Apparently, it doesn't just take a village to dismantle an LA street gang, it takes 900 state and federal agents. LA Police Chief Bill Bratton held a press conference at 5:00 a.m. (PT) today to announce the results of Operation Silent Night, in which 900 law enforcement agents arrested 19 of the 43 members (so far) of the Vineland Boyz gang in Los Angeles and surrounding communities. The gang is believed by police to be responsible for two murders of police officers, one in 1988 and 2003.

LAPD Chief William Bratton called the gang a "modern-day Mafia." The Vineland Boyz gang is a criminal organization, "involved in drug trafficking, murders, attempted murders and extortion," Bratton said.
Bratton said Tuesday's operation was the culmination of an 18-month investigation.

Your turn. Your topics.

Update: About-Face! Frist changes his mind and announces he will push for an up-or-down vote after meeting with Bush today.

What are President Bush's options now that the Dems have again blocked John Bolton's nomination for U.N. Ambassador? He can appoint Bolton as a recess appointment. He can provide the Democrats with the documents they seek. Or he can nominate someone else.

But any of those options could leave the president appearing weak as he confronts sagging poll numbers and fights to stave off a lame-duck label just six months into his final term.

Atrios:

Another fine Republican bigot, who believes his religious freedom involves using the apparatus of the state and the military to force his religion onto others.

What happened:

During a debate today surrounding an amendment by Rep. David Obey (D-WI) to fully examine allegations of proselytizing and religious intolerance at the United States Air Force Academy, six-term Republican Rep. John Hostettler (IN) rose to assert that "Democrats can't help denigrating and demonizing Christians."

Let's end the proselytizing by the radical right. It has no place in Congress - or at the Air Force Academy.

Crooks and Liars called Sen. Bill Frist's office today to ask for an apology for his comments about Terri Schiavo's autopsy results. Here's the audio.

The Administration and the right wing will not succeed in its attempt to smear Illinois Senator Dick Durbin. Durbin’s comments have had the positive effect of stimulating more discussion about the fact that the Bush Administration’s policies have put our troops at risk and hurt our efforts to win the war on terrorism.

Durbin’s constituents, who know him best, seem to recognize that was his intent. Durbin’s hometown paper, the State Journal Register writes,

The real message of Durbin's statement - that we must investigate and stop inhumane treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo and other military prisons - is one we can't afford to ignore.

Greg Hinz writes in Crain’s Chicago Business,

Mistreating people, some possibly innocent, in a harsh prison forever is not an Illinois value. Nor is it an Illinois value to take a person who might possess some intelligence of possible value, stake them out naked on the ground, turn up an air-conditioner until they’re shaking with cold, play ear-splitting music, and watch them defecate and urinate on themselves. That, in fact, was the conduct Mr. Durbin was protesting.

And the Daily Southtown editorializes,

CNN TV reports that the jury in the Killen murder trial of civil rights workers is deadlocked, six-six. They have only deliberated three hours. But the judge is going to make them deliberate tomorrow. Background here .

President Bush spoke in Europe today, and he defended both secret renditions and Guantanamo:

"We've got some in custody - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is a classic example. The mastermind of the September the 11th attack that killed over 3,000 of our citizens," Mr Bush said at a press conference after meeting with European Union leaders. "And he is being detained because we think he could possibly give us information that might not only protect us, but protect citizens in Europe," Mr Bush said.

"And at some point in time he will be dealt with, but right now we think it's best that he be kept in custody. We want to learn as much as we can in this new kind of war about the intention, and about the methods, about how these people operate," he said. "And they're dangerous, and they're still around, and they'll kill on a moment's notice."

When exactly is that point? When he, and not a court, decides? Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has been held since March 1, 2003. The U.S. even took his 7 and 9 year old sons into custody. Ramzi bin al Shibh has been held in secret overseas detention since September, 2002. How much more information will they give after two or three years? How do we know Mohammed masterminded the 9/11 attacks? Shouldn't a judge or a jury decide that?

by TChris

Congress told TSA not to collect personal data on air travelers, and TSA said it wouldn't. TSA lied.

A Transportation Security Administration contractor used three data brokers to collect detailed information about U.S. citizens who flew on commercial airlines in June 2004 in order to test a terrorist screening program called Secure Flight, according to documents that will be published in the Federal Register this week.

The contractor, EagleForce Associates, then combined the passenger name records with commercial data from three contractors that included first, last and middle names, home address and phone number, birthdate, name suffix, second surname, spouse first name, gender, second address, third address, ZIP code and latitude and longitude of address. EagleForce then produced CD-ROMS containing the information "and provided those CD-ROMS to TSA for use in watch list match testing," the documents said.

The Judge in the Adelphia Cable fraud case handed 80 year old company founder John Rigas an effective life sentence today - 15 years. The prosecution had asked for 215 years. His son is being sentenced now.

How's this for mercy?

U.S. District Court Judge Leonard Sand said at Monday's hearing that John Rigas' sentence could be altered after two years, but only if the Bureau of Prisons determines Rigas' life expectancy to be less than 3 months.

Update: Rigas suffers from bladder cancer. I have to say, I'm glad he didn't cower at his sentencing. He knew what was coming and said,

``If I did anything wrong, I apologize,'' said Rigas, speaking in a faint voice before the judge passed sentence. ``It's in your hands, and in God's hands. In my heart and conscience, I'll go to my grave really and truly believing that I did nothing but to improve conditions for my employees.''

Rigas's son Timothy Rigas has just been sentenced to 20 years.
America. Prison Nation.

by TChris

The popular modern response to sex offenders was once applied to lepers: shun them, isolate them, treat them as outcasts. States and municipalities increasingly require the identities and photographs of sex offenders to be posted on registries that are available on the internet. Sex offenders are often required to report to local law enforcement agencies when they move, and the agencies notify their neighbors that an offender resides in the neighborhood. The newest laws prohibit offenders from living within 1,000 feet of schools or parks, often forcing offenders to live outside of cities while depriving them of job opportunities.

These laws effectively cripple an offender's rehabilitative goal of becoming a productive member of society. Are they worth it? New research suggests they aren't.

"I would rather have someone who has committed a sex offense be going to work every day, come home tired, have a sense of well-being that comes from having a regular paycheck and a safe home, as opposed to having a sex offender who has a lot of free time on his hands," said Richard Hamill, president of the New York State Alliance of Sex Offender Service Providers. "You tell me: Who is at a greater risk of reoffending?"

A must read today, Molly Ivins on injustice in Texas.