Omar Khadr is the teenager who was captured and brought to Guantanamo at age 15. (Background here.)

His case came before the military tribunal at Guantanamo today and the Judge dismissed the charges on jurisdictional grounds.

The stunning ruling by Army Col. Peter Brownback came just minutes into Khadr's arraignment, in which he faced charges he committed murder in violation of the law of war, attempted murder in violation of the law of war, conspiracy, providing material support for terrorism and spying.

"The charges are dismissed without prejudice," Brownback pronounced as he adjourned the proceeding.

The reason:

Khadr had been classified as an "enemy combatant" by a military panel years earlier at Guantanamo Bay, but because he was not classified as an "alien unlawful enemy combatant," Brownback said he had no choice but to throw the case out.

The Military Commissions Act, signed by President George W. Bush last year after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the previous war-crimes trial system, says specifically that only those classified as "unlawful" enemy combatants can face war trials here.

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In this article from Charleston, WV, with accompanying video from local TV news, a pizza delivery driver was stopped for no seatbelt at a seatbelt checkpoint and marijuana was found.

A Putam County man was arrested after city police said they found more than two pounds of marijuana his car during a seatbelt checkpoint.

Roger Lee Caldwell, 25, was arrested in Friday when police said they discovered the marijuana inside several pizza delivery bags, according to a release from the department.

Caldwell worked as a pizza delivery employee for a local pizza establishment, but police did not say which one.

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I believe that jurors should be life-qualified not death-qualified to serve on a capital jury. But, that's not the law.

The Supreme Court today, in an opinion written Justice Anthony Kennedy, reinstated the death sentence of a Washington man whose sentence was overturned because a juror had said he would consider the death penalty only in limited circumstances.

The court, in a 5-4 decision, said that the Washington state judge who presided over the trial of Cal Coburn Brown properly used his discretion to excuse a potential juror who expressed equivocal views about the death penalty.

The juror in question was challenged by prosecutors because he indicated he would impose the death penalty only if the defendant were in the position to kill again. Jurors' options were limited: they could sentence Brown to death or life in prison with no parole.

The text of the opinion is here (pdf). As the 9th Circuit noted in deciding the case differently, the juror did not unequivocally impose the death penalty.

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The transcript of the New Hampshire Democratic debate last night is here.

Digby, as always, makes excellent points, particularly about Dennis Kucinich. I too am glad he's in the race because he is terrific on most issues. But his attacks on Democrats, such as saying it's our war now because we didn't end it after November, help no one.

And yes, the "raise your hand" questions were silly and as were some of the questions. As Digby paraphrases:

I think the question I enjoyed the most in the Democratic debate was the one where Wolf asked them all what they would do if they were tied to a bed naked with a ticking time bomb and a bunch of terrorists rushed into the room and started kibitzing among themselves about where to get the best Botox in Miami.

I was waiting for the question to end with a query as to whether they'd call in Jack Bauer. More on the myth of the ticking time bomb from Professor Alfred McCoy here and from Balkanization here.

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After one last party, the MTV Movie Awards, Paris Hilton surrendered to Los Angeles authorities last night to begin serving her 45 day prison term. She had until tomorrow to report.

She'll be in solitary 23 hours a day, in an 8×12 foot cell. She'll eat her meals in her cell. She gets an hour a day to shower, exercise or watch tv in the day room. She won't have a roommate, at least initially.

This is the "special needs" section of the jail for cops and celebrities.

At least she won't be forced to do slave labor.

She'll be out in 23 days, not due to overcrowding, but because all inmates get that much time off for good behavior.

Good luck, Paris.

Boy, Fred Hiatt is unbelievable. Discussing the foreign policy views of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, he writes:

[A]fter you cut through some of their campaign rhetoric, here's what you find:

(1) The two candidates' programs are strikingly similar to each other.

(2) Both are strikingly similar to Bush administration policy.

