by TChris

California's prisons are desperately overcrowded, a condition that guarantees full employment for members of the state's powerful corrections union. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency yesterday, prefatory to execution of a plan to send prisoners to rented cells in other states, away from family and support networks that might give them a chance of avoiding a return to crime when they're eventually released. This short-term thinking only perpetuates a long-term problem.

Donald Specter, director of the Prison Law Office, is right: "as serious reform, there is nothing about this that makes sense." Sending a few thousand prisoners to be housed in other states won't solve the problem. The governor should be exploring alternatives to incarceration so that drug offenders are diverted from the prison sytem, as well as early release programs for nonviolent prisoners, including those who are serving "third strike" sentences for minor crimes.

Here are more ideas that are better than the governor's:

(Guest Post from Big Tent Democrat) (The opinions expressed are my own solely. They in no way reflect the opinion of any other TalkLeft blogger. Professor Reynolds is a very cordial intellectual adversary and we all admire his civility.)

Earlier this week, Glenn Reynolds took exception to my characterizing his linking to Howard Kurtz as endorsing Kurtz's blaming the kids in the Foley page scandal:

# Posted by Glenn Reynolds
October 3, 2006 11:27 AM

I "endorse" blaming young people? How, by quoting Kurtz as you did? I also quote Brendan Miniter blaming the Republican leadership.

This "you must endorse whatever you link" theory, which seems to be gaining ground in the blogosphere, strikes me as very silly.

Fair enough. But it seems worth considering what Professor Reynolds is linking to and what that means:

FoleyGate has claimed it's first casualty: Rep. Tom Reynold's aide, also a former Mark Foley aide, Kirk Fordham:

ABC News' Senior National Correspondent Jake Tapper reports that Kirk Fordham has resigned. The chief of staff for Republican Congressman Tom Reynolds, Kirk Fordham, resigned after questions were raised about his role in the handling of the congressional page scandal, according to Republican sources on Capitol Hill.

Those sources said Fordham, a former chief of staff for Congressman Mark Foley, had urged Republican leaders last spring not to raise questionable Foley e-mails with the full Congressional Page Board, made up of two Republicans and a Democrat. "He begged them not to tell the page board," said one of the Republican sources.

Fordham, of course has his own tale tell. He's being made the scapegoat.

I'm on the road today, traveling to New York for the annual Lexis-Nexis/Martindale Legal Advisory Board meeting. Lexis and Martindale are my favorite companies and it's the best meeting I attend all year. Every year they take us to another spot, we've been to Bermuda, Canada and all over the U.S. It would be close to impossible for me to either practice law or blog without Lexis-Nexis. To serve on their legal advisory board, as I've done the last ten years, is really a privilege for me.

In addition, the TL kid is in NY, and whatever time I'm not with Lexis, I'll be with him. I'll have my laptop and will not be absent completely, and I hope TChris and Big Tent Democrat (and maybe even Last Night in Little Rock, if he's angry enough about something) will be keeping you updated.

But just in case, here's some space for you to comment and keep each other apprised of what's going on in the world.

I suspect Denny Hastert will resign his leadership post before I return to Denver Sunday night, but I've been wrong before. What do you think?

I know everyone is frustrated with the comments. I've been saying for the last month the site is moving from Movable Type to Scoop (see Daily Kos as an example of modified Scoop) and it really is happening. The new site is built, it looks almost exactly like the current site, commenting problems should be eliminated, and there will be the opportunity for those of you who want to blog but don't want your own site to create your own posts.

I'm not sure how reader posting and comment rating will work yet, since unlike Daily Kos, there are conservatives (PPJ and others, are you listening?) who comment regularly on TL. While I have no intention of letting TalkLeft become a free-for-all, it's also not fair to bash conservative commenters just because of their point of view. It will remain a partisan, liberal site, especially on crime and political issues, but some accomodation will be made to allow conservatives to comment without fear of being trashed solely because of their point of view.

As for a launch date: We're in the debugging mode. We should be live next week.

(Guest Post by Big Tent Democrat)

If you believe this story:

A Democratic Congressman with whom I have very good relations (no, not the Mark Foley kind) was drowning his sorrows tonight at the thought of going into the majority now. His point was that if the Dems lose again this year, they can blame Pelosi and replace her and will inevitably take control in 2008.

