The New York Observer today has a very moving article recognizng the two National Magazine Awards finalist nominations 5280 won last week for articles written by Maximillian Potter, executive editor of Denver's glossy city magazine, 5280. The awards are in the Reporting and Public Interest categories. It describes how Max went from being a New York writer to moving to Denver and writing for 5280.

Mr. Potter, 33, abandoned New York in 2003, after being chewed up by the magazine business. He had been fired as a GQ staff writer by newly installed editor Jim Nelson, then had seen a pair of major pieces commissioned and rejected by Men’s Journal and Rolling Stone. Those killed pieces ended up in 5280.

Max gives a lot of credit to 5280 publisher Dan Brogan. As I was reading Maxmillian describe Dan's support, I was nodding my head in agreement. I've been blogging daily for 5280 for several months now (here's last week's group of posts), and Dan and I confer by e-mail a few times each day and evening. He is as supportive as Maxmillian describes. He's also incredibly gracious. He has never refused to publish any of my posts, even the opinionated ones, and when criticism has come in about a few of them, he has reminded the critic that 5280 is a magazine and writers have opinions. If he edits my posts, it is with such a light touch that I don't notice. On the other hand, when I'm stuck looking for a word or pithy phrase, the kind that don't come naturally to lawyers, he's always got one ready when I ask.

I hope you will read Maximillian's articles. They are top-notch. My hat is off to him. The first is Conduct Unbecoming, about the rape trial of an Air Force cadet everyone assumed was guilty. From the Observer article linked above:

The Colorado Supreme Court issued two correct rulings today, one in the Lisl Auman case as we reported here, and another one in a locally high profile rape-murder case, in which the defendant, Robert Harlan had been sentenced to death. The Court vacated the death sentence because jurors consulted the bible during deliberations .

Ruling that juries cannot turn to the Bible for advice during deliberations, the Colorado Supreme Court on Monday refused to reinstate the death penalty in a brutal rape and murder because jurors had studied such verses as "eye for eye, tooth for tooth."

On a 3-2 vote, justices ordered Robert Harlan to serve life in prison without parole for kidnapping 25-year-old cocktail waitress Rhonda Maloney in 1994 and raping her at gunpoint for two hours.

The New York Times says MGM v. Grokster is not really a David v. Goliath story but one about the right of "individual creators of music, movies and books" to get paid. Sony's BMG Chief Andrew Lack presents that side here. Also opposing Grokster and the other P2P file sharing networks is the Recording Artists Coaltion. Here's its March 1 press statement (pdf).

Electronic Frontier Foundation has the other side. This site has it in plain English.

At issue is a 9th Circuit opinion holding vendors cannot be held liable users who use their products for copyright infringement provided the products can be used for significant noninfringing (legal) uses. The Times reports,

The technology community has rallied to Grokster's defense. Its most radical members argue that "information wants to be free" online and disparage the whole idea of intellectual property. A more modest argument, and one Grokster relies on in court, is that if it loses, there will be a chilling effect on technological innovation.

Here's more on the case. Here too. I'm torn. I'm on the side of the artists getting paid for their work. I'm not that worried about the chilling effect on technological advancement. But in analagous cases, like whether gun manufacturers should be held liable for deaths caused by people who kill using guns, I'm against assigning such responsibility to anyone but the individual perpetrator.

I haven't given much thought to the case before today, but its a biggie. Which side are you on?

In the truth is stranger than fiction department: Several Chinese provinces are using "death vans" to carry out court-ordered executions - in some cases, 15 minutes after a death sentence has been imposed. [Via Crim Prof Blog]

THE death van is an inconspicuous blue-and-white police vehicle that parks near the courtroom when its services are required by the Chinese judicial system.

Inside it is fitted with a couch that can be raised or lowered like an operating table, set in the middle of the floor. There is space on either side for the bailiff, the court medical expert and one or two policemen to hold down the condemned man.

A lethal injection is then administered in a two-stage process by the medical expert, who in some cases may be a qualified doctor, and the bailiff. The process is swift and efficient, according to a policeman who has witnessed the vans in use in Liaoning province, northeast China.

Thanks to Ian at The Political Teen who put up the video from my Connected Communities appearance today on MSNBC's Connected Coast to Coast. It's a 90 second or so report on what stories the blogosphere is covering. Today the topics were (of course) Terri Schiavo, specifically, what to do with her remains. The featured blog was Civil Commotion; Prozac and the Red Lake Shootings and TalkLeft's take on it; and pharmacists who refuse to distribute contraceptives to women, featuring TBogg's post (permalink not working, but it's at the top of the page.)

Update: In the segment on Terri Schiavo, I used Civil Commotion as an example of a site that contained the allegations against Michael Schiavo and information related to the Catholic Church and burial. What I missed was that the blog was disagreeing with the Schiavo allegations and correcting the false impression that the Catholic Church does not allow cremation. In an e-mail, Mr. Felton from Civil Commotion states that he was ridiculing the allegations and correcting the false information about the Church. My mistake, I read it too fast, too close to airtime. My sincere apologies to Mr. Felton. He, like me, was pointing out the ugly accusations surrounding the case, and was not in any way endorsing them.

