by TChris

John Kerry did his best to persuade the public that President Bush dropped the ball by "outsourcing" the capture of Osama bin Laden, allowing his escape from Tora Bora while the president focused on the invasion of Iraq. The president denied the charge, but new evidence belies the denial.

A commander for Osama bin Laden during Afghanistan's war with the Soviet Union who helped the al-Qaida leader escape American forces at Tora Bora is being held by U.S. authorities, a government document says. The document represents the first definitive statement from the Pentagon that bin Laden, the mastermind of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was at Tora Bora and evaded his pursuers.

I'm off to lecture to a lawyers' group on using the internet for legal research and investigation. TChris is on vacation in Napa Sonoma Valley. Here's a space for you, have fun.

A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit has refusedto order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. Her parents say they will now go to the Supreme Court.

An emergency filing to the high court would go first to Justice Anthony Kennedy, a Reagan appointee who has staked a moderate position on social issues. Kennedy would have the option to act on the petition alone, although on previous emergency requests involving Schiavo he has referred the matter to the full nine-member court.

The full decision is here. (pdf)

This is pretty amazing. Imagine you publish a book in Europe where you are protected by the laws of your own country, and that without your knowledge, it gets published in another, less free country. You may be summoned to court in that country, tried in abstentia and sentenced to jail. That's what's happening to Gerhard Haderer, an Austrian cartoonist.

Haderer published a 40-page book titled, The Life of Jesus. The book contained a cartoon of Jesus, depicting him as

...a binge-drinking friend of Jimi Hendrix and naked surfer high on cannabis.

Unbeknownst to him, the book was published in Greece. He found out when he received a summons to appear in court in Athens in January, having been charged with blasphemy.

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is angry at video game makers. So he's timed the promotion of his legislation that would ban the sales and rental of sexually explicit and violent video games to minors with the release of the new game "Narc."

"These kinds of games teach kids to do the very things that in real life, we put people in jail for,'' Blagojevich said during a news conference Monday at Glenview's Springman Middle School. "Just as we don't allow kids to buy pornography or alcohol or tobacco, we shouldn't allow them to buy these games.''

The governor and other legislative backers of the bill showed a taped promo for "Narc,'' an M-rated game that features various fictitious characters of the drug demimonde, including narcotics officers faced with its temptations. Midway, the Chicago-based maker of the game said its dark look was influenced by films such as "Traffic," "Training Day" and "Rush."

The game sounds like a law enforcement officer's wet dream--pure proselytizing from beginning to end.I wouldn't be surprised if there's an unethical defense lawyer at every court hearing. Dick Wolf must have been a consultant (no offense, Mr. Wolf, I know you're a true believer, just like me.)

The ACLU has joined with such unlikely bedfellows as the Americans for Tax Reform, the American Conservative Union in forming a new coaliton, Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances, to oppose the Patriot Act. The group will be chaired by former Congressman Bob Barr:

The new organization is urging Congress to thoroughly review the most intrusive and constitutionally suspect provisions of the Patriot Act. Specifically, the act allows federal agents to gather highly personal information -- including library, medical and gun purchase records-- without criminal suspicion, permits secret searches of homes and businesses with indefinite notification, and expands the definition of domestic terrorism to potentially include political protest.

"Checks and balances are absolutely essential, even and especially during times of threat," Barr said. "Our message is universal: liberty is not divisible, even in the face of terrorism, and we must not allow any part of it to be sacrificed in our efforts to defeat acts of terrorism."

Here are some interesting numbers:

Authorities are trying to find a motive for 16 year old Jeff Weise who shot and killed 10 and wounded 7 yesterday at a school on an Indian Reservation in Red Lake, Minnesota.

The comparison to Columbine is inevitable, and I've written about that over at 5280. Teresa Nielsen Hayeden at Making Light makes some excellent points, particularly about the parallels to the faux story of Cassie Bernal.

From the first news article above:

Reggie Graves, a student at Red Lake High School, said he was watching a movie about Shakespeare in class Monday when he heard the gunman blast his way past the metal detector at the school’s entrance, killing a guard. Then, in a nearby classroom, he heard the gunman say something to his friend Ryan: “He asked Ryan if he believed in God,” Graves said. “And then he shot him.”

