In a small but welcome step towards privacy protection, a Florida Court has barred a party from introducing into evidence the fruit of a spyware program that was secretly installed on the other party's computer. The Florida court ruled the state's wiretapping law covered spyware and precluded the admission.

The case is O'Brien v. O'Brien and the opinion is here. [Hat tip to Eric Sterling of Criminal Justice Policy Foundation and Allen St. Pierre of NORML]

So far this week, Key West Prosecutor Albert "A.J." Tasker takes the prize for his naked streak across a parking lot and jump into a stranger's car.

A drunken Florida prosecutor who streaked across a motel parking lot and mistakenly jumped into a stranger's car landed in the slammer, a state attorney's office spokesman said.

After tossing back a few drinks with colleagues last weekend, Monroe County assistant prosecutor Albert "A.J." Tasker, 28, stripped off his clothes as a prank and headed toward what he thought was a friend's vehicle.

One of the big issues with applying the Supreme Court's opinion in Booker and FanFan is whether it is retroactive and applies to cases that are no longer on direct appeal or review. Today the Sixth Circuit joins the Seventh Circuit in ruling that the decision is not retroactive. The case is Humphress v. United States and you can read the opinion here (pdf).

In a supplemental brief, Humphress argues that his sentence was increased on the basis of facts found by the sentencing court, in violation of Blakely v. Washington, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004). Because the Supreme Court’s intervening decision in United States v. Booker, 125 S. Ct. 738 (2005), which now governs Humphress’s Blakely claim, does not apply retroactively to cases already final on direct review and because there is no reasonable probability that, but for his counsel’s allegedly deficient performance, Humphress would have pled guilty, we will AFFIRM the district court’s denial of the § 2255 motion.

Law Prof Doug Berman of Sentencing Law and Policy adds some analysis.

The Nation has a new article, Shameless in Colorado, available free online, that follows up on the Boulder mortuary that gave fetal ashes to a Catholic Church for public burial as a lament to the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

Hunter Thompson's wife Anita says she was on the phone with Hunter when he killed himself. In the Aspen Daily News, she provides an account of the Good Doctor's final days and of her feelings about his suicide:

At first I was very angry. He was my best friend, my lover, my partner, and my teacher," she said. "But I know he is much more powerful and alive now than ever before. He is in all of our hearts. His death was a triumph of his own human spirit because this is what he wanted. He lived and died like a champion."

As to the final phone call:

The New York terrorism trial of Yemini Sheik Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad, who is accused of funneling money to Hamas and other militant organizations, took an interesting turn yesterday. Most Americans believe, in this post-9/11 world, that "jihad" means "holy war." But, as an expert witness testified at the trial yesterday, "jihad" has another meaning for Muslims. While on one hand, it can mean an armed struggle,

....it can also mean, as the defense prefers, the struggle for self-perfection and charitable work. "Anything that basically furthers the cause of Islam and is understood to be doing good," said the witness, Bernard Haykel, an associate professor of Islamic studies at New York University.

That was my understanding. I always thought the word Jihad had two meanings, one of which was synonymous with "effort" or "campaign"-- working hard for any good cause--as in a "jihad for mass education" or "jihad against Malaria." On a spiritual level, I thought Muslims viewed "jihad" as a concept having to do with an internal struggle against evil--the goal of which was self-purification.

The parents of Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, jailed on terrorism charges in the U.S. (TChris outlines the case here and here and here)after his return from custody in Saudi Arabia where he claims he was tortured, are protesting the Justice Department's insistence that they sign a S.A.M. before being allowed to meet with him.

Had Lynne Stewart not signed a S.A.M., she might not be convicted and awaiting sentencing today. Civil Liberties expert Elaine Cassell writes:

The Attorney General of Kansas is demanding files of late-term abortion patients in anticipation of criminal prosecutions.

Attorney General Phill Kline, a Republican who has made fighting abortion a staple of his two years in the post, is demanding the complete medical files of scores of women and girls who had late-term abortions, saying on Thursday that he needs the information to prosecute criminal cases.

He says his targets are abortion doctors and health professionals:

"There are two things that child predators want, access to children and secrecy. As attorney general, I'm bound and determined not to give them either."

Unfair Witness has some photos up of Jeff Gannon on his radio show at RightTalk.com.

Several TalkLeft readers have sent e-mails this past year telling me that TalkLeft is re-directed to RightTalk.com. It isn't, but I figured out that these readers transposed "lefttalk" for "talkleft." If you go to "leftalk.com", you do go to RightTalk.com.

Now what does a right wing radio station need with a name like LeftTalk?

The Freeway Blogger is preparing to launch another campaign...this time he will commemorate the 1,500th soldier killed in Iraq by posting 150 signs on San Francisco area freeways--including those in Marin, Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose.

You can view examples of the signs here. Go ahead, join in, start a movement.

I don't understand the media's surpise as to the swiftness of the picking of the Michael Jackson jury.

The swift pace of the jury selection process has surprised court watchers, who had expected weeks of questioning and challenges by both sides. Instead, the process shot ahead to be completed in less than a week under the direction of Melville, who set Friday to hear last-minute legal motions by both sides.

After the Judge denied the defense's request (pdf)for individual sequestered questioning of the jurors, how long could it take? The defense recently renewed its request for both additional time to question the jurors and to question them individually in private. The Judge again denied both requests. (pdf)

Atrios provides us with the list of five funniest blog posts ever. He may not have won a Koufax this year, but he's won plenty in the past and this one is still number one in my book:

• Preznit Give Me Turkee

The next four, beginning with this year's winner:

• Poor Man's Poker with Dick Cheney.

• Jesse Taylor's (Pandagon) Peggy Noonan Parody

• Neal Pollack's A Man Wronged and Ow

Atrios' Eschaton is still my first blog stop in the morning and last one at night.

One more note: On best post ever, the 2002 Koufax winner for Best Post, Jim Capozzola's AL GORE AND THE ALPHA GIRLS, is still an all-time favorite. This year I voted for TBogg's incredibly personal and heart-rending Exit Interview. The winner was a stand-out post History Professor Juan Cole's What if America Were Iraq? Professor Cole also won for the second year in a row in the best expert category, a category in which Economics Professor Brad DeLong is also stellar. As is Maxspeak.

The best new blog went to Mousewords. Crooks and Liars and AmericaBlog are also winners for me in that category.