When politicians talk about “family values,” they rarely mention the importance of family to prisoners. Most inmates will eventually be released. Some will quickly return to crime. Those who have been regularly visited by family members are less likely to recidivate. The importance of family to prisoners should come as no surprise to “family values” advocates, so why don’t they routinely speak out about news like this?

Chronic prison overcrowding has corrections officials in Hawaii and at least seven other states looking increasingly across state lines for scarce prison beds, usually in prisons run by private companies. Facing a court mandate, California last week transferred 40 inmates to Mississippi and has plans for at least 8,000 to be sent out of state. ...

About one-third of Hawaii’s 6,000 state inmates are held in private in Arizona, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Kentucky. Alabama has 1,300 prisoners in Louisiana. About 360 inmates from California, which has one of the nation’s most crowded prison systems, are in Arizona and Tennessee. ...

Paige M. Harrison, a researcher for the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, said the out-of-state inmates faced problems familiar to the large number of in-state prisoners incarcerated hundreds of miles from their homes. A study in 1997 found that more than 60 percent of state inmates were held more than 100 miles from their last place of residence.

Private prisons are a profitable business (one reason why “family values” politicians keep silent about the adverse impact they have on families), but privatization of corrections isn’t conducive to rehabilitation, particularly when the prisons are built far from the prisoner’s home.

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Leaving town for five days is always difficult, even more so when it's for a blogging event for which I feel compelled to bring a camera, camcorder, voice recorder, laptop and all the attendant cords, most of which end up staying in my hotel room.

Then there's trying to wrap up all the day job duties, make sure the bills are paid that are due on the first of the month and so on.

So, you're on your own today. All topics welcome.

Update: KingOneEye has a top ten list of media do's and don'ts for those attending YKos.

Update: Myths and Facts About FISA.

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Republicans have been pushing to amend FISA before the August recess. A hearing of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence at which Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell was scheduled to testify today has been canceled.

Yesterday, for the first time, McConnell briefed Sen. Arlen Specter on the NSA program. While Specter hasn't discussed what he learned at the briefing, after it he labeled attempts to impeach or bring perjury charges against Alberto Gonzales "premature."

We need to slow down this train. FISA doesn't need to be gutted or amended. It needs to be followed.

"FISA was enacted to ensure that no president could unilaterally decide who to secretly and indefinitely wiretap under the guise of national security. These bills would allow terrorism to be used as a pretext for undermining our basic Fourth Amendment rights. Congress should not pass the bills which give the president a blank check to violate the rights of innocent Americans."

Congress should just say no to gutting FISA.

Update below: FISA action may not be off the table after all:

Via Stop the Drug War, an employee of the San Francisco Health Department has sent a letter to a marijuana dispensary warning them not to skimp on the amount pot it places in its ounce baggies.

Seems like the dispensary was rounding out an ounce to 28 grams when it's really 28.35 grams. From the letter:

It has come to my attention that some MCD's [medical cannabis dispensaries] are using the incorrect equivalent conversion between grams and ounces. You must use 28.35 grams/ounce, not 28 grams/ounce for all cannabis sold by weight. The law behind this is in the State Business and Professions Code, which is typically enforced by Weights and Measures (State Dept of Agriculture). As they currently are not addressing weights and measures issues regarding cannabis clubs, the City's MCD Inspection Program will enforce this requirement.

Please feel free to share this with any club operator (I do not have email for most operators).

Bottom line: More bud for the buck.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that federal agents are searching the home of Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska.

Keep on truckin', Sen. Stevens.

Sittin' and starin' out of the hotel window.
Got a tip they're gonna kick the door in again
I'd like to get some sleep before I travel,
But if you got a warrant, I guess you're gonna come in.

Update (TL): The Washington Post has more details.

Think kind and healthy thoughts for Chief Justice Roberts, who suffered a seizure yesterday.

Doctors called Monday's incident "a benign idiopathic seizure," Arberg said. The White House described [a similar] January 1993 episode as an "isolated, idiosyncratic seizure." Both descriptions indicate that doctors could not determine the seizure's cause or link it to another medical condition.

Update (TL): Justice Roberts has fully recovered. And yes, he did tell the Senate Judiciary Committee about his 1993 seizure.