Teresa:

Thanks to CNN's Inside Politics for mentioning TalkLeft during its blog segment today. I missed it but Crooks and Liars and reader Kitt sent me e-mails letting me know.

ABBI TATTON, CNN PRODUCER: Now, there's some discussion on the blogs, playing politics with this morning's ruling. Discussion of the federal Judge James Whittemore, who denied the request of the parents this morning to reinsert the feeding tube. Whittemore, as we heard earlier in this show, is a Clinton appointee and that is coming up a lot on the blogs.

Over at the right here, jacklewis.net, "Clinton nominated judge rules for death." Over to the other side, TalkLeft.com. This is a blog related to crime-related political and injustice news. Over at TalkLeft, they anticipated that this would be a theme and started looking into this judge's background, his published opinions, and says that his decisions do not show political partisanship or even liberal tendencies. So, trying to stave off some of the criticism from the right there.

by TChris

As support for the death penalty continues to erode, some conservative politicians are starting to reconsider the pro-death stance that has been politically popular for so long. Among them, Sen. Rick Santorum, a Catholic who appears to be open to the church's renewed interest in abolishing death as a punishment.

He has not become an abolitionist, and he believes church teaching against the death penalty carries less weight than its longer-standing opposition to abortion. But he questions what he once unquestioningly supported.

Santorum agrees that "the application of the death penalty should be limited" -- not much of a concession, but a start. At least he's thinking about the issue.

"I never thought about it that much when I was really a supporter of the death penalty. I still see it as potentially valuable, but I would be one to urge more caution than I would have in the past," he said.

Santorum's comments come in response to a recent poll showing that opposition to the death penalty among Catholics has nearly doubled since 2001.

Judge James D. Wittemore of Tampa is bound to become the latest target of the right if he decides not to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. Given his background and history, I don't think they have a leg to stand on.

He is a former federal defender, former Circuit Court Judge for Hillsboro County and Clinton appointee to the federal bench. Like all federal judges, his appointment is for life. A review of his published opinions and news articles on his decisions do not show political partisanship, or even liberal tendencies. Here's a good size sampling, all sources are listed and available on Lexis.com.

• In a high-profile case in Tampa, he ruled a "county can regulate nudity in private clubs to protect residents from an increase in crime and prostitution as well as the degradation of women." Sarasota Herald-Tribune, January 15, 2003.

• He "denied an adult business owner's attempt to bar the State Attorney's Office from prosecuting him under a state racketeering law if he sets up shop in Polk County." Lakeland Ledger, February 5, 2003.

• He refused to find Polk County's use of antiracketeering laws and high bail unconstitutional. Tampa Tribune, March 2, 2003.

• He ruled that "Manatee County nudity ordinances do not infringe on exotic dancers' constitutional rights of expression." Sarasota Herald-Tribune, April 3, 2002 .

• He "dismissed a lawsuit filed against the Polk school board by parents and students who said the mandate to wear uniforms violated their civil rights." Tampa Tribune, November 20, 2002,

Some students at Harvard are up in arms over a student-run dorm cleaning service. The Crimson has called for a boycott:

Hiring someone to clean dorm rooms is a convenience, but it is also an obvious display of wealth that would establish a perceived, if unspoken, barrier between students of different economic means," the editorial said. "It's up to each one of us to ensure that our peers feel comfortable on campus, and if that means plugging in a vacuum every two weeks, then so be it."

I disagree. I worked two simultaneous jobs all through college and I would gladly have traded a few hours' wages for someone to come in and scrub the bathroom, clean the oven and wash the floors, even if it was only once a month. Now that I think about it, I don't remember ever doing any of those things, and I'm sure I didn't own a vaccum cleaner or a mop. Maybe I traded my way out with my roomates or maybe we lived in dirt. Either is entirely possible.

Nonetheless, DormAid's owners make the better argument:

Trial Update
Tuesday March 22

Louise Palanker, a comedian who gave large amounts of money to the accuser and his family a few years ago, took the stand late Monday and resumes her testimony today. I don't see how she helps the prosecution. The police reports of her interviews make the entire family out to be the grifters from Hell. You can read the reports here (scroll down to page 9 and then keep reading.)