Bump and Update: The Judge has ruled evidence of the 1993 accusation against Jackson can be admitted. The judge also will allow evidence regarding four other accusers, including actor Macaulay Culkin and choreographer Wade Robson. The prosecution had sought to admit allegations from seven former accusers. The jury will hear that Jackson settled two lawsuits, one in 1990 and one in 1993. It will not hear amounts unless the defense brings it up. But this does not mean the five accusers will testify in person. In particular, the 1993 accuser, Jordan Chandler, is not expected to testify:

Jackson's lawyer then went into a point-by-point attack of the old material Sneddon wants to introduce. With the exception of Chandler and the maid's son, the five boys allegedly molested by Jackson--a group that includes actor Macaulay Culkin and choreographer Wade Robson--have all repeatedly denied being abused by the performer, Mesereau said. Additionally, since Chandler is not going to testify, Mesereau said, jurors would only hear direct testimony from one of the seven boys prosecutors claim Jackson sexually abused.

Bump and Update: The Colorado Supreme Court has reversed Lisl Auman's felony murder conviction and ordered a new trial! The opinion is here (pdf.) It was authored by Justice Michael Bender.

The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday reversed the felony murder conviction and life sentence of 29-year-old Lisl Auman, who was found guilty of murder even though she was handcuffed and in a police car when an accomplice shot and killed a police officer.

The high court ruled that improper jury instructions may have deprived Auman of her right to a full and fair jury trial on a second-degree burglary charge, reversing her conviction for felony murder -- which was based on the burglary conviction.

Great news for Lisl Auman. However, as the Court upheld the felony murder rule, even when the crime occurs in flight, she will have to stand trial again, unless the Denver District Attorney and the defense can work out a deal. I would hope for time served. And that she be granted bail pending her new trial.

From the opinion:

by TChris

Having seen little success in its efforts to persuade courts that it is above the law, the Defense Department is now "considering" a plan to obey the Constitution. A draft plan is circulating that would reform the military tribunals the administration uses to prosecute suspected terrorists at Guantánamo Bay.

Those changes include strengthening the rights of defendants, establishing more independent judges to lead the panels and barring confessions obtained by torture, the officials said.

The proposed changes would make the military tribunals more closely resemble traditional court martial proceedings. Advocates of the plan want to avoid further losses in the courts as the administration defends its stubborn refusal to give detainees fair hearings. Will an administration that has so steadfastly opposed due process reconsider its position? Don't count on it: Dick Cheney is standing in the way.

by TChris

The religious right, hoping to tear down the wall that keeps a respectful distance between church and state, is working "to win control of local government posts and Republican organizations" in Ohio.

In a manifesto that is being circulated among church leaders and on the Internet, the group, which is called the Ohio Restoration Project, is planning to mobilize 2,000 evangelical, Baptist, Pentecostal and Roman Catholic leaders in a network of so-called Patriot Pastors to register half a million new voters, enlist activists, train candidates and endorse conservative causes in the next year.

Pastor Russell Johnson of the Fairfield Christian Church takes credit for the election of a half dozen congregants to local political offices, including Fairfield County Sheriff Dave Phalen. Here's a taste of things to come if Johnson has his way in statewide elections:

Sheriff Phelan's official letterhead now reads, "With God, all things are possible."

Some Republicans fear that the efforts of religious extremists to move the party even farther to the right will alienate voters, leading to Republican losses. The Restoration Project supports Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, the most conservative of three Republicans seeking to replace Bob Taft as governor in 2006.

by TChris

Some regulatory agencies view their mission as "serving" a regulated industry rather than policing it. Cozy relationships between regulators and the regulated invite abuse. Agencies should help businesses understand and obey the law, but Darin Kosmak, the Texas official who safeguards rail crossings, "served" the railroads in a way that betrayed his responsibility to Texas motorists.

At the behest of the rail industry, Mr. Kosmak on about 100 occasions over the last 11 years signed sworn statements about warning signs at railroad crossings, according to court testimony. The affidavits were mostly drafted by the rail industry, which then used them in case after case as a critical defense against claims that unsafe crossings had caused deaths and serious injury, court records show.

The Army released a report yesterday on prisoner deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. It will not institute charges against 17 of the soldiers involved.

Military investigators recommended courts-martial for the soldiers in the cases of three prisoner deaths for charges ranging from making false statements to murder. Officers rejected those recommendations, ruling that the soldiers lawfully used force or didn't understand the rules for using force, or that there was not enough evidence to prosecute.

Here's how the process works:

Army investigators turn over their recommendations to commanders of the soldiers involved when they finish their investigations. Those commanders can decide whether to bring criminal charges against the accused soldiers.

Jeff Weise, the 16 year old who killed seven and then himself this week at his high school, had been taking Prozac. The news will now focus on whether Prozac causes violence and suicide.

David Neiwert at Orcinus has some different thoughts, focusing racial and religious bigotry. Weise was a Native American with neo-Nazi beliefs - a combination, David says, should not be surprising.