Radley Balko at the Agitator is creating a much-needed storm over Cory Maye:

Maye today sits on Mississippi's death row, convicted of capital murder for shooting police officer Ron Jones. It's probably worth mentioning that Jones is white, and Maye is black. It's probably also worth mentioning that at the time of his death, Jones' father was police chief of Prentiss, Mississippi, where the shooting took place. It's probably also worth mentioning that the jury who convicted Maye was white.

The facts are also riveting: A no-knock search warrant executed on a duplex -- a drug dealer lived on one side and Maye on the other.

Update: South Central LA hopes for clemency.

Update: At HuffPo, Bianca Jagger writes about her meeting with Tookie Williams last week and why Gov. Schwarzenegger should give him clemency. No decision yet.

Los Angeles leaders are pleading for calm if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger decides against clemency for Stanley "Tookie" Williams. The Governor could decide as early as tonight. LA media outlets are preparing for an announcement this evening.

Cheers for California Assemblyman Joe Nation (D-San Rafael) who urged Arnold to grant clemency.

"The upcoming execution offers the state of California an opportunity to take an internationally recognized leadership role by calling for a moratorium on the death penalty," Nation wrote in a letter to Schwarzenegger sent Thursday. "It is a bold step that is fiscally responsible, judicially prudent and morally right."

I've got miles to go before I blog...here's a space for you.

by TChris

TalkLeft has frequently written about Wilton Dedge, who spent 22 years in Florida prisons for a rape he didn't commit. The Florida legislature finally did the right thing by passing a bill that awards Dedge $2 million as compensation for his mistaken incarceration.

by TChris

The president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association explains that videos made for a police Christmas party were intended as “comic relief.”

The videos include scenes of uniformed and plainclothes officers mocking the homeless, women, Asians, African-Americans and gay men. In one segment, a mock scene has a black woman yelling after apparently having been hit by a patrol car.

The association president is “absolutely certain that none of the officers involved participated in the making of these comic parodies with the intent to disparage any individual or group.” Huh?

I'm told that Gov. Schwarzenegger will release his decision on clemency for Stanley "Tookie" Williams tomorrow between 6:30 and 7:30 pm, Pacific Time. I'll be discussing it on KABC Los Angeles radio, with host Al Rankel at 7:00pm PT. You can listen online here.

The LA Times reports:

His attorneys are expected to file a motion with the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, perhaps today, seeking permission to file a new habeas corpus petition in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

At San Quentin on Thursday, officials began altering Williams' conditions in preparation for the possible execution, exchanging his clothes for sweats and shackling him and bolting him to a chair during his visits. Guards also removed most personal possessions from his cell, and will allow him only one item at a time — whether it's a toothbrush, a book or anything else — until the execution, corrections officials said.

Prison officials say this is their standard procedure for the period beginning five days before an execution.

The Judge in the Tom DeLay case dealt another setback to DeLay's attempt to get an early trial date, making it more and more unlikely he will be able to reclaim his House leadership position.

In a letter to DeLay's attorneys Wednesday, Senior Judge Pat Priest said he'll be working on other cases and won't be available until Dec. 27 to take up pending motions in DeLay's case stemming from a 2002 campaign finance scheme.

Australian Mamdouh Habib was seized in Pakistan in 2001 and during the next four years, shuttled between Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. He was released in January, 2005. He claimed then he was tortured while in Egypt, and sued the U.S. in federal court to block it from sending him back to Egypt. He reiterated his claims of torture to the BBC today.

Mr Habib told the BBC's World Service that, after his "kidnap" in Pakistan in 2001, he was moved between Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay until his release at the beginning of 2005. He says he does not know who was holding him, but "I saw Americans.. Australians.. Pakistanis.. and Egyptians.... I was beaten, electric shock... no sleep, injections, brainwashed - unbelievable stuff," he said."

The New York Times reported in February:

The 14th Amendment says:

"all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."

Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo now wants Congress to pass a bill denying citizenship to children of undocumented residents. He and like-minded Republicans want to tack the ban on to an immigration bill scheduled to be considered by the House next week.

Apparently, Tancredo believes that the Amendment doesn't apply to children with undocumented parents because although they are born in the U.S., they are not subject to its jurisdictions. Complete nonsense.

Democratic Congressman Charlie Gonzales has this appropriate response:

To change the way we establish citizenship is such an extreme measure, and it makes you really question what is motivating people to come up with those ideas.

Defense lawyers and prosecutors in Stanley Tookie Williams' case got 30 minutes to argue their case for and against clemency to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today. He is not expected to decide today.

Clemency is an act of grace and mercy, provided to the executive branch. It is a process by which the Governor can consider information not available to the court or jury at the time it determined guilt and sentence.

Newsweek today examines the Governor's dilemna. TalkLeft's position is here and here.

Check out the holiday gift guide from Saturday Night Magazine. If you scroll down, you will see they feature the TalkLeft 4th Amendment Subway Tote and Wonkette's tee-shirt.

You can get your tote here. (Click here for larger version). Let the 4th Amendment speak for you as you hand your bag over for a search by a subway or airline security guard. It's a silent protest and reminder to authorities that you consider searches without reasonable suspicion or probable cause to be an infringement of your privacy rights. They make great gifts.

Crashing the Gate by bloggers Markos Moulitsas Zuniga of Daily Kos and Jerome Armstrong of My DD is now available to pre-order.

Crashing the Gate is a shot across the bow at the political establishment in Washington DC and a call to re-democratize politics in America.

This book lays bare, with passion and precision, how ineffective, incompetent, and antiquated the Democratic Party establishment has become, and how it has failed to adapt and respond to new realities and challenges. The authors save their sharpest knives to go for the jugular in their critique of Republican ideologues who are now running—and ruining—our country.

Only 10,000 copies are being printed, so get your's now. Markos reports that as of 10 am this morning, 1472 copies have already been sold. Why order now? So the book can debut on the bestseller list, which in turn will help it reach more people.