Two Afghans who were released Monday from Guantanamo said yesterday that more than 150 of the prisoners are on a hunger strike "to protest alleged mistreatment and to push for freedom." A Government spokesman and Amnesty International say they know nothing about it.

Neil Koslowe, a Washington-based lawyer for 12 detainees from Kuwait, said several inmates told him during a June 20-24 visit to Guantanamo that there was a ``widespread'' hunger strike over the amount and quality of their drinking water.

Eight of the detainnes are being released this week.

...three Saudis, who were not identified, were handed over to Saudi security, the official Saudi Press Agency said in Riyadh. It did not specify whether the three were detained for questioning, saying only that ``the regular procedures will be applied accordingly.''

Ouch.

The 14 Senators that sold us out on Janice Rogers Brown and Priscilla Owen are meeting Thursday. Why? Don't we still have a Senate Judiciary Committee? Who annointed them the arbiters of a Supreme Court nominee?

Via Up Against the Law:

As part of the ongoing FOIA litigation on behalf of the ACLU and the Center for Constitutional Rights, a whole slew of the unreleased photographs and videos from Abu Ghraib are set to be released on Friday. These are the photographs and videos that were shown to the closed session of Congress, which reportedly include videos and photographs of the rape of detainees, including the rape of a male minor being held at the facility.

[Note: This is unverified but seems likely.]

California death row inmates are alone and locked in their cells 20 of 24 hours a day. So how would one get a syringe and heroin?

A convicted murderer awaiting execution at San Quentin State Prison has died of an apparent heroin overdose -- making him California's first inmate to OD on Death Row.

Michael Camacho, the L.A. deputy district attorney who prosecuted Rodriguez for the 1999 crimes, said the apparent overdose didn't surprise him. Rodriguez had a history of drug use, he said, and drugs are easy to get in prison -- even on Death Row. "The accessibility of narcotics is rampant in the Department of Corrections, even though they would prefer not to admit it,'' Camacho said.

Ann Coulter opposes the nomination. [Via Drudge]

The left side of the Blogosphere is all over the map on Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts. Here are some of the various views:

Billmon: It's not a question of if we oppose him but whether we go to the mat to fight him. As of now, Billmon concludes we should save our ammunition for the next nomination - but he says the liberal lawyer-types discussing the nomination need to learn to fight dirtier because this is all about a continuation of the Republican's down and dirty power grab.

This note was forwarded to me today. It had been posted on a criminal defense list-serv by a criminal defense lawyer and law school classmate of Judge John Roberts. I don't know the author, but I thought I would share it:

I suggest that we not all go running off the cliff here.

John Roberts has the best professional credentials of any nominee in the last twenty years. He's not a raving nut case, and he's not a Scalia or Thomas wedded to an agenda without regard to precedent or process. I went to law school with Roberts and we were in the same study group first year. He's the most intellectually gifted person I have ever met, including the professors. He is also one Hell of a nice guy.

by TChris

A dishonest cop. A dishonest prosecutor. A judge who doesn't seem to care. And a potentially innocent man who faces three life sentences.

The cop, Det. Joseph Godoy, investigated a robbery and triple homicide in Tucson, but found no leads until anonymous sources identified some men who may have been involved. After Godoy had that information, he interviewed Keith Woods, a repeat drug offender facing 25 years, who supposedly identified three men he claimed were involved in the crime.

Godoy interviewed Woods, but didn't record the first 45 minutes. "No plausible explanation" was offered why some of the interview was untaped, the Arizona Supreme Court found.

During the trial of two of the men, Godoy testified (falsely) that he first learned of the defendants during the interview with Woods. He didn't mention the anonymous calls. The inference is that Godoy fed the names he received from the anonymous callers to Woods during the unrecorded portion of the interview, then let Woods parrot back the information during the recorded portion. In exchange for his help, Woods got a break in his own case.

The prosecutor, Kenneth Peasley, twice named Arizona Prosecutor of the Year, knew that Godoy intended to commit perjury, but he elicited the false testimony at trial. Having concealed evidence that could have discredited Woods, he argued to the jury that Woods' testimony should cause the jury to convict the two men. The jury did as he asked and the men were convicted.

Joe Conason comes down pretty hard on jailed reporter Judith Miller. Too hard, or is he right?

Sports Book is giving odds on Karl Rove being fired or resigning:

Washington, D.C. (July 20, 2005) - Sportsbook.com has entered the fray in the latest political storm to rock the White House by offering odds on the future of its Deputy Chief of Staff, Karl Rove. The opening line is that Rove will not be dismissed or resign in the wake of an ongoing criminal investigation, with odds at 1-6.

The betting line is a reflection of President Bush's seeming flip-flop on the issue based on comments he has offered since the scandal broke in 2003. Initially, Bush said he would fire anyone from the administration found to have been the source of the leak. After Rove was revealed to be the source, however, Bush said he would only dismiss an administration official who had engaged in criminal activity.

This just in:

Committee investigates leaking of classified information:

SENATE AND HOUSE DEMOCRATIC PANELS TO HOLD OVERSIGHT HEARING ON NATIONAL SECURITY CONSEQUENCES OF DISCLOSING THE IDENTITY OF A COVERT INTELLIGENCE OFFICER 10:00 AM -- FRIDAY, JULY 22

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) -- The U.S. Senate Democratic Policy Committee (DPC) and the U.S. House Government Reform Committee Minority will conduct a joint hearing at 10:00 AM, Friday, July 22, in Room 138 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, to examine the national security implications of disclosing the identity of a covert intelligence officer. The hearing will be co-chaired by Senate DPC Chairman Byron Dorgan (D-ND), and U.S. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), the Ranking Member of the House Government Reform Committee.

The panel of witnesses will include former intelligence officers and analysts who will discuss the impact of such disclosures, based on decades of experience and service to our country on intelligence and national security matters.

There's plenty to talk about today, including the hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Reporter's Shield law. But, topics are open.