Terri Schiavo has been without food or water for 11 days. The latest reports have her in her final hours. And the 11th Circuit has just agreed to consider a new hearing on her parent's request for reinsertion of her feeding tube. What's going on?

Early today, in a surprise move, a federal appeals court told her parents they could file a motion for a rehearing in their effort to have her feeding tube reconnected. The ruling gave them renewed access to the federal court system, though its ultimate significance was not immediately clear.

CNN reports it's a request for en banc review of the last denial.

In other Schiavo news, Jesse Jackson and Randall Terry are now on the same side. And the arrests continue, with police tasering the latest subject.

by TChris

One of the great trial lawyers of modern times, Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., died today of a brain tumor at the age of 67.

"Certainly, Johnnie's career will be noted as one marked by 'celebrity' cases and clientele," his family said in a statement. "But he and his family were most proud of the work he did on behalf of those in the community."

Johnnie Cochran earned celebrity status for his defense of O.J. Simpson, but he used his formidable talents both to defend the accused in criminal cases and to help powerless victims obtain redress for governmental abuse in civil cases.

He won a $760,000 award in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Ron Settles, a black college football star who died in police custody in 1981. Cochran challenged police claims that Settles hanged himself in jail after a speeding arrest. The player's body was exhumed, an autopsy performed and it revealed Settles had been choked.

His clients also included Haitian immigrant Abner Louima, who was tortured by New York police, and Tyisha Miller, a 19-year-old black woman shot to death by Riverside police who said she reached for a gun on her lap when they broke her car window in an effort to disarm her.

He also represented former Black Panther Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt, who spent 27 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. When Cochran helped Pratt win his freedom in 1997 he called the moment "the happiest day of my life practicing law."

Cochran brought style, intellect, wit, courage, tenacity, and dedication into the courtroom on behalf of each client he represented during a career that spanned three decades. He was fun to watch, making it no surprise that juries loved him.

The profession lost one of its wonders today. Rest in peace, Johnnie.

by TChris

Free enterprise at its worst:

Three airmen have been arrested in an alleged scheme to steal 35 bulletproof vests from Moody Air Force Base and sell them to drug dealers for $100 each.

Police discovered the plot when they arrested a drug dealer who was wearing one of the stolen vests. Eighteen of the vests have been recovered.

by TChris

Three former Oakland police officers, charged with 15 felonies growing out of accusations that they "beat and framed suspected drug dealers in West Oakland in the summer of 2000," are relying on a familiar defense: the prosecution witnesses were just saying what the government wanted to hear.

In the second week of closing arguments in the Alameda County Superior Court trial of the former officers, who were reportedly nicknamed "The Riders" by bitter West Oakland residents who despised their aggressive tactics, attorney Michael Rains alleged that witnesses were eager to please the prosecutors in the case and their theme was, "If it hurts the D.A., we'll change what we say."

In this case, the defense requires ex-officers to portray other ex-officers as liars. That might be more difficult than discrediting the alleged abuse victims who participated in a lawsuit against Oakland.

by TChris

Demonstrating their ability to behave like children -- just like their counterparts in the United States -- politicians in Iraq, participating in a second meeting of the constitutional assembly, engaged in a "shouting match today and showed the fiery tensions that are rising as the main political parties fail to reach an agreement to form a coalition government."

Prominent politicians also said in interviews that the delay in forming a government could force the assembly to take an extra half-year to write the permanent constitution, pushing the deadline for a first draft well beyond the original target date of Aug. 15. That means the delay could significantly throw off the timetable for the establishment of a full-term democratically elected government.

The television feed from the meeting was discontinued after about 20 minutes, presumably to spare the bickering politicians the embarrassment of public scrutiny. A key point of disagreement: who will get the coveted job of oil minister.

by TChris

A basketball coach in Alabama who believes he was fired for complaining that the boys' team was treated more favorably than the girls' team will be able to pursue his discrimination claim in court, thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling today.

The 5-4 decision in favor of Alabama high school girls basketball coach Roderick Jackson is a victory for women's advocates who say the legal protection will prompt reports of bias that would otherwise go unsaid or unheeded.

The court held that Title IX -- the federal law prohibiting discrimination in educational institutions -- protects whistleblowers who complain about gender discrimination.

"Without protection from retaliation, individuals who witness discrimination would likely not report it, indifference claims would be short-circuited, and the underlying discrimination would go unremedied," Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote for the majority.

Joining Justice O'Connor in the majority were Justices Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer.

