by TChris

For reasons explained here and here, Lt. Ehren Watada refused to deploy to Iraq. He'd rather lose his liberty than his sense of morality.

A separate question is whether he should be also face punishment for criticizing the president's decision to go to war. In an amicus brief, the ACLU of Washington argues that Watada did not sacrifice his right to right to speak out on core issues of public policy by enlisting in the military.

In addition to charges against Lt. Watada for refusal to report to duty, the military is seeking to penalize Lt. Watada for statements he made to reporters expressing his objections to the United States' involvement in the war in Iraq (see below). He is being charged with violating two articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice: Article 88, which prohibits use of "contemptuous words" against the President and other top governmental officials; and Article 133, which prohibits "conduct unbecoming an officer" - that is, behavior which dishonors or disgraces an officer or "seriously compromises the officer's character as a gentleman."

by TChris

Frank Quattrone has to be a happy man today. Charged with obstructing a federal investigation by directing co-workers (via email) to "clean up" their files (which the feds read to mean "destroy the evidence"), Quattrone's first trial ended in a hung jury. He was convicted in a second trial and sentenced to 18 months in prison, but his conviction was overturned on appeal.

The good news for Quattrone is that he won't face a third trial:

U.S. District Court Judge George B. Daniels approved a one-year deferred prosecution agreement, calling for the charges to be dismissed if Quattrone stays out of trouble for one year.

The agreement required no admission of guilt. This is an excellent result for Quattrone's defense team, and an embarrassment for the Southern District of New York prosecutors who handled the case.

by TChris

Eleven individuals who were arrested for plotting to blow up airplanes were arraigned today in a British court. Eight are charged with conspiracy to commit murder and something called "preparing acts of terrorism." They will be held in custody until they appear at the Old Bailey, London's criminal court, on Sept. 4. Two of the three who face lesser charges will return to court on August 29, while the last defendant will return to court on September 19.

The fate of the remaining arrestees is less clear.

Of the 12 detainees who have not yet been charged, one, a woman who was not identified, is to be freed, authorities said. The rest are being held under British counterterrorism laws that allow up to 28 days of detention without charges, said Susan Hemming, a lawyer from the Crown Prosecution Service. ...

[Prosecutor] Hemming said the authorities had not decided whether to seek the further detention of any of the suspects still being held without charge. Under counterterrorism laws, the authorities must apply to a High Court judge by Wednesday to detain them for another seven days.

The news is still focused on Ramsey coverage, but you don't have to be. Here's a place to discuss whatever's on your mind.

by TChris

North Carolina's new Innocence Inquiry Commission is a worthy experiment. It gives wrongfully convicted prisoners a final chance to prove their innocence after the judicial system has declared their convictions final.

Cases will be reviewed by a finely balanced, eight-member panel: a judge, a prosecutor, a sheriff, a defense lawyer, a victim's advocate, and three at-large members. If a majority finds compelling evidence of innocence, the case would go to a panel of three Superior Court judges, who would have to rule unanimously to overturn the conviction.

Whether the panel will feel insulated from political pressure to keep the convicted behind bars is unclear, but North Carolina is at least responding to the serious problem of wrongful convictions.

USA Today reports on the number of death row inmates in the U.S. refusing to appeal their sentence. One of every eight persons on death row is now volunteering to die.

Death row volunteers account for 123 of the 1,041 executions carried out since capital punishment resumed in 1977, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a group in Washington, D.C., that opposes the death penalty. That rate -- about 12% -- has held constant for nearly 30 years.

This year, five of the 37 murderers put to death were volunteers. Two of the remaining 14 prisoners scheduled for execution have asked to die. Some volunteers, such as Elijah Page -- scheduled for execution in South Dakota next week -- give no reason for their choice.

Why do the condemned volunteer for death?

Jon Bon Jovi on Larry King Live singing an acoustic version of Who Says You Can't Go Home. I made the video myself and put it on You Tube.

As I've probably said before, I think he has the best face in music. The other night I didn't think anything would distract me from the incessant Ramsey coverage and as I was channel surfing, I came across his hour long appearance on LKL. I watched the whole thing.

by TChris

In the judgment of his former local supporters,Tom DeLay has made a mess of things.

[Republicans] are in such disarray now that the hope of backing a single write-in candidate has essentially vanished. There are three declared write-ins, and one top state Republican, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, is urging Republicans to consider voting for the Libertarian candidate, who does have a spot on the ballot.

Citing the divisions and the $3 million that Democratic nominee Nick Lampson has raised, two leading political analysts -- Charlie Cook and Larry Sabato -- changed their ratings of the seat this week to "leans Democrat." It had been "leans Republican" only a few days ago.

Nick Lampson has a chance to clean up DeLay's mess. Reading the linked article about none-too-happy-with-DeLay Republicans, you might particularly enjoy the timeline entitled "The Rise and Fall of Tom DeLay."

by TChris

Once information has been in the public domain for a few years, it wouldn't seem to be "secret," but that bit of common sense hasn't deterred the Bush administration from reclassifying information about nuclear weaponry that used to be publicly available.

Researchers at the National Security Archive, an independent library that belongs to The George Washington University, found that officials from the Pentagon and US Department of Energy have been trawling through reports that have been released to the public and deleting numbers of missiles, despite some of the statistics being decades old.

You may recall this TalkLeft post about the administration's obsession with secrecy, leading to the reclassification of more than 55,000 documents. Today's news is more of the same. Open government, anyone?

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that driving with cash is evidence of drug activity and may be seized. The money had been seized during an Indiana traffic stop.

Associates of Gonzolez testified in court that they had pooled their life savings to purchase a refrigerated truck to start a produce business. Gonzolez flew on a one-way ticket to Chicago to buy a truck, but it had sold by the time he had arrived. Without a credit card of his own, he had a third-party rent one for him. Gonzolez hid the money in a cooler to keep it from being noticed and stolen. He was scared when the troopers began questioning him about it. There was no evidence disputing Gonzolez's story.

The trial court had ruled for Gonzales. The 8th Circuit reversed:

"We respectfully disagree and reach a different conclusion... Possession of a large sum of cash is 'strong evidence' of a connection to drug activity."

At least there was a dissent. You can read the opinion here (pdf). [hat tip Patriot Daily.]

A federal judge in Miami has dismissed the most serious count of Jose Padilla's terror indictment on grounds of multiplicity. David MarKus at the Southern District of Florida Blog has all the details -- and praise for the Bush-appointed judge who issued the decision.

Judge Marcia Cooke has dismissed Count I of the indictment against Jose Padilla because it is multiplicitous. In other words, Count I represents the same offense that is also charged in Counts II and III. An indictment is multiplicitous when it charges a single offense multiple times, in separate counts.

The dismissed count charged conspiracy to murder, kidnap, and maim persons in a foreign county, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 956(a)(1).

Your turn. I'm sure there are other things beside John Mark Karr and the Jonbenet murder case you want to talk about. Here's a place.