Bump and Update: Causey made his deal. It's tougher times ahead for Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling, who will move for another continuance. The jury summonses have already gone out and 400 questionnaires have been returned. I think there's a good chance Judge Sim Lake will deny a continuance and either say Lay and Skilling should have expected this or that three weeks is enough for them to prepare.

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Original Post: 12/25

Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling and Rick Causey are set for trial in the Enron case on January 17. Word is that Rick Causey is in plea negotiations and may cooperate against Lay and Skilling.

Either the report is not true, or Lay and Skilling's lawyers are in serious denial:

"I've talked to Rick Causey myself, and I don't believe he willfully did anything wrong," said Mike Ramsey, lead attorney for Lay. "I don't believe he would agree to plead guilty to a crime when he didn't commit one."

Professor Juan Cole of of Informed Comment posts the ten greatest myths of the Iraq War. My favorites:

Iraqi Sunnis voting in the December 15 election is a sign that they are being drawn into the political process and might give up the armed insurgency

Iraqis are grateful for the US presence and want US forces there to help them build their country.

There is a silent majority of middle class, secular-minded Iraqis who reject religious fundamentalism.

The new Iraqi constitution is a victory for Western, liberal values in the Middle East.

Jane is disappointed there is no Fitzmas news, so she reports on what she thinks is happening. Here's one insight.

The nomination of Viveca Novak’s husband to the FEC is nothing if not a giant “f**ck you” to Fitz, and if it happened in say the Gotti organization it would definitely raise the eyebrows of a prosecutor. It’s also a big “who’s your daddy” moment for Viveca Novak, as she is probably out of a job and now the key defense witness for a man who is now going to be her husband’s boss. Those who want to argue they nominated him purely on his merits with no notion of any larger implication? Please. This is Karl Rove we’re talking about here.

Viveca's husband is Robert D. Lenhard. His nomination was announced by the White House here. I also find the appointment curious, especially since Mr. Lenhard donated $1,000. to John Kerry in 2004. [Update: A commenter below points out that Lenhard was Harry Reid's choice to fill a Democratic slot on the FEC months ago, as reported last August in the Hill. It's Congressional leadership that picks the nominees, Bush just follows through with the appointment. So scratch that theory.]

U.S. District District Court Judge Malcolm Muir has thrown out the death sentence of David Paul Hammer, who was convicted of strangling a cell mate.

U.S. District Judge Malcolm Muir ruled that prosecutors should have disclosed to David Paul Hammer's lawyers the existence of four interviews that may have supported Hammer's claim that he used rope made from bed sheets for bondage sex. The interviews could have led the jury to conclude that Hammer did not engage in substantial planning before he killed bank robber Andrew Marti at Allenwood Federal Penitentiary in 1996, the judge said.

The article doesn't mention that David Paul Hammer claimed that while on death row in Terre Haute, Timothy McVeigh told him that Terry Nichols refused to help build the bomb that blew up the Oklahoma City federal building. The judge ruled, over the Government's objection, that Hammer could testify as a defense witness at Terry Nichols' state trial. Hammer attempted suicide after McVeigh's execution by mainlining insulin.

News organizations are reporting that FISA surveillance was up again in 2004, and that the Court did not rubber stamp all requests, but asked the Bush Administration to modify several.

In 2002, there were 1238 FISA warrants issued, up from 934 in 2001. All requests were granted in both years. In 2003, the number jumped to 1727, and in 2004, to 1758. A full chart is available here.

In 2003, the FISA Court rejected 4 and modified 79 of the Government's requests for warrants. In 2004, the Court modified 94 of the applications. None were denied, but three were withdrawn by the Government before the FISA court acted on it.

The latest available report is for 2004 and available here. (pdf).

The 2004 report on ordinary wiretaps is here. More analysis is available here.

Between 100 and 150 people have been spirited away on Ghost Air and imprisoned in foreign countries pursuant to our secret extraordinary rendition program. The CIA is onlyinvestigating only ten cases of those it believes may have been swept up in error.

