by TChris

A number of states have enacted laws making it easier for the wrongly convicted to take advantage of improved DNA testing to demonstrate their innocence. A bill is pending in Florida that would rescind a deadline for presenting new DNA evidence to a court. Its passage should be a no-brainer, but the "tough on crime" crowd is making the predictable argument that post-conviction attempts to prove innocence are an "abuse" of the criminal justice system. They seem less concerned about the abuse that occurs when an innocent accused is sent to prison.

All this rhetoric about ''court system abuse'' is getting old anyway. Whatever costs are associated with clearing people's records are negligible compared to the costs of keeping an innocent person in jail -- from the financial burden on tax payers, to the moral burden of thwarting justice while real criminals go unpunished.

As Jenny Greenberg, director of the Florida Innocence Initiative, said: "I'm fixing the mistakes. I'm not making the mistakes.''

Conservatives in the state House are pushing last minute amendments that would weaken the bill. Their colleagues should Just Say No to new legislative barriers that might prevent an innocent prisoner from regaining his or her freedom.

by TChris

If you're homeless in Los Angeles, the city doesn't want you on its sidewalks -- at least, not unless you're walking. The city passed an ordinance (unenforced for many years) that criminalizes sitting, laying, or sleeping on public sidewalks. That law narrows the options when homeless shelters are full -- a frequent occurrence in a city that is home to more than 80,000 people who lack homes on any given night. LA's Skid Row contains the largest concentration of the homeless in the country, but Skid Row parks are closed to the public at night. Where are the homeless who can't find shelter to sleep, if not on sidewalks?

As a result of the expansive reach of section 41.18(d), the extreme lack of available shelter in Los Angeles, and the large homeless population, thousands of people violate the Los Angeles ordinance every day and night, and many are arrested, losing what few possessions they may have.

Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit told Los Angeles that it may not criminalize the status of being homeless, or "acts that are an integral aspect of that status." Most people do not choose to be homeless, and the Eighth Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual punishment prohibits the government from punishing individuals for sleeping on sidewalks when they have no other choice. As the linked article suggests, this "could be a far-reaching victory for homeless advocates."

by TChris

The morning headline, Rumsfeld Faces Growing Revolt by Retired Generals, leads to the predictable response from our stubborn president, Bush Declares Full Support for Rumsfeld, and the sad but inevitable late afternoon headline, Rumsfeld Rejects Calls to Quit.

Your turn. I'll be back this evening. And blogging through the holiday weekend.

[Thanks to all, comments now closed.]

Time Magazine has an interview with Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte. Those in secret prisons abroad will remain there indefinitely.

Negroponte also told TIME that three dozen or so of the worst al-Qaeda terrorists held in secret CIA prisons are likely to remain in captivity as long as the "war on terror continues." He added, "These people are being held. And they're bad actors. And as long as this situation continues, this war on terror continues, I'm not sure I can tell you what the ultimate disposition of those detainees will be." Negroponte's comments appear to be the first open acknowledgement of the secret U.S. detention system and the fact that captives such as Khalid Shaikh Mohammad -- involved in Sept. 11 or other major attacks on U.S. interests around the world -- may be held indefinitely.

[Hat tip Patriot Daily.]

Update: The media has corrected the earlier reporting that police attempted to serve search warrants at players' dorm rooms Thursday night. Apparently, they were attempting to interview players and in some instances, walked uninvited inside dorm rooms.

Condolences to defense lawyer Joe Cheshire, whose father passed away today.

Via Atrios, I see that Neil Young is releasing a new album with a song titled "Impeach the President."

Here are some Neil Young interviews on politics. From 2003:

Marijuana Policy Director Rob Kammpia has a new article at Alternet, Your Tax Dollars on Drugs. He writes that marijuana prohibition is a spectacular failure.

The futile effort to "eradicate" marijuana has produced a harvest of misery. By forfeiting any chance to regulate the marijuana market -- you can't regulate what's illegal, after all -- we've given criminals and gangsters an exclusive franchise. We've guaranteed that marijuana will be grown in dangerous locations -- even hidden in wilderness areas or national parks -- instead of by regulated producers who are subject to environmental and labor standards. Unlike liquor merchants, who could lose their very lucrative liquor licenses if they sell to children, marijuana dealers have no incentive not to sell to kids.

by TChris

A federal appellate judge has taken a stand in favor of a compassionate approach to enforcement of immigration laws.

Judge Maryanne Trump Barry wrote in a court opinion this week that immigration regulations designed to combat terrorism sometimes left judges no choice other than to order the deportation of "decent men and women."

She asked U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to intervene to prevent the deportation of Malachy McAllister, making reference to the famous poem by Emma Lazarus welcoming immigrants at the Statue of Liberty.

"I refuse to believe that 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free ...' is now an empty entreaty. But if it is, shame on us," Barry wrote in a concurring opinion to a ruling Monday by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld the deporation order for McAllister.

by TChris

Mitchell Lawrence sold a little more than a gram of marijuana to an undercover cop for $20.

In the months that followed, the cop approached Lawrence again for marijuana. This time, however, Lawrence refused. Weeks later, a crew of undercover cops stormed Lawrence's home and placed him under arrest. On March 22, 2006, Lawrence was sentenced to two years in prison.

Two years for about a joint's worth of weed? Will this benefit society?

Lawrence was set to graduate from high school this spring. Instead, he will watch his fellow classmates graduate from his prison cell.

As the linked editorial opines, "the case of Mitchell Lawrence is one of countless tales of drug war madness that takes place on America's streets daily." Stop the madness. Just Say No to "drug free zones," mandatory minimum sentences, and other ridiculous laws that target insignificant drug crimes. And Just Say No to the politicians who support and promote those laws without regard to the lives they destroy.

Ari Fleischer is a very dangerous witness for Scooter Libby. Check out Fitz's affidavit from August, 2004 submitted in the Judith Miller subpoena suit, which was unsealed by the Court in February, 2006. You can read the unredacted portions in the Court's opinion here or in my prior summary with lengthy quotes.

It's not just that Libby allegedly told Fleischer at lunch on July 7 before Fleischer left for Africa with President Bush that Joseph Wilson's wife worked in the Counterproliferation area of the CIA and that she was involved in the decision to send Wilson to Niger. It's that Fleisher told Fitz and the grand jury that Libby told him the information was "hush-hush" and "on the qt."

Via Signifying Nothing, the Associated Press reports a radio call by one of the officers responding to the grocery store 9-11 call five minutes after it was made at 1:30 a.m. reported the accuser was passed out drunk and not in need of medical attention.

The officer gave the dispatcher the police code for an intoxicated person and said the woman was unconscious. When asked whether she needed medical help, the officer said: "She's breathing and appears to be fine. She's not in distress. She's just passed-out drunk."

Contrary to earlier reports by the media, no more DNA testing is being done. All the results are in.