The Center for Constitutional Rights filed a war-crimes lawsuit on behalf of detainees at Guantanamo naming Rumsfeld as a defendant. Rumsfeld isn't taking any chances--he'll skip an important conference to avoid the chance something wierd will happen.

In recent days, the Center added Alberto Gonzales as a defendant to the suit. According to this letter (pdf),

Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee confirms his role as complicit in the torture and abuse of detainees in Abu Ghraib and elsewhere in Iraq.

With all the attention that has been focused on abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and at Guantanamo, are we forgetting to look at our own prison system? In this week's news:

• The ACLU has filed a federal lawsuit challenging conditions at Indiana's secured housing unit.

Conditions within the Secured Housing Unit of western Indiana's Wabash Valley Correctional Facility have caused prisoners to hallucinate, rip chunks of flesh from their bodies, rub human excrement on themselves and attempt suicide, the ACLU charged.

Only in America. Prison Nation. In Maryland, a 20 year old prisoner was killed on the prison bus on the way back to the jail from the courthouse. The murdered inmate had testified at another prisoner's sentencing