The Conference report (CONFERENCE REPORT (H. REPT. 109–72)on the Iraq supplemental spending bill which contains the Real I.D. Act has been published in the May 3 Congressional Record. It's 65 pages and will take me a while to read and digest. It is expected to be voted on by the House this week and by the Senate next week.

The ACLU issued this press release today. TChris weighed in earlier today. I urge everyone to read their thoughts.

Here's the table of contents:

by TChris

TalkLeft has criticized the Real ID Act, as did the New York Times this morning, in part because Congress "tied it to a crucial bill providing funds for American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan" to avoid debating the bill on its merits.

One reason (among many) that the Real ID Act deserves greater scrutiny is "a little-known provision that opponents say would be the first suspension of habeas corpus since the Civil War."

The immigration legislation, known as the Real ID Act, would bar noncitizens from the right of habeas corpus review in federal district courts for most detention and deportation orders. ... [The provisions] would mean anyone held in detention on immigration-related charges or purposes, except asylum seekers, could not file habeas claims.

"It really removes one of the core functions that habeas review has prevented historically, which is a safety valve against manifest injustice resulting from unlawful government action," said Marshall Fitz, the associate director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. He acknowledged that the bill would provide an alternative recourse before U.S. courts of appeals, but that would be ineffective in many cases.

Via Cursor:

Steve Gilliard finds Army recruiters' efforts to send "Private ADD" to Iraq, to serve alongside "Pvt. Asthma, Pvt. Pothead, and Pvt. Sneakthief," reminiscent of Robert McNamara's "Moron Corps."

Charles Graner testified today in Lynndie England's sentencing proceeding that leading prisoners around on a leash was a legitimate training aid. Flashback: Freed death row inmate Nick Yarris discusses Charles Graner's cruel tendencies as a Pa. prison guard. (More on Graner's abuse here.) Yarris, represented by frequent TL commenter Peter Goldberger, was exonerated by DNA evidence and released from prison after serving 22 years.

Then there's this news about Pat Tillman. Army officials knew early on that Pat Tillman died from friendly fire -- days before a nationally televised memorial service--but they didn't tell his family or the public until weeks later.

by TChris

Was it worth the price that the United States paid -- and continues to pay, in lives and credibility -- to invade Iraq? Most Americans sensibly answer "no."

[A]ccording to a CNN/USAToday/Gallup poll released on Tuesday[:] Fifty-seven percent of those polled said it was not worth going to war compared to 41 percent who thought it was.

Reality has replaced enthusiasm since April 2003, when 73 percent of respondents thought the war was worth fighting.

Convicted OKC bomber Terry Nichols, who has maintained his silence for ten years, now is accusing Arkansa gun dealer Roger Moore of providing some of the explosives for the 1995 OKC bombing.

Nichols claims Arkansas gun collector Roger Moore gave the explosives to Timothy McVeigh and also provided additional bomb components recently found in Nichols' former Kansas home, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday. In the early stages of the bombing investigation, the FBI took a hard look at Moore because of his anti-government views and close relationship with McVeigh. He was never charged.

The New York Times reports:

Newly disclosed documents from an American territory in the Pacific show that the powerful Washington lobbyist at the center of federal corruption investigations here paid directly for travel to the islands by several members of Congress, Democrat and Republican, as well as two senior aides to Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, despite House rules that bar such payments.

The total exceeded $350,000.

TalkLeft readers were credited today as a "Newsroom Pick" in AOL's Blog Zone.

This Is a No-Win Situation'

L.G., the pregnant 13-year-old foster child caught in a legal battle
over abortion in Florida has received permission to have the abortion
she sought. As a ward of the state, Florida argued she could not make
that decision. [Read Full Story]

· Foster Care Support Blog recaps the events, too.
· The decision was a no-brainer, say readers at Talk Left.
· Kudos to the Judge, says Feministing.
· But Challies says this judge now has blood on his hands.
· And Say Anything wonders how a child not old enough to vote or drink is trusted with this decision.

Congrats to all of you.

Zacarias Moussaoui is back to filing handwritten motions. Last week he wrote to the judge seeking to fire his lawyers, saying they were incompetent. Today the Judge denied his request.

In a four-page handwritten filing, Moussaoui said his attorneys are trying to guarantee his death by saying he had only a minor role in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In claiming ineffective assistance by his defense counsel, Moussaoui asserts he had no part in the Sept. 11 plot but that he was to have participated in a separate plan approved by Osama bin Laden to fly a 747 airliner into the White House if the U.S. government refused to negotiate the release of an imprisoned terrorist.

A military jury has begun hearing evidence in the sentencing phase of FPC Lynndie England's abuse trial. The prosecution called no witnesses. The defense case began with a doctor who testified England was cognitively impaired due to oxygen deprivation at birth. Her problems, which include speech impairment and reading disability, were diagnosed in kindergarten.

"I knew I was going to know Lynndie England for the rest of my life," West Virginia school psychologist Dr. Thomas Denne said.

How does that impact her moral judgment? The doctor said it made her less resistant to peer pressure. But does it excuse this behavior?

by TChris

Early Ray Bryant, a 63-year-old retired truck driver, had words with a security guard who allegedly made a nasty remark about Bryant's wife over a CB radio. Bryant called the Williamsburg police, an action he no doubt regretted after Officer Brad Nighbert arrived.

Bryant said that when police responded, Nighbert, without reason, hit him from behind with a nightstick and threw him to the ground, injuring him, and that two other officers did not intervene. Nighbert falsely arrested him to cover up the assault and refused to get him medical treatment, Bryant claimed. The charges were later dismissed.

A jury accepted Bryant's account of the attack and found that Nighbert used excessive force against him, in violation of his civil rights. The jury awarded $25,000 to Bryant and $10,000 to his wife. Bryant's attorneys will seek an award of fees for their successful representation of Bryant.

Nighbert seems to be a problem for the Williamsburg police department.

In two other pending federal lawsuits, Nighbert is accused -- alone in one case, and with other officers in the other -- of assaulting a juvenile who had mental problems and a man who suffered from schizophrenia in 2004, injuring both of them.

by TChris

Another person -- this one in Phoenix -- has died after being shot with a Taser. TalkLeft's prior coverage of the controversy surrounding police reliance on Tasers is collected here.

An ongoing Arizona Republic investigation has found that at least 109 people have died in the United States and Canada following police Taser strikes since 1999.

by TChris

Those who have followed the Booker case know that the Supreme Court made the federal sentencing guidelines advisory, freeing federal judges to impose sentences that are less (or, unfortunately, more) harsh than the guidelines formerly required. (Those who haven’t followed the case can catch up here.)

The Court’s decision will benefit some defendants, but – you heard it here first – it didn’t benefit Booker, who was resentenced today to a term of 30 years, the same sentence that the district court originally imposed. Booker’s counsel, who happens to be writing this, was disappointed, to say the least.