I'm in need of a little lift tonight. This song always does it. Here's a video I made from my VHS tape of Natalie Merchant and 10,000 Maniacs singing These Are the Days at President Clinton's MTV Inugural Ball in 1993. I love the way she starts dancing in the middle. As always with songs from this tape, turn up your computer volume to hear it, the tape is very old.

Good news for pain doctor William Hurwitz. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned his conviction and 25 year sentence for drug-trafficking because the trial judge failed to give a "good faith" instruction to the jury.

The decision again galvanized the national debate that the Hurwitz case had
come to symbolize: whether fully licensed doctors prescribing legal medication to patients in chronic pain should be subject to prosecution if their patients abuse or sell the drugs. Patient advocate groups strongly supported Hurwitz and expressed concern that his conviction would have a chilling effect on pain doctors.

....Jurors convicted Hurwitz on 50 counts of a 62-count indictment, including conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. They acquitted him on nine counts and deadlocked on three. Hurwitz was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The text of the opinion is here(pdf).

Immigration and Customs Enforcement got a little more egg on its face last week when it was disclosed it had deported a U.S. citizen. True, the man didn't know he had become a citizen at age 15. But, the law says the burden of proof is on the government when it comes to deportation. And shame on the prosecutor who continued to argue for his deporation after the information came to light.

Duarnis Perez became an American citizen when he was 15, but he didn't find out until after he had been deported and then jailed for trying to get back into the country. He was facing his second deportation hearing when he learned he was already a U.S. citizen. Still, federal prosecutors fought to keep him in custody.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Lord, who prosecuted Perez, declined comment when asked if the government would appeal. In a brief, she argued Perez was at fault for not knowing his status, saying he "cannot base his failure to discover the circumstances on the alleged omissions of others."

The federal judge hearing the case was having none of it:

Who knew Bush had such a sense of humor? From U.S. News & World Report:

Animal House in the West Wing

He [Bush] loves to cuss, gets a jolly when a mountain biker wipes out trying to keep up with him, and now we're learning that the first frat boy loves flatulence jokes. A top insider let that slip when explaining why President Bush is paranoid around women, always worried about his behavior. But he's still a funny, earthy guy who, for example, can't get enough of fart jokes. He's also known to cut a few for laughs, especially when greeting new young aides, but forget about getting people to gas about that.

How utterly juvenile. [Hat tip to TBogg.]

The Republican National Committee has turned its website into a tabloid in the vein of the National Enquirer. Check out this hate-filled "article" on Markos of Daily Kos. What did he do to deserve the party's wrath? He took a vacation.

As Steve of Carpetbagger Report writes at Crooks and Liars:

Maybe I'm missing something here. Are we supposed to be disgusted with Kos for "relaxing"? Are vacations now bad? Or is the point that Kos is somehow suspect because he went to El Salvador?

The family of John Mark Karr is looking for a buyer for the movie rights to their story. They say it is to help pay for a high-powered lawyer to represent the suspect in the Jonbenet Ramsey case.

Karr's father and brother hired actor, author and producer Larry Garrison to represent them in any media deals and to help them find a top attorney to represent Karr, who is in a Los Angeles jail awaiting transfer to Colorado to face allegations he killed the girl in 1996.

But what does the family know about him in recent years? When was the last time they saw him? Reportedly, the father thought he was dead. Does anyone even want to hear their story? The story that counts is that of John Mark Karr.

Even sillier, the family thinks that the public defender's office isn't adequate.

"Right now he's got a public defender to represent him," Garrison said. "It's their desire to get someone high-level." Garrison declined to say if the family has been in touch with Karr in jail.

by TChris

One cost of staying the course in Iraq:

The Marine Corps said Tuesday that it would begin calling Marines back to active-duty service on an involuntary basis to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan -- the latest sign that the American force is under strain and a signal that the military is having trouble persuading young veterans to return.

Marine commanders will call up formerly active-duty service members now classified as reservists because the Corps failed to find enough volunteers among its emergency reserve pool to fill jobs in combat zones. The call-ups will begin in several months, summoning as many as 2,500 reservists at a time to serve for a year or more.

by TChris

The "unitary executive theory" is conservative codespeak for "all powerful president," a notion readily embraced by President Bush. In practice, our unitary executive is a government of one (or a few, if you count Cheney, Rove, and Condi), a supreme decider whose power is subject to no constitutional or statutory limits. After all, he couldn't protect us from all the suiciders while freeing the world from Islamic fascist tyranny if he yielded to the unpatriotic demands of lawmakers or judges.

To counter the academic and think tank writing that promoted (with startling success) the unitary executive theory, the American Constitution Society co-sponsored a symposium, "War, Terrorism and Torture: Limits on Presidential Power in the 21st Century," last October. Three papers that grew out of the symposium were released this week:

Unitariness and Myopia: The Executive Branch, Legal Process, and Torture by Cornelia Pillard views torture as indicative of a more general problem: an executive branch tendency during times of national security crises to view legal constraints as annoying, even harmful, obstacles to effective executive action. Pillard explores reform aimed at promoting executive branch respect for the law, even in trying times.

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.