U.Sn Ambassador nominee John Bolton omitted being questioned by the State Department inspector general's office on his application form for the appointment. The investigation concerned intelligence lapses surrinding Iraq, Niger and uranium.

The acknowledgment came after the State Department had earlier insisted nominee John Bolton's "answer was truthful" when he said he had not been questioned or provided information to jury or government investigations in the past five years.

"When Mr. Bolton completed his form during the Senate confirmation process he did not recall being interviewed by the State Department inspector general. Therefore his form as submitted was inaccurate in this regard and he will correct the form," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

It's unlikely it will matter as the White House says it doesn't find the omission significant. Bush will probably give Bolton a recess appointment after Congress recesses the first week in August.

The State Department source says Bolton was not questioned by Fitzgerald or the grand jury investigating the Plame leak.

Tom Maguire of Just One Minute writes:

The NY Times finally discovers Walter Pincus of the WaPo, a mere three weeks after we were hollering
about him. And eventually, the Times will discover Google, or Lexis Nexis....

I feel the same way.

Sgt. Kevin Benderman was acquitted of desertion by a military jury today. He was convicted of a lesser "missing movement" charge and sentenced to 15 months.

Benderman failed to deploy with his 3rd Infantry Division unit in January, 10 days after he told Fort Stewart commanders he was seeking a discharge as a conscientious objector. He has previously said he refused to deploy to Iraq after his first combat tour during the 2003 invasion made him opposed to war.

Benderman's company commander and direct supervisor in the division's 3rd Forward Support Battalion flew to Fort Stewart from Iraq to testify Thursday that the soldier disobeyed orders to deploy and demoralized his fellow troops after they left without him.

Benderman's company commander said he got what he deserved: 15 months in jail for missing 12 months in Iraq.

While I think the sentence is too harsh, I'd say Benderman came out ahead: At least he knows he's not getting a death sentence, which is how a tour in Iraq might have turned out.

Background on the case is here.

TChris usually has this category, but I couldn't resist. And who knows, maybe he can top this one: In Massachussetts, a woman reported her marijuana stolen.

A 51-year-old Boylston Street resident reported on July 21 that her residence was broken into sometime between 3:15 and 6 p.m. When asked if anything was missing, the woman reportedly told police "nothing except for her marijuana."

[Via Crim Prof Blog.]

Miami Herald reporter Jim DeFede has been fired for taping his last phone call with indicted Miami politician Art Teele. After the call, Teele went to the Herald's offices and killed himself. Sad story. The Southern District of Florida blog has a good wrap-up and these thoughts, by David Oscar Markus.

On a personal note, I'm just sickened by this. It's an eye-opening reminder that targeting someone (either by the press or by the state or by the feds) has real consequences. I am not suggesting that anyone is to blame for Teele's actions. That said, I have wondered why the feds needed to prosecute Teele after he had been convicted in state court and after he had lost his job and his life. In the end, was it necessary? Even assuming that he committed a crime, there are times when our prosecutors should use discretion. It's easy, of course, to say now that this was one of those cases, but I still wonder why this man (after what he had already gone through) needed to be prosecuted.

by TChris

As TalkLeft discussed here, some states are making it more difficult for cold sufferers to buy over-the-counter medications containing pseudoephedrine, because the drug can be used (albeit not easily) to manufacture methamphetamine. Now the federal government wants to get into the act (doesn't it always?), by requiring stores that sell Sudafed, Nyquil and other medicines containing pseudoephedrine to keep them behind the pharmacy counter.

Consumers would have to show a photo ID, sign a log, and be limited to 7.5 grams - or about 250 30-milligram pills - in a 30-day period. Computer tracking would prevent customers from exceeding the limit at other stores, according to the bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Jim Talent, R-Mo.

In its present form, the bill is even more silly, as it exempts stores that don't have a pharmacy.

U.S. District Judge Sterling Johnson in New York sentenced Yemeni cleric Sheik Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad to 75 years today, saying "We must all remember September 11."

What did the cleric have to do with 9/11? Nothing.

While the trial was not about the Sept. 11 attacks, he said, the evidence of al-Moayad's ties to bin Laden and Hamas required a stiff sentence.

