Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) introduced a bill in Congress Thursday that would clearly establish that online publishers such as bloggers are exempt from campaign finance laws. The text of the bill is accessible here (pdf). From an e-mail we received from Sen. Reid's office:

Today Democratic Leader Harry Reid introduced a bill which would codify the Internet exemption (from FEC Regulations) into federal law. In addition Senator Reid sent a letter (pdf) to FEC Chairman Scott Thomas making it clear that Congress "did not intend to regulate" the Internet. Senator Reid made the following statement:

Have you been wondering how to get a link on Eric Alterman's Altercation blogroll? Eric has announced the third Altercation links contest:

Alter-links: It's time for another Altercation links contest. The blogosphere keeps expanding and it's easy to miss some really good sites. I've drafted Jeralyn again to take your nominations for blogs that should get the coveted slots on the right in our high-powered MSNBC.com blogroll.

Send nominations to her, not me, at alterlinks@aol.com. There's no point in stuffing the ballot box because once she's aware of your blog, it's "Merritt" driven. (Hint: Without a link to Altercation, don’t bother. Judge Jeralyn would probably appreciate a link too.)

We're getting a great response, there's still time. We'll be taking a look at every submission. The mailbox again is alterlinks@aol.com.

We'll be moving servers again tonight to a really big one. It should make the site load faster. If you have trouble accessing us in the next day or so, hit your refresh button or clear your cache.

If you'd like to help us out with site expenses, or just show us some appreciation, our tip jar is here.

A DEA agent is giving a talk to a group of kids. He brags about how professional he is, and how he's the only one in the room professional enough to carry a glock. As soon as the words are out of his mouth, he shoots himself in the foot.

The video is here. [hat tip NORML.)

by TChris

Town officials from Colonie, New York are accused of issuing "pretend subpoenas" to force Time Warner to disclose the identities of town employees who sent anonymous emails that were critical of the job performance of a town official. "Copies of the e-mails, which raised allegations of mismanagement, misconduct and cronyism in Colonie's Emergency Services Department, also were sent to local newspapers." The information disclosed by Time Warner in response to the subpoenas led to disciplinary action against the two employees.

The subpoenas were signed by town attorneys Arnis Zilgme and Michele U. Mercadante. Legal experts consulted by the Times Union questioned whether the town's lawyers have the prosecutorial authority that was needed to issue criminal subpoenas. They said state and federal laws outline who has the authority to issue an investigative criminal subpoena for electronic records. The list includes district attorneys, federal prosecutors, grand juries and judges.

The town claims now claims that it issued "investigative subpoenas" rather than "criminal subpoenas," a muddy distinction that is undermined by the facts.

[T]he subpoenas carried the header "People of the State of New York" and demanded that Time Warner disclose information "in a certain criminal matter." The subpoenas said the records were being sought for a "Colonie Police Department criminal investigation."

Police Chief Steven Heider, grudgingly conceding that there was no crime to investigate, assured the public that "We never intentionally go out to violate anybody's rights."

by TChris

After more than three years in detention, four Iranian brothers were released last night, subject to a requirement that they obtain permission to travel outside of three California counties.

The brothers have been held since October 2001. Federal authorities alleged they supported a Los Angeles-based cell of the Moujahedeen Khalk, or MEK, which opposes Iran's regime and is classified by the State Department as a terrorist organization. The brothers acknowledged attending protest events against Iran's current regime, but denied belonging to the MEK.

They never faced criminal charges. They were sent into detention to await deportation for allegedly lying in the 1990s on their applications seeking political asylum, and for their suspected ties to the MEK. Last August, the Board of Immigration Appeals ruled evidence tying the brothers to terrorism was inconclusive. The board also upheld the decision of two immigration judges who said the Mirmehdis would be tortured or persecuted if returned to Iran.

Two of the brothers have been ordered deported, but the government has found no country willing to accept them. The other brothers are appealing similar orders.

