesser crimes do not fit this case.

The parties relied on there only being a murder charge in composing and delivering their closing arguments. To allow the jury to consider a charge neither side had the opportunity to address and argue would be manifestly unfair in my view.

The Judge should declare a mistrial.

Via Eric Alterman at Media Matters, Karen Tumulty at Time has a long article on presidential wives, past and hopeful. On Judith Giuliani and Jeri Thompson:

Judi G:

The public displays of affection that front runner Rudolph Giuliani and wife Judith put on for Barbara Walters -- holding hands and calling each other "baby" and "sweetheart" -- only served to remind viewers that this first blush of love is also the third marriage for each, and that wife No. 3 is one of the reasons his children with wife No. 2 won't campaign for him.

...."My role is really to support my husband in the ways I have always supported him. I love to take charge of his personal health needs, make sure he's exercising, getting the right food, which is a real challenge on the campaign trail," she says.

On Jeri Thompson:

Their family portrait — a man who qualifies for Social Security with a 40-year-old blond, a toddler and a baby — is a far cry from that of Ike and Mamie. "He sadly now looks like their grandfather," says [journalist Kati]Marton.

Ouch.

Yesterday I read about John David "Roy" Atchison, the Assistant U.S. Attorney in Florida who was arrested in a sex sting in Detroit after flying there allegedly hoping to have sex with a five year old girl.

The U.S. Attorney's Office has issued this statement. They refer to him as a "civil attorney" while the Detroit Free Press said he handled both criminal and civil cases.

The facts are ugly. You can read the criminal complaint here. My first thought was he needed to be put on a suicide watch.

He's now got a terrific lawyer, James Thomas of Detroit. Jim got him taken off the suicide watch saying he's confident it's not necessary. He also waived the detention hearing, which means Atchison will be held without bond pending trial or reconsideration.

The grand jury has already returned a three count indictment against him, available here(pdf). One of the charges carries a minimum mandatory sentence of 30 years.

I'm sure some will try to turn this into a political story but I don't see it that way -- unless he prosecuted and convicted others for child sex crimes while committing them himself. If he did these disgusting things, I see a sick man who needs help.

Sen. Larry Craig has returned to Washington and resumed his Senate duties.

Some shunned him, some were friendly. His hearing on his motion to withdraw his guilty plea is September 26.

Meanwhile, the bathroom where he was busted has now become a tourist attraction.