The EU Parliamentary inquiry into Ghost Air has concluded. Today they released their preliminary report finding there have been over 1000 secret CIA flights since 2001, that prisoners have been transported to countries that practice torture, and that European countries may have turned a blind eye.

Flight data showed a pattern of hidden operations by American agents, and they accused some European governments of knowing about it but remaining silent.

[Hat tip to commenter Scribe.]

Reuters reports :

Karl Rove testified for the 5th time before the Plame grand jury today. Is he still trying to save himself or is he shoring up Fitzgerald's case against someone else? Is he singing about the belatedly turned over e-mails from Dick Cheney's office? Or about who provided the information to Bob Woodward's source about Valerie Plame Wilson?

I don't trust the MSM accounts today about the subject matter of his testimony -- they appear to be coming from Rove's camp. Naturally, they want us to believe Rove merely is clearing up details about his own involvement to show Fitz he did nothing wrong. I think it's too late for that. So does Jason Leopold, who writes today that Rove did receive a target letter from the grand jury. [Update: Sample target letter to grand jury witnesses here, background on target letter terminology here and here. Luskin has released a statement denying Rove was advised he is a target.]

by TChris

Emily Marie Delafield was swinging a couple of knives and a hammer, but the threat posed by the 56 year old woman was lessened by her confinement to a wheelchair. The police in Green Cove Springs nonetheless shot her with a Taser. She lost consciousness and later died at a hospital.

This commentator argues convincingly that Taser use -- particularly in Florida -- is out of control.

And even though Scottsdale, Arizona-based Taser, Inc--the company that created it--said it should never be used on children or the elderly, Florida leads the nation in deaths by Taser. The oldest victim to date? Ninety-five. The youngest? A 6-year old boy.

TalkLeft's coverage of the Taser controversy is collected here.

Murray Waas has a new article in the National Journal asking, Is There a Double Standard on Leakers? The answer is yes.

Murray reports that Sen. Pat Roberts, who praised the CIA's firing of an agent who reportedly disclosed classified information to WaPo reporter Dana Priest for an article on CIA secret prisons, has himself been a leaker.

Roberts now:

"[T]hose who leak classified information not only risk the disclosure of intelligence sources and methods, but also expose the brave men and women of the intelligence community to greater danger. Clearly, those guilty of improperly disclosing classified information should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

Roberts three years ago:

Blogger Glenn Greenwalds' new book, How Would a Patriot Act, won't be released until May 15, but it is #1 on Amazon today. You can pre-order now.

Fox News anchor Tony Snow got a clean bill of health from his doctor and has accepted President Bush's offer to be his new Press Secretary.

President Bush will make the announcement tomorrow morning.

DA Mike Nifong said today he is going to move to revoke diversion deals with several of the Duke lacrosse players who attended the party that was was the site of the alleged rape.

According to court records, 16 players were charged in the past three years with misdemeanor charges in Durham including noise violations, public urination and alcohol violations. The deals placed the men on probation for either six months or a year. They were to complete community service and in some cases were required to abide by the rules and regulations of the university. The deals required the men to pay fees and in some cases remain in school.

Nifong said he will reinstate the charges against players whose deferred prosecution deals are still active, unless they can show they were not at the party.

The first to have charges reinstated: Dave Evans, a team co-captain who lived at the house.

The jury retired today without reaching a verdict in the death penalty trial of Zacarias Moussaoui.

The jury asked to have a dictionary in the deliberation room. The request was denied and properly so. Extraneous materials are not allowed in the jury room.

What could they have wanted to look up? Check out the 42 page verdict form. (pdf)

Here's our last post on closing arguments and what the jury will have to decide.

by TChris

Almost two years ago, a panel of Army Generals recommended that Lt. Col. Steven Jordan and his immediate superior, Col. Thomas Pappas, be punished for failing to prevent abuse at Abu Ghraib. Pappas was fined and reprimanded for dereliction of duty, but faced no criminal charges.

Jordan headed the Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center at Abu Ghraib from its inception in September 2003 to December 2003. Jordan's lawyer announced today that the Army plans to charge Jordan with dereliction of duty, lying to investigators and conduct unbecoming an officer. Jordan would be the highest ranking officer to face criminal charges arising out of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib.

If the buck stops with Jordan, it's fair to ask whether he's a scapegoat for those who assigned him to a job that was outside the scope of his training.

Wherever Hunter Thompson may be today, he is smiling. Lisl Auman, whose cause Hunter championed, was released from a halfway house this week, having served six months as required by a plea bargain after her conviction for felony murder was thrown out by the Colorado Supreme Court.

Here's how Hunter viewed the task:

It is no small trick to get a "Convicted cop-killer" out of prison -- but it will be a little easier in this case, because Lisl no more killed a cop than I did. She was handcuffed in the backseat of a Denver Police car when the cop was murdered in cold blood by a vicious skinhead who then shot himself in the head & left the D.A. with nobody to punish for the murder -- except Lisl.

You can read more of Hunter on the case in Vanity Fair (free link.)

by TChris

Laws that disenfranchise felons who have finished their prison terms undermine democracy. They also have a disproportionate impact on African American voters.

Today, nearly 5 million Americans are disfranchised from the right to vote either because they are in prison, on parole or probation, or because they live in a state that extends disfranchisement beyond the end of one's sentence. Racial, ethnic and economic disparities in the criminal justice system, and the "war on drugs" have resulted in the most severe impact hitting communities of color. Where African-Americans comprise only 12.2 percent of the population and 13 percent of drug users, they make up 38 percent of those arrested for drug offenses and 59 percent of those convicted of drug offenses, causing critics to call the war on drugs the "New Jim Crow." Nationally, an estimated 13 percent of African-American men are unable to vote because of a felony conviction. That's seven times the national average.

AlterNet has an interview with Sasha Abramsky, author of Conned: How Millions of Americans Went to Prison, Lost the Vote, and Helped Send George W. Bush to the White House. Importantly, Abramsky explodes the myth that former felons wouldn't vote if given the chance.

by TChris

The president finally made a truthful statement:

"Massive deportation of the people here is unrealistic. It's just not going to work. You can hear people out there hollering it's going to work. It's not going to work."

Those who are "hollering" at politicians to round up and deport every undocumented worker are part of the president's base. Not surprisingly, the president delivered these remarks to a different part of his base: the business community that depends on undocumented workers. Will the "foreigners go home" crowd feel abandoned by their president?

Even as the administration has been putting on a show of getting tough with employers who hire undocumented workers, President Bush expressed sympathy for employers who are "fooled" by fake social security cards. If that's the president's attitude, how widespread or effective are those enforcement efforts likely to be?