by TChris

The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility wondered what role Justice Department lawyers played in assisting the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping of Americans. OPR wanted to learn whether Justice Department lawyers broke any laws or otherwise behaved unethically, but the National Security Agency refused to give OPR's lawyers the security clearances they would need to learn about the program. (Any lawyer who investigates an administration program is apparently regarded as too disloyal to merit a security clearance.) Stymied, OPR closed its inquiry.

Any meaningful investigation will have to come from a legislature that has been loathe to expose any of the Bush administration's misconduct.

"This administration thinks they can just violate any law they want, and they've created a culture of fear to try to get away with that. It's up to us to stand up to them," said [Rep. Maurice] Hinchey.

Yes it is. And it's up to the rest of us to vote for legislators who have the courage to do so.

USA Today reports that the National Security Agency has been collecting billions of domestic home, business and cell phone records on tens of millions of Americans, obtaining the records from phone companies.

The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.

The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans -- most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.

There's more information here:

Update: The Washington Post obtained the logs at the same time as Judicial Watch. It has done some digging and found:

An administration source who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the ongoing investigation said that at the March [6] 2001 meeting, Abramoff asked to have two people placed at the Interior Department, but that Rove declined to get involved and referred him to the White House personnel operation.

Abramoff's [January 20] 2004 meeting was with an Office of Management and Budget official who had been blocking his efforts to secure use of the Old Post Office Building for a development project. The official, Steve McMillan, continued to refuse to accommodate him in the meeting, the source said.

Original Post:

Judicial Watch has published the logs (pdf) of Jack Abramoff's entry into the White House. (News article here.) Two times over the years. What a bust.

Raw Story notes that one of the days coincides with the day Bush nominated Patrick Pizzella, an Abramoff associate as Assistant Labor Secretary.

They are falling like a ton of bricks. Today it's Ohio coin dealer and Republican money man Tom Noe. He was one of Bush's most important fundraisers, players, and political operatives in northwest Ohio,

Noe was indicted in state court in February on 53 counts of theft, corruption and money laundering that alleged he stole from a state-run investment fund for injured workers. Earlier, he had been indicted by the feds for illegal contributions to Bush's re-election campaign.

Today he notified the federal court he wanted to plead guilty.

Let's not forget prisoner abuse begins at home.

It's called Area 2. And for nearly two decades beginning in 1971, it was the epicenter for what has been described as the systematic torture of dozens of African-American males by Chicago police officers. In total, more than 135 people say they were subjected to abuse including having guns forced into their mouths, bags places over their heads, and electric shocks inflicted to their genitals. Four men have been released from death row after government investigators concluded torture led to their wrongful convictions.

Yet the case around Area 2 is nowhere near a resolution -- to date, not one Chicago police officer has been charged with any crime.

An investigation has been ongoing for four years and last week police officers blocked the release of the proseuctors' report. They filed a motion to suppress the report because it contains their names and they haven't been indicted. The Judge has the motion under advisement.

Say hello to Bench Conference, the brand new legal blog at the Washington Post. It is authored by Denverite and CBS News Analyst Andrew Cohen.

I've been reading Andrew's columns at CBS News and in the local Colorado papers for several years. He got his stripes covering the McVeigh trial. I didn't agree with him very often back then, but in recent years, I have noticed that he has become more sensitized to the plight of defendants and the injustices in our system and more critical of the Government. His writing style has loosened up and often packs a punch. Here's his recent column on the Moussaoui verdict. I often find myself nodding in agreement as I read his stuff.

Here's his take on Bush's warrantless NSA surveillance program and an ill-conceived proposed Congressional fix.

Daniel Biechele, former manager for the Great White band, was sentenced today to four years in prison with eleven years suspended for his role in an on-stage pyrotechnics fire at a Rhode Island nightclub that killed 100 people.

Beichele pleaded guilty to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter and under the terms of his plea agreement, could have received up to ten years in jail.

Biechele was the tour manager for heavy metal band Great White when on Feb. 20, 2003, he lit a pyrotechnics display that ignited highly flammable foam that lined the walls and ceiling of The Station nightclub in West Warwick. The foam was used as soundproofing and was placed there by the owners after neighbors complained about noise from the club.

While many will take General Michael Hayden's statement to Sen. Dick Durbin that he would consider an Amendment to FISA for Bush's warrantless electronic spying program as cause to support him, I don't.

Durbin, after a 35-minute meeting Wednesday with Hayden, said the nominee for CIA director told him: "With all the publicity that has surrounded this program, we may be closer to the possibility of asking for a change in FISA." "He didn't say he would," Durbin added.

Democrats should think twice before tinkering with FISA. We'll be headed down that slippery slope and the risk is that this will only be the beginning. Bush next will bring the debate from conversations between one person outside the country and one person inside the country to conversations between two people inside the country. And then there will be a move to reduce the protections in Title III, which regulates eavesdropping on Americans in criminal investigations.

Sen. Arlen Specter's proposal is terrible. The warrantless eavesdropping program has not been particularly effective.

by TChris

Louisiana's juvenile justice system has always been atrocious, but Orleans Parish's indifference to the welfare of juveniles was particularly evident during Hurricane Katrina.

More than 100 teenagers held in detention during Hurricane Katrina endured horrific conditions in the storm's aftermath, including standing for hours in filthy floodwater, having nothing to eat and drink for three to five days, and being forced to consume the waters as a result, according to a report released here Tuesday.

Those in the "law and order" crowd who are tempted to think that juvenile offenders deserved whatever harm they endured during Katrina should consider this (emphasis added):

"They left us in there with no food and no water," said Eddie Fenceroy, 15, a former detainee against whom charges have since been dismissed, advocates said.

Mr. Fenceroy described standing in the floodwater for "a whole day" before being rescued. "Some people were drinking the water," he said.

What's hot today? Here's an open thread for everything but the Duke Lacrosse case.

Since Judge J. Michael Luttig has been mentioned many times for a Suprme Court judgeship and is one of the most conservative judges around, I think it's good news that he submitted his resignation today. He will now be Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Boeing.

His letter of resignation to President Bush is here (pdf).

It sounds like pay was a big factor in his decision. He writes that he has two children approaching college age, and his highest obligation is to his family.

Colin Finnerty's May 18 hearing in the Duke Lacrosse case has been continued to mid-June because the DA hasn't finished providing discovery. I suspect Reade Seligman's will be as well.

Durham's mayor wants some answers on the recently released Duke police report saying the accuser had credibility issues.

I don't know if there's more news in the case, but with 183 comments on yesterday's thread, it's time for a new one.