Background on the trial is here.

I've heard some good buzz about The Aristocrats. It's opening tomorrow in L.A. and New York, and then going national during August. The AMC movie chain has banned the film.

If you want to hear the dirtiest joke ever told ... don't bother heading for your local AMC megaplex. The theater chain has decided not to show the buzzed-about documentary "The Aristocrats" on any of its 3,500-plus screens, and the filmmakers aren't laughing. The $20,000 unrated film features 102 comedians, each telling the same infamous joke—involving a XXX stage act—passed down from comic to comic since vaudeville. (The punch line is the film's title.) Despite great test screenings—and a cast with figures ranging from Jon Stewart to Phyllis Diller—AMC's film group chairman, Dick Walsh, decided, according to a company spokeswoman, the film "would have very narrow appeal."

by TChris

States that offer personalized license plates often want to control the message that plate buyers can convey. There's little doubt that states can prevent the issuance of plates that use offensive words (of the George Carlin variety), but it's less clear that states can censor political messages that state bureaucrats find offensive.

The state of Utah can't block a woman from using her license plate to tell the world "GAYSROK," a judge has ruled. The state has no good reason to prevent Elizabeth Solomon from having that plate -- which can be read "Gays are OK" or "Gays Rock" -- or another one saying "GAYRYTS," according to Jane Phan, an administrative law judge with the Utah State Tax Commission.

The judge ruled that a reasonable person wouldn't find the plates "offensive to good taste and decency," not that motorists have a First Amendment right to convey political messages. But state censorship of political messages raises First Amendment concerns, a fact not recognized by Barry Conover, deputy director of the commission, which oversees Utah's Department of Motor Vehicles:

by TChris

With good reason, prosecutors aren't opposing Larry Peterson's motion for a new trial. Peterson was convicted of rape and murder, but new DNA testing proves that semen in the victim's body and skin beneath her fingernails didn't come from Peterson. And hair found on the victim's body that the prosecutors claimed to be Peterson's actually belonged to the victim.

Great news for Peterson? Not necessarily. The prosecutor has indicated that he will ask the judge to set bail for Peterson within standard guidelines, which could mean bail of $250,000 or more. If the judge sets bail that high, Peterson's family won't be able to afford it, and Peterson will remain in jail - exonerated and still incarcerated.

What good is the mountain of DNA evidence supporting Peterson if the practical effect of setting high bail is to deny him his freedom?

Why is this happening? The explanation is both simple and common:

Asking for standard bail in this case would be one more signal that prosecutors still cannot admit they made a mistake.

by TChris

Columnist Ronnie Polaneczky writes about three men in the Philadelphia area who were arrested on the basis of mistaken identifications.

[Morris] Wells was arrested in March for a subway-stop murder that police now believe had been committed by Philly serial-killer suspect Juan Covington, who has admitted to the crime. Yesterday, murder charges against Wells were dropped.

The district attorney may soon also drop aggravated-assault and attempted-murder charges against Clyde Johnson, who has been imprisoned since April 2004, for a Logan shooting that ballistics tests have since tied to a gun belonging to Covington.

Wells and Johnson were arrested in large part based on eyewitnesses who tagged them as suspects. So was Omar Lezama de La Rosa, the Ambler man arrested last week for a rape that his half-brother is now suspected of committing.

Mistaken identification is a frequent cause of mistaken convictions. Temple law professor Edward Ohlbaum explains why:

by TChris

Kristie's Law would prohibit high speed police pursuits in California unless the fleeing driver is suspected of involvement in a violent felony. Kristie was the innocent victim of a high speed chase. Her mom complains that "[l]aw enforcement's meaningless alternative to Kristie's Law, Senate Bill 719, is sailing through the Legislature."

SB719 would require law enforcement to adopt a pursuit policy, but this reform is mostly symbolic. Police departments must already adopt a pursuit policy to receive blanket immunity from civil liability. Romero's bill retains California's unique injustice of immunity even when the policy is not followed. It states only that departments must adopt, distribute and have officers read the policy. This reform implies that officers are not even reading their policy! Where is the accountability? Can you think of any other public-safety priority where thoughtful policy is developed, adopted, and then legally ignored?