The brothers' release occurred less than two weeks after an altercation in which the Mirmehdis allege that a guard beat Mohammed Mirmehdi after he intervened in an argument between the guard and one of his brothers.

by TChris

The federal sentencing guidelines suggest that former Gov. John Rowland should receive 15 to 21 months in prison for "trading political access for more than $100,000 in chartered trips to Las Vegas, Vermont vacations and repairs to his lakeside cottage." But the guidelines after Booker are merely advisory, and Rowland's lawyers are taking advantage of that change to ask that Rowland be spared incarceration.

In a sentencing memorandum filed Thursday morning in New Haven federal court, Rowland's attorney, William F. Dow III, portrayed the three-term Republican, as a devoted public servant who made mistakes in delegating authority to people in his administration who have since been indicted on corruption charges.

Rowland is scheduled to be sentenced tomorrow.

As we reported here yesterday, the only witness against Bernard Ebbers who directly implicated him in the WorldCom fraud was the company's former CFO, Scott Sullivan, who was testifying in exchange for a reduced sentence in his own case.

After the verdict, some jurors said they had difficulty with Scott Sullivan's testimony and did not entirely believe it. They said they searched for evidence to corroborate Sullivan's contentions that Ebbers knew about, endorsed and at times directed Sullivan to engage in the fraudulent accounting practices that led to the massive $11 billion loss.

"The most difficult thing was to find the evidence that supported the conviction without relying on Scott Sullivan," Aran Nulty, an elementary school teacher and juror No. 10, told the paper. "The testimony of Mr. Sullivan was not enough by itself. A lot of us struggled with his testimony. His testimony did not have enough credibility for us to come to a conviction based on what he said."

What exactly was that corroborating evidence? I don't see it. The case was Scott Sullivan. Sullivan was on the stand for five days, relentlessly attacking Ebbers. Ebbers testified, doing well on direct examination and not so well on cross-examination. But he didn't say anything that corroborated Sullivan. And Sullivan was the mastermind of the false accounting scheme.

President Bush today acknowledged at his press conference that he has no plan for social security.

THE PRESIDENT: First of all, Dave, let me, if I might correct you, be so bold as to correct you, I have not laid out a plan yet, intentionally. I have laid out principles, I've talked about putting all options on the table, because I fully understand the administration must work with the Congress to permanently solve Social Security. So one aspect of the debate is, will we be willing to work together to permanently solve the issue.

....I'm not interested in playing political games. (Laughter.) I'm interested in working with members of both political parties.

Colorado Congresswoman Diana Degette calls him on the carpet (received via e-mail.):

The House of Representatives today passed a bill on a voice vote to send the Terry Schiavo case to federal court:

Under the House legislation, a federal judge would decide whether withholding or withdrawing food, fluids or medical treatment from an incapacitated person violates the Constitution or U.S. law. It would apply only to incapacitated people who had not left directives dealing with being kept alive artificially and for whom a state judge had authorized the withholding of food or medical treatment.

Despite widespread support, rocker Bono didn't want the job of chief of the World Bank. He suggested Colin Powell. Some criticized that idea because Powell would not be passionate enough in his support for the needy in Africa. The World Bank is the world's largest provider of aid to developing nations.

Bush today nominated Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz for the position. How is he qualified? Where is his humanitarian spirit? What an awful choice. This will do nothing for "Brand America" but sink it further.

Jackson Trial Update
Wednesday March 16

Via the AP:

"MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS: The lead investigator in the Michael Jackson child molestation case testified that the accuser "choked up" when first interviewed about the alleged crimes and that the boy said there were five to seven incidents but could only describe two of them in detail."

"Prosecutors also showed the jury numerous adult magazines and some videos and books seized at Neverland but law enforcement witnesses offered no evidence that the accuser saw the items, some dated months after the family left Neverland. The witnesses said the items were legal and commercially available."

Law enforcement agents will continue their testimony tomorrow about items seized from Neverland during the execution of search warrants.