by TChris

Most laws named after crime victims are bad laws, but the Martin Lee Anderson Act is an exception. Martin died after he was beaten by guards at a Florida boot camp. (TalkLeft coverage of Martin's death is collected here.) The Martin Lee Anderson Act ends the "tough love" tactics employed by Florida boot camps.

They are to be replaced by less confrontational academies called Sheriff's Training and Respect, or STAR, that use more education and after care. The law shifts funding from the boot camps to STAR.

Martin's parents applaud the change, but they deserve more.

"But I would still like the guards to be accountable for killing my baby," Jones said, holding a picture of her son in a basketball uniform. "He was only 14."

A special prosecutor is deciding whether charges should be filed.

by TChris

When did the president learn that Marines may have murdered civilians in Haditha?

The White House said Thursday that it took nearly a month for President Bush to learn that the military was investigating reports that Marines murdered unarmed civilians in Iraq.

How did the president learn about the deaths in Haditha?

On Tuesday, White House spokesman Tony Snow said President Bush learned of the killings only after a reporter from Time magazine asked questions.

What is the U.S. doing in response to the deaths?

The top U.S. general in Iraq on Thursday ordered American commanders to conduct ethical training on battlefield conduct following reports that Marines massacred unarmed civilians in the town of Haditha.

by TChris

As you surf the web today, keep in mind that Alberto Gonzales might take a keen interest in your viewing habits.

The U.S. is asking Internet companies including Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and AOL to preserve records of customers' Web activity to aid terrorism and child pornography investigations. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller made the request last week at a meeting with industry executives, said Brian Roehrkasse, a Justice Department spokesman. More talks are scheduled for today and tomorrow. ...

The agency has asked Internet companies to retain records such as lists of e-mails sent and received or information on Web searches.

Whether Gonzales is interested in your perusal of TalkLeft is unknown.

Former DOJ spokesman Mark Corallo, now in his own consulting firm, has filed an affidavit with the Court hearing the motions to quash subpoenas served by the government on San Francisco Chronicle reporters in the baseball steroid case, saying that the subpoenas represent "a reckless abuse of power." Ashcroft, he says, never would have allowed them to be issued.

He said Mr. Ashcroft's successor, Alberto R. Gonzales, had acted improperly in issuing the subpoenas. "This is the most reckless abuse of power I have seen in years," Mr. Corallo said in an interview. "They really should be ashamed of themselves."

The subpoenas, part of an effort to identify The Chronicle's sources for its coverage of steroid use in baseball, would not have been authorized by Mr. Ashcroft, Mr. Corallo said. "You just don't ride roughshod over the rights of reporters to gather information from confidential sources," he added.

Corallo now represents Karl Rove.

The Dixie Chicks were on Larry King Live last night. Crooks and Liars has the video.

by TChris

Andrew Cohen sums up the Fifth Circuit:

This appellate court and many of the judges on it are simply hostile to the rights of criminal defendants and have been for many years.

Case in point: a 2-1 death penalty affirmance that upheld a judge's refusal to allow the jury to hear how the defendant's death would affect his family and friends.

by TChris

John McCann concluded a confusing opinion piece in the Durham Herald Sun with this:

The lacrosse boys brought it on themselves, though -- even if the accuser's lying.

Talk about blaming the victim. Maybe you can figure out how "the lacrosse boys" brought on a false accusation. McCann is incoherent on the subject.

Here's a rebuttal to McCann.

by TChris

Criticism of Homeland Security spending that enriched smaller communities at the expense of dense urban areas led to assurances that spending would be allocated according to need. Did Omaha and Louisville deserve 40 percent increases while New York City and Washington D.C. had their antiterrorism grants slashed?

Nabiha Nisaif Jassim's brother was racing her to the maternity hospital in Samarra, Iraq, about 60 miles north of Baghdad. U.S. troops fired on the car because it didn't stop at a roadblock and killed her and her about to be delivered child. Her fetus died too. Her female cousin also was killed. Jassim was 35.

U.S. version:

The U.S. military said coalition troops fired at a car after it entered a clearly marked prohibited area near an observation post but failed to stop despite repeated visual and auditory warnings.

Jassim's brother's account:

``I was driving my car at full speed because I did not see any sign or warning from the Americans. It was not until they shot the two bullets that killed my sister and cousin that I stopped,'' he said. ``God take revenge on the Americans and those who brought them here. They have no regard for our lives.'' He said doctors tried but failed to save the baby after his sister was brought to the hospital.

This kind of "collateral damage" is no more acceptable than this continued war.

[hat tip Patriot Daily.]

by TChris

Remember when John Ashcroft assured us that the Patriot Act wouldn't be used to access library records? Raw Story has a nice piece that explains how the government kept the truth quiet until the Patriot Act was reauthorized.

[Connecticut] Librarians, members of Library Connection, a not-for profit cooperative organization for resource sharing across 26 Connecticut library branches sharing a centralized computer, were served with a National Security Letter (NSL) in August of last year as part of the FBI's attempt to attain access to patron's records. ...

On September 9 of last year, a federal judge lifted the gag order and rejected the government's argument that identifying the plaintiff would pose a threat to national security.

Yet the government continued to appeal the case throughout the reauthorization debate, passionately arguing that not a single incident of civil liberties violations by the Patriot Act had occurred. By continuing the appeal, the government effectively silenced any evidence to counter their claims.

I'm headed up to Aspen for the NORML Legal Seminar. I'll be blogging from Aspen tomorrow through the weekend, with an edited report of our Saturday day trip to Hunter Thompson's Owl Creek Farm where I hear Jimmy Ibbotson of Dirt Band fame, will be performing his brand-new anti-drug war song. Anita (Thompson) is putting together a souvenir booklet of some of Hunter's writings on defense lawyers. If you are a defense lawyer, it's not too late to attend -- just show up to register.

Here's some news from the rest of the world:

• Sen. Barbara Boxer calls for troop pullout from Iraq - by Thanksgiving.

• The Government says Congressman William Jefferson tried to hide his papers. Some are praising Congressman Sensenbrenner for his demand for info on the raid. Not me. He's a menace. He's behind some of the worst proposed legislation out there -- from the most punitive immigration bill in history to his "five years for passing a joint bill" and "snitch or go to jail bill."

• A federal judge has ruled the Government must release information about monitoring converstations beween detainees and defense lawyers. The New York Times reports:

by TChris

Last year, TalkLeft discussed the inability of prosecutors to admit their error in convicting Larry Peterson, despite the mountain of new evidence (including DNA) that proved he wasn't the person who raped and murdered Jacqueline Harrison. Although Peterson was granted a new trial on the strength of the new evidence, the TalkLeft post predicted that prosecutors would drop the case in the face of overwhelming evidence of Peterson's innocence. Happily, that happened on Friday, but as this editorial opines, it took much too long.

After initially opposing Peterson's requests to conduct DNA tests, the prosecutor's office received clear scientific evidence in February 2005 that Peterson was wrongly convicted. Yet [prosecutor Robert] Bernardi effectively prevented Peterson from being released on bail for six more months.

Peterson remained charged, awaiting possible retrial, for 15 months after the DNA results were known. That's a disturbing application of the prosecutor's power. Once he possessed such urgent information, it shouldn't have taken an officer of the criminal justice system so long to conclude this case. Bernardi should have moved as swiftly as if it were his own brother behind bars.

Even more disturbing than the prosecution's refusal to concede its mistake is the role it played in obtaining Peterson's conviction.