by TChris

For the reasons TalkLeft discussed here and here and here and here and in many other posts, the Real ID Act is a bad law. TalkLeft's take:

This is a quick fix that won't do anything to stop terrorists or enhance our safety. It will only further diminish our privacy rights. Can anyone say, "Your Papers Please?"

As TalkLeft predicted here, states are starting to balk at implementing the law.

They say the law -- which requires states to use sources like birth certificates and national immigration databases to verify that people applying for or renewing driver's licenses are American citizens or legal residents -- will be too expensive and difficult to put in place by the May 2008 deadline. Another issue is the privacy impact of the requirement that states share, through databases, the personal information needed for a driver's license.

The Earl Washington case stands out in my mind as one of the most egregious wrongful conviction cases. Washington is retarded, and his confession to rape and murder consisted of details supplied by the interrogating officer. While ultimately DNA cleared Washington of involvement in the rape and murder, as Richard Cohen pointed out in this 2001 Washington Post article, the case is less about how he was saved by DNA than how he was almost murdered by police.

Yesterday, a jury awarded Washington $2.25 million in damages from the interrogating cop's estate, finding he had fabricated Washington's confession.

Earl Washington Jr., who came within nine days of being executed, had sued the estate of the state police investigator, Curtis Reese Wilmore, who died in 1994. Jurors awarded Washington damages upon finding that Wilmore deliberately fabricated evidence that led to his conviction and death sentence.

How popular is Ambien? I took this photo at baggage claim last year while picking up the TL kid. It was a large indoor billboard right by the carousels. More on that here.

The Washington Post has a funny article about Ambien users today.

After all these beautiful nights together, according to recent news reports, the Ambien zombies are arising against their will to gorge themselves at the fridge, or take the wheel, or do something illegal. It wasn't me, officer; it was Ambien.

...We are lagged-out, pajama-wearing drifters -- lost in the gap between slumber and wakey-wakey, even though Ambien's manufacturer, Sanofi-Aventis, implores users to follow the directions, as always: Take the drug only when you're on your way to (or already in) bed, and only when you have seven or eight uninterrupted hours to devote to sleep; don't take it with booze; make sure your doctor knows if you're taking anything else. Which is good advice, but is often met with "blah blah blah."

In February, TChris wrote about the death of 14 year old Martin Anderson at a Florida boot camp. The first autopsy said Anderson died of causes related to sickle-cell anemia, rather than the beating he sustained by guards.

A second autopsy has been performed. It concludes guards suffocated Anderson while trying to restrain him.

A female, lesbian Duke student alleges she was raped by a male student following a dorm pot-smoking, drinking party on the last day of classes. The male denies they had sex.

DA Mike Nifong says it's not his job to be involved unless police ask for his help.

"The Duke lacrosse case was very different from the way we normally get rape cases," Nifong said. "The District Attorney's Office is normally not contacted during the course of an investigation unless the law enforcement agency needs some special kind of assistance," such as obtaining a court order, he said. "That has not been the case in [the latest] investigation."

Duke police did get a search warrant and order for DNA testing. Nifong's explanation:

by TChris

This question has occurred to many:

"They say a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich. I'm beginning to wonder if a regular jury will convict it," the 49-year-old Queens man said.

The question was posed by David Lipshultz, a juror in the trial of Osama Awadallah. The perjury trial ended with a hung jury yesterday. Lipschultz was the only juror who refused to convict. Today he explains his reasoning:

by TChris

The Bush administration wants to make it easier for law enforcement agencies to wiretap calls made over the internet. The FCC made its pitch to a panel of federal judges today, and the response is priceless:

A judge said the government's courtroom arguments were "gobbledygook."

The judge also characterized the arguments as "nonsense." It gets even better:

"Your argument makes no sense," U.S. Circuit Judge Harry T. Edwards told the lawyer for the Federal Communications Commission, Jacob Lewis. "When you go back to the office, have a big chuckle. I'm not missing this. This is ridiculous. Counsel!"

Bump and Update: Patrick Kennedy announced today he will be entering rehab due to a prescription drug problem.

Kudos to him for acknowledging a difficult personal issue and dealing with it.

*********
Original Post 5/4/06

Rep. Patrick Kennedy, son of Ted Kennedy, drove to the capitol last night around 2:30 am believing he had to vote. He had taken Ambien and Phenergan for gastroenteritis.

He crashed his car into a security guard rail and was not hurt. He also got in a car accident three weeks ago at 10:00 a.m. He is adamant no alchohol was involved. He says the drugs made him disoriented.

by TChris

Breaking news:

CIA Director Porter Goss has resigned, President Bush said Friday.

Wonkette asks whether this abrupt announcement precedes new news of a scandal.

Update: Here's "a primer on the connection between Goss and the Cunningham scandal," courtesy of Think Progress.

by TChris

Students at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky. are scrambling to erase their MySpace profiles after university officials discovered that Jason Johnson's profile mentioned his boyfriend. Johnson was expelled for being gay, which is contrary to the private school's "high standards." According to President James Taylor:

"We tell prospective students about our high standards before they come. There are places students with predispositions can go, such as San Francisco and the left coast or to many of the state schools."

The Kentucky Legislature gave Cumberlands $11 million. Should Kentucky continue to assist a school that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation? Kentucky Sen. Ernesto Scorsone doesn't think so.

by TChris

High profile lawyers capture headlines, but less heralded lawyers, laboring in the trenches daily, go out of their way to make the legal system work for ordinary people. They rarely get the recognition they deserve. One of them, Ray Brescia, is profiled in the NY Times.

Mr. Brescia, 39, is director of the community development project at the Urban Justice Center in Manhattan, a nonprofit legal clinic founded in 1984. ...

Last month, lawyers from the Urban Justice Center's community development project sued Jing Fong, the largest restaurant in Chinatown, alleging that it had violated labor laws violations by, among other things, siphoning off tips from waiters and busboys.

"As a former busboy and waiter, I care about this stuff," he said.

I'm getting ready to head back to Denver (see post below)--will there be a Rove indictment today? Here's some space to talk about it - or anything else -- before I get back online.

I'll be sending out individual thank you emails this weekend to those who sent in contributions. They are much appreciated and as I noted below, you all sent enough to cover blog expenses for the next quarter -- including the cost of hosting and downloading court pleadings in the major cases.