Update: Here is the opinion.

by TChris

TalkLeft has frequently written in opposition to the "nuclear option" -- the Republican threat to change the Senate rules to eliminate the filibuster. (Previous posts are here, here, here and here.) The president and some Senate Republicans are unhappy that ten unqualified candidates for federal judgeships were blocked during the president's first term, notwithstanding the 200-plus nominees who were confirmed. If they can't have their way, every time, they throw a tantrum.

The NY Times editorial page today, as it has in the past, takes a stand against the nuclear option.

Many of the wisest Republicans are well aware that their leaders are playing a dangerous game and that they are doing it for frivolous reasons. The judicial nominees can easily be replaced. But the sense that there are certain rules that all must play by, whether to their advantage or not, is something that cannot be restored. Senators need only to look at the House to see what politics looks like when the only law is to win at any cost.

by TChris

After suffering a stroke in 1988, Albert Lane Sr. lost the use of his right shoulder. He still walks with a limp and speaks with a slur. The police in Sealy, Texas stopped him after they received a call from a woman who said Lane's passenger had stolen two bottles of beer from her store.

Lane, who said he drank a bottle of beer the night of his arrest and two beers earlier in the day, filed a complaint on Feb. 11 stating that the officers abused their authority when they pulled him from his truck, handcuffed him and dragged him face-down 35 feet from his truck to the patrol car in front of the store. ... "They scarred my knees and arms and knocked my front tooth out," said Lane[.]

Lane was arrested for public intoxication. The evidence of intoxication? Lane smelled like beer.

Lane is black. The Austin County Leadership Council, noting that the police department has no black officers, attributes the abuse of power to racism. The group would like Sealy "to form a citizens review committee, which would promote fair treatment and advancement of minorities."

by TChris

A group of former diplomats, including some who served under Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Bush the First, joined to oppose the nomination of John Bolton as United Nations ambassador. Their letter to Richard Lugar, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, explains their position.

The former diplomats ... took issue with what they said was Bolton's view that the United Nations is valuable only when it directly serves the interest of the Unites States. They also said Bolton, currently undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, has an exceptional record of opposing efforts to enhance U.S. security through arms control and has worked for Taiwan as a paid researcher and has said Taiwan should be treated as a sovereign state. They said that "his past activities and statements indicate conclusively that he is the wrong man for this position."

The Senate committee will hold hearings on the nomination in early April.

The 2003 Protect Act, aimed at prosecuting tourists from the U.S. who travel abroad to commit sex offenses against children, saw its first sentence imposedMonday:

An 87-year-old man convicted of attempting to travel to the Philippines to molest young girls was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison under a 2003 federal law aimed at fighting so-called sex tourism.

John W. Seljan was the first person to be convicted at trial of violating the Protect Act, which made it easier for U.S. authorities to prosecute people for overseas sex crimes, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ...

Seljan sat in a wheelchair and used headphones to listen to the proceedings when he was convicted by a judge during a non-jury trial in November.

A half-way house or home arrest wouldn't have been been sufficient for this widower, grandfather and former country western singer? Do you feel safer? How much will taxpayers pay for his medical care in prison?

by TChris

During her 2001 murder trial in Fort Worth, Texas, a prosecutor cross-examining Swanda Marie Lewis asked whether she had declined a police detective's invitation to discuss her husband's death. Judge Sharen Wilson granted a mistrial to remedy the improper reference to Lewis' exercise of her Fifth Amendment right to silence. Lewis' lawyer, Danny Burns, later moved to dismiss the case.

Burns ... argued that the mistrial was prompted by prosecutorial misconduct and that the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy barred Lewis from being tried again [for] the same crime.

When the government deliberately provokes a mistrial, double jeopardy generally protects an accused from a second trial. Judge Wilson denied the dismissal motion, but the state court of appeals ruled last week (for the second time) that the prosecutor's flagrant misconduct provoked the mistrial, saving Lewis from a second prosecution.

Terri Schiavo is dying. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, today announced he will seek an autopsy for her, to put to rest rumors that he wants her remains cremated as a means of putting to rest rumors that he was in some way responsible for her injuries.

The television coverage of this case has been nothing short of appalling. I'm so sick of this family's dirty laundry being aired 24/7. It started out that I wondered who to believe. Right now, I don't believe any of them - not the parents, the husband or the legions of "friends," former caregivers and acquaintances. There isn't a single one that is not promoting a private agenda, one that far exceeds the bounds of privacy and dignity for a dying woman.