Said Tom Malinowski, Washington office director of Human Rights Watch: "I am glad the CIA is investigating the cases that they are aware of, but by definition you are not going to be aware of all such cases, when you have a process designed to avoid judicial safeguards."

He said there is no guarantee that Egypt, Uzbekistan or Syria will release people handed over to them if they turn out to be innocent, and he distrusts promises the U.S. receives that the individuals will not be tortured.

The Washington Post has a compelling article on rising rebelliousness of teens in Darfur, who have been existing in the dismal conditions of displacement camps.

There are 18 million kids now in the camps. Recently, a few took hostage some international aid workers, who were released three days later, unharmed. But something must be done.

These kids are like animals in a cage," said Bob Kitchen of the International Rescue Committee, who helped negotiate the release of the hostages and now plans to open five centers in Kalma to teach children skills such as mechanics and sewing.

It's Colorado's warmest holiday on record and not a day to spend inside. For anyone wanting a place to chat, this space is for you.

If you're looking for something new to read, check out the 2005 Blawg Review Awards for the best law blogs. Sentencing Law and Policy wins best blog by a law professor, Scotus Blog is named best blog by a law firm; Howard Bashman of How Appealing is the blog for legal breaking news; I get an Award of Merit for TalkLeft. There's many, many more.

The awards were judged by Themis, and the accompanying artwork of She-Hulk by Greg Horn depicting Lady Justice is very cool.

Biased. Incoherent. Below the minimum standards of justice.

Those are some of the harsh words federal appeals courts judges are using to describe the decisions of immigration judges in asylum and related cases.

The Times says part of the problem is the increase in immigration cases lodged in federal appeals courts since former Attorney General John Ashcroft issued new guidelines in 2002 that limited immigration courts' abilities to hear appeals.

In the courts in New York and California, nearly 40 percent of federal appeals involved immigration cases.

Last week, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter revealed that the White House leaned on the New York Times not to run its article on warrantless surveillance by the National Security Agency. The Times sat on the story for a year. Alter says,

We’re seeing clearly now that Bush thought 9/11 gave him license to act like a dictator, or in his own mind, no doubt, like Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War.

Howard Kurtz reports in today's Washington Post that White House officials, including John Negroponte and Porter Goss, met with Executive Publisher Leonard Downie and made a similar request over Dana Priest's article on secret CIA prisons. While Leonard Downie won't confirm the meetings, other sources do:

Here's a little song you can all join in on. Jane at Firedoglake reminds bloggers to give the gift of Christmas traffic: Click through each link and spread some blogger joy.

• Skippy writes a song, Blue Xanax
• Digby writes about the radioactive Muslims
• War and Piece gives no holiday break to the White House
• World O' Crap says Santa was a cokehead.
• Vodkapundit has an awesome picture of Colorado today.
• Athenae's ferrets are the best.
• Mike Ditto has some advice for the Harlem Choir, which is getting kicked out of its rehearsal space
• Heretik has moved, update your bookmarks.
• Public Defender Dude says Death Row Defender is worth reading. Law and Order, watch out.

Now I'm going to download Dear Mr. Fantasy, Paper Sun and the Low Spark of High Heeled Boys. We've made it through another Christmas. On to New Years.

The New York Times opines that Judge Sam Alito has an excessive zeal for presidential power.

[His] memos are part of a broader pattern of elevating the presidency above the other branches of government. In his judicial opinions, Judge Alito has shown a lack of respect for Congressional power - notably when he voted to strike down Congress's ban on machine guns as exceeding its constitutional authority. He has taken a cramped view of the Fourth Amendment and other constitutional provisions that limit executive power.

The Times urges Senators to ensure that Alito is on the side of the Constitution, not the President. Senator Leahy issued this statement Friday alerting Judge Alito that he would be questioned closely on his views about presidential power and checks and balances.