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The Federalist society is hosting an online debate on the Bush Administration's claim of executive privilege. For the "good guys" are Jack Balkin, Marty Lederman, Michael Dorf and Peter Shane. Not totally on topic but I loved this entry from Shane:

Chuck, The Dems do not need filibuster-proof support to defund selected positions in the Executive Office of the President. They simply have to refuse to pass out of the House any appropriations bill that contains such funding. Whether this is too blunt an instrument, I am not sure; it's a far more surgical strike threat than the 1995 government shutdown that Gingrich produced.

Zactly! On all issues!

Here's a lesson in non-discrimination we could learn from Mexico City:

The prison system in Mexico City has begun permitting gay prisoners to have conjugal visits from their partners.

The city authorities accepted a recommendation by a human rights commission which said the visits would help to end discrimination.

As for other lessons:

Mexico City's centre-left government has taken a series of controversial decisions, including allowing same-sex civil unions and legalising abortion, despite strong opposition from conservatives and religious groups.

Al Gore III pleaded guilty to drug possession in Los Angeles today and was granted diversion.

He pleaded guilty to two felony counts of drug possession, two misdemeanor counts of drug possession without a prescription, and one misdemeanor count of marijuana possession, the district attorney's office said.

Jaime Coulter, senior deputy district attorney, said Gore's sentencing will be continued until Feb. 7. If he has complied with all the conditions of the diversion program, the sentencing will be continued again for another year, with charges possibly being dropped in 2009. "At that point, he will be able to withdraw his guilty plea as if he never entered it," Coulter said.

That's the correct resolution. Now, if we could only ensure it was available to all who are similarly situated. Rather than castigate Gore for getting special treatment, as some undoubtedly will, I'd rather people use his case as an example and to send a message to prosecutors and legislators that this outcome should be available to all in need of drug treatment.

In Pennsylvania, a pregnant inmate is left in her Lackawanna county jail cell alone during labor while guards monitor her with a camera and refuse her assistance.

Despite her pleas for help and screams, she was forced to give birth unattended. After the baby was born, a female jailer reportedly cut the umbilical cord with her fingernails. Only then, were mother and daughter brought to the hospital.

The county has praised the prison staff's actions.

County officials are contending the staff at the prison reacted "fantastically" and told local reporters they believed the prison guards and the nurse on duty were diligent in their care.

County commissioner and chairman of the county prison board A.J. Munchak, Warden Janine Donate and Dr. Edward Zaloga, the county prison's chief medical director, all praised the staff. "As I said yesterday [Monday], medically, medical-wise and security-wise, everything was done properly," Munchak told the Scranton Times-Tribune

The mother has filed a lawsuit alleging violation of her civil rights. The baby is now in foster care.

Via Oreo at Daily Kos, Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) will introduce a resolution before the House Judiciary Committee tomorrow asking that an inquiry be initiated to determine whether there are grounds to impeach Alberto Gonzales.

RESOLUTION

Directing the Committee on the Judiciary to investigate whether Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States, should be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary shall investigate fully whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to impeach Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Contrary to Big Tent Democrat who favors Gonzales' impeachment, I don't have a position on it. Generally, I'm inclined against impeachment proceedings as an unnecessary usurption of Congressional time and money that could be better spent elsewhere.

Gonzales is a bigger detriment to the Republicans in 2008 if he remains as Attorney General. He will tarnish Bush's legacy permanently and Republican candidates will face a backlash because of him. If he goes early, voters may get over it by then.

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In an interview with Mark Knoller of CBS news that airs today, Vice President Dick Cheney voices support for Alberto Gonzales and says he was truthful with Congress.

In the 13 minute interview, which you can watch here, Cheney also discusses Scooter Libby.

Contrary to Bush who said he accepted the jury's verdict but thought the sentence was excessive, Cheney says Libby's jury got the verdict wrong.

I don't know when the interview was conducted, but I assume it was yesterday or today since Cheney was in the hospital getting his pacemaker battery updated Saturday. I don't have time to watch the interview now, but I wonder if the Knoller asked Cheney if he was the one who sent Gonzales and Card to John Ashcroft's hospital room in March, 2004. A New York Times editorial Sunday said Cheney directed the visit, but no one else seems to have confirmed that.

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