Obama like Bush? Okaaaaay. I bet Obama loves that. I guess one could go to the trouble of debunking this nonsense but is it really necessary? Hiatt is quite the wanker isn't he?

Tony Lagouranis interrogated prisoners in Iraq. He says "I tortured people."

At Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, the site of the 2003-04 abuse scandal, Lagouranis used to relax in the old execution chamber. He and a friend would sit near the trapdoor and read the Arabic scratched into the wall. They found a dirty brown rope. It was the hangman's noose. "If there is an evil spot in the world, that was one of them," Lagouranis said.

At Abu Ghraib and sometimes at the facilities in Mosul, north Babil province and other places where Lagouranis worked, the Americans were shot at and attacked with mortar fire. "Then I get a prisoner who may have done it," he said. "What are you going to do? You just want to get back at somebody, so you bring this dog in. 'Finally, I got you.' "

Now, he's tortured. This is a long article, but it doesn't make me any more sympathetic towards Lagouranis than I was towards Charles Graner.

Why are we hearing about this now? Because his book is about to be published.

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The Bancroft family (chief stockholder in Dow Jones) is meeting with News Corp today to decide about editorial independence of the Wall St. Journal in the event of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. take-over bid.

T-Rex comments here.

I don't get the big deal over the editorial content. The Wall St. Journal already has a right-wing editorial board. What's the difference between that and Murdoch?

I subscribe to the Journal at a cost of $100 plus a year because of their political and social reporting (not financial reporting as I have no interest in that arena.) I never read their editorials.

The Wall St. Journal's reporting is top-notch. They did great stuff on Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and even on criminal justice and sentencing issues. That's what I'm afraid will be lost if Murdoch has his way.

Update: Commenters point out I misunderstand the nature of the takeover and how newspapers work. Editorial control includes control of the news. I stand corrected.

The Associated Press reports on the inducements the drug-trafficker snitch received in the JFK Terror case. But it missed one.

As I pointed out the other day, not only is he getting a reduced sentence for his own misdeeds, according to a footnote in the criminal Complaint (pdf) filed against him, he also got money -- on an ongoing basis.

It's not that I don't believe the defendants were working on a plot to economically damage the U.S. (the complaint also stresses they wanted to do economic harm and avoid to any extent possible the deaths of innocent persons.) It's that I don't believe they had the capability of pulling it off -- without the assistance promised by our federal government through the snitch.

Terror wannabes, bumbling holy warriors again.

The NYTimes reports:

Three months after the start of the Baghdad security plan that has added thousands of American and Iraqi troops to the capital, they control fewer than one-third of the city’s neighborhoods, far short of the initial goal for the operation, according to some commanders and an internal military assessment.

. . . In an interview, [General Vincent Brooks] said that while military planners had expected to make greater gains by now, that has not been possible in large part because Iraqi police and army units, which were expected to handle basic security tasks, like manning checkpoints and conducting patrols, have not provided all the forces promised, and in some cases have performed poorly.

Who'da thunk it? Plan B anyone?

Calling any criminal defense lawyers in New Hampshire: Eric Alterman may need your help:

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (CNN ) – Columnist and author Eric Alterman was arrested Sunday night inside the debate spin room and charged with criminal trespass after police say he refused repeated orders to leave.

Goffstown, N.H. police say Alterman was in the spin room as a guest of the Creative Coalition and went to an area reserved for a private reception for WMUR-TV. Police say he was asked by an executive at the party if he was invited to the private area and was asked to leave. A police officer was called after a verbal altercation ensued. He was asked by police seven times to leave, and police say he became increasingly loud as he refused. After ignoring a final request, police say he was handcuffed and taken from the building. He is charged with criminal trespass, and a bail commissioner will determine if he will be released.

Update: I just got an e-mail from Eric explaining what happened. Here it is:

A great 16 second moment in the debate -- Hillary blasts Condi Rice and Dick Cheney for their lack of diplomacy skills.