But, because of Republican incompetence (to get an accurate account of what he said, insert the "F" word after every second word in this post and after every reference to either party), the Democrats are going to take the majority this year, will have to make Pelosi the Speaker or look really bad, and then she will screw up everything for the Democrats and destroy their majority for the next 25 years. He assures me that this is a widespread sentiment, particularly among Southern and Midwestern members of the Democratic delegation who would rather see Speaker Hoyer or Speaker Anybody but Pelosi.

Heh. I got four words for Republicans on that -- Henry Waxman, Committee Chairman. Steny Hoyer should keep quiet don't you think?

(Guest Post from Big Tent Democrat)

The Washington Post Editorial Board says:

We continue to agree with Mr. Bush that it would be wrong and dangerous for U.S. troops simply to withdraw. But it is also dangerous when leaders such as Mr. Bush, Vice President Cheney and Mr. Rumsfeld continue to resist reality.

But the problem with this formulation is that Messrs. Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld run this Debacle. It would be wrong to simply withdraw says WaPo. Whether that would be true with a competent Administration in place is highly debatable (full disclosure, I opposed the Iraq Debacle from the moment it was first mooted in 2002). But it seems difficult to argue that as long as the Bush Administration is in charge, that an exit strategy is not imperative.

Ironically, the Post's own editorial lays out why this is the case:

(Guest Post from Big Tent Democrat)

The Republican blogs say it baldly:

[N]ow is not the time for a leadership contest. Anyone who suggests otherwise is a fool or a foe. . . . Once the House is securely in the hands of a GOP majority on November 8th, we can reassess our leadership team.

Okaay. Isn't that what dictated Hastert coddling the sexual predator Foley? More:

If we decapitate our leadership right now going into the November elections, we lose the whole shooting match. Our base will completely deflate. There is a time and place to talk about vision and leadership [at the top], but now is not the time."

Shameless.

by TChris

A citizen, whether naturalized or born in the USA, is a citizen. Ohio nonetheless tried to impose a requirement that naturalized citizens provide proof of citizenship before casting a ballot, if challenged by a poll worker. How a poll worker was to distinguish between a citizen by birth and a naturalized citizen is a mystery, but no matter. Judge Christopher Boyko struck down the law, holding: "There can be no second-class American as far as any court is concerned." Exactly. (More on the ridiculous law here.)

Here's the shocker. The rule was so obviously unconstitutional that, when it was challenged in court, Ohio's notorious Secretary of State (and now gubernatorial candidate) Ken Blackwell didn't even try to defend it. So why didn't you refuse to enforce it from the beginning, Mr. Blackwell?

by TChris

Last year, Radley Balko brought the nation's attention to the plight of Cory Maye. The police broke down Maye's door during a drug raid in Mississippi. The officers claimed they knocked, but having gone to the trouble of securing a "no knock" warrant, that claim is suspect. Maye, not realizing that the people invading his house in the middle of the night were police officers and concerned about the safety of his young daughter, shot an intruder without realizing he was shooting a police officer. The officer turned out to be the son of the police chief. The police turned out to have busted down the wrong door; their warrant was for the adjoining unit in the duplex where Maye lived. Maye is black; the officer and jury were white; and Maye, who seems to have been acting in self-defense, was nonetheless sentenced to death.

TalkLeft first wrote about Maye here, and followed up here. Thanks to Balko, Maye's case stayed in the spotlight, attracting the attention of Danny Glover (as TalkLeft reported here) among others. Balko's efforts on Maye's behalf also attracted the attention of a lawyer at Covington & Burling, who persuaded the firm to represent Maye pro bono. Balko reports on the results of their work:

Let me begin by saying that I disapprove of outing people based on their sexual orientation. Once it's reported, there's no point in ignoring it, but I'm not going to be the one to do it.

David Corn today (who also disapproves of the practice) writes that a list of Gay Republican aides is making the rounds. He has the list but is not publishing it.

Aspen (Pitkin County, Colorado) Sheriff Bob Braudis, the most principled, fairest, trustworthy, best law enforcement officer I've known in my career, has launched his re-election website. The music is by Jimmy Ibbotson of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Here's Bob's mission statement, in part:

I have always seen my role as sheriff as a peacekeeper rather than just a law enforcer. Even though it has become fashionable these days to scare people to gain personal power, I prefer to inspire others to be law abiding, kind, generous, and productive members of our wonderful community.

Bob says, "Democracy is not a spectator sport. If you share my commitment to peace and safety in Pitkin County, please vote for me on November 7."

Bob has a challenger this time, a pro-drug war type with a typical cop mentality. Send a contribution to Bob, and keep Aspen safe and free.