The Bush Administration has announced that it will now give detainees their rights under the Geneva Convention.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said the policy, outlined in a new Defense Department memo, reflects the recent 5-3 Supreme Court decision blocking military tribunals set up by President Bush. That decision struck down the tribunals because they did not obey international law and had not been authorized by Congress.

The policy, described in a memo (pdf) by Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, appears to change the administration's earlier insistence that the detainees are not prisoners of war and thus not subject to the Geneva protections.

What to make of it? Read Law Prof Marty Lederman at Balkinization who says the "devil, of course, will be in the details."

As General Counsel of the Department of Defense, William Haynes was a principal architect of policies that led to the abuse of detainees in Guantanamo, Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush has nominated him for a seat on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold confirmation hearings starting today, July 11th.

Human Rights First has a webpage dedicated to concern about his nomination.

In additon, more than 20 military leaders have written a letter(pdf) opposing his nomination.

by TChris

The latest victim of death by Taser is Nickolos Cyrus, a mentally ill man who was found partially dressed in a home that was under construction.

Chet Cyrus, the man's father, said sheriff's detectives told him Nickolos Cyrus was shocked twice by stun guns, once in the back while he was walking or running away and then once when he was on the ground with his arms under his chest. Nickolos Cyrus was shocked a second time because he apparently refused to place his hands behind his back so police could handcuff him, Chet Cyrus said detectives told him.

After testing the Taser for a year -- "testing" by shooting 262 people with Tasers during that time span -- the Milwaukee Police Department "concluded that the stun guns helped officers safely subdue people who were resisting arrest." Tell that to the parents of Nickolos Cyrus, who lost their mentally ill son because he allegedly resisted arrest -- nonviolently -- for a trivial offense.

Al Qaeda has released a video showing the mutilatied bodies of the two soldiers from the 101st kidnapped in June from Yusufiya.

In the newly-released film, the captors linked their actions directly to the rape and killing of the Iraqi girl and her family in the town of Mahmudiya. The groups said capturing and killing the soldiers was "revenge for our sister who was dishonoured by a soldier of the same brigade". The groups said capturing and killing the soldiers was "revenge for our sister who was dishonoured by a soldier of the same brigade".

Steven Green and the four other soldiers charged in the girl's rape and murder, and in the murder of her family members, as well as a 5th soldier charged with failirng to report the crimes, were all from the 101st.

John McCain was interviewed in the new issue of Esquire. Asked about Hillary Clinton's chances in 2008, here's what he had to say:

I think the biggest mistake we could make is to underestimate Hillary Clinton. She's smart and she's tough. She's very disciplined in all ways--unlike her husband--and I think she's formidable. Plus, she already has $20 million in the bank. If we don't get our act together..."

Asked about Bush, he said:

He also believes that the war has been botched badly. "I don't blame Bush," he says. "I blame Rumsfeld. It's his failure that we didn't have enough troops in Iraq, because he ignored the advice of the military. We never had enough troops over there from the beginning, and that's where most of our problems come from."

Tom Petty has not been one to frequently mix his politics into his music. I guess drastic times call for drastic measures -- and I applaud him for this interview in the new Esquire [Via Down with Tyranny]:

"The war in Iraq is shameful. Whether you're pro or con Bush, you've got to admit: The guy lied. And he continues to do so. I can't understand why he's just not run out on a rail. To send somebody's kids off and have them killed for no good reason--he's going to have his day in hell for that. I wouldn't want that karma.

When you kill somebody's little sister with a missile, he's going to hate you forever. And the next generation will hate you even more.

So, for Tom Petty tonight, here's Won't Back Down -- performed with George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

After his speaking gig in Aspen, Karl Rove came to Denver for a sit-down interview with the editorial board of the Denver Post. What he said:

• Bush will exercise the first veto of his presidency to jettison the stem cell research bill if it passes the Senate (it's already passed the House.) The chief sponsors of the bi-partisan House bill, Colorado's Diana DeGette and Delaware's Michael Rogers, upon hearing the news, are now asking for their own pow-wow with Bush. Rove said there are not enough votes to overcome a veto. DeGette's comment: I'm appalled that Bush would use the first veto of his presidency to veto a bill that could help 110 million people and their families."

In keeping with his intention of petitioning his way on the ballot if Ned Lamont wins the August 8 Connecticut primary, Joe Lieberman filed papers today to start his own party: Connecticut for Lieberman.

Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz said Lieberman will be able to secure a higher position on the November ballot by creating a new party rather than petitioning his way on as an individual. Bysiewicz said Lieberman would be fifth on the ballot under the new party, compared with eighth or ninth as an individual.

He must collect 7,500 signatures by 4 p.m. Aug. 9, the day after the primary.

Mark Fiore cartoon today: United States of Incarceration. "You don't have to go to Guantanamo to find a broken, unjust prison system." We've got one right here.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Hogan has upheld the search of Congressman William Jefferson's office. The opinion is here. [Via How Appealing.]

Here's the first paragraph:

"All laws should be made to operate as much on the law makers as upon the people; . . . Whenever it is necessary to exempt any part of the government from sharing in these common burthens, that necessity ought not only to be palpable, but should on no account be exceeded." 2 Founders' Constitution 331 (Philip B. Kurland & Ralph Lerner eds., 1987) (James Madison, The Militia Bill, House of Representatives (Dec. 16, 1790)).

100 of Ken Lay's friends and family filled the Aspen Chapel yesterday for his memorial service. I wrote a detailed post on it over at 5280.com, which I'm sure Lay haters won't like. It ends:

His last weeks could not have been pleasant, facing the prospect of decades in jail and the separation from his wife, children and life as he knew it. The Enron victims may be angry, as if they were cheated of seeing Lay receive a just punishment, but from my vantage point, he paid the ultimate price for his misdeeds. He certainly didn't get off easy.

Update: Sen. Frist has announded the Senate will not take up the issue of legal rights of the detainees until after the August recess.

*******

It seems like the Supreme Court's decision in Hamdan (opinion here, pdf) has thrown the legislative and executive branches into a tailspin. They can't figure out what to do with it. Nonetheless, the Senate is set to begin debate on how to try detainees and the debate could take the rest of the summer.

In its decision, the Supreme Court said, on a 5-to-3 vote, that the planned commissions were unauthorized by federal statute and violated international law.

In opposite corners:

On one side of the debate are Republicans who believe Congress should give the president the authority to set up the kind of military commissions that were struck down by the court. Such commissions would sharply curtail defendants' rights.

On the other side are those who say the trials should be modeled on the military system of courts-martial, an approach that would give detainees more due-process rights than would the commissions. In between, many Republicans and Democrats alike argue for starting with the military judicial system and tweaking it to reflect the differences of trying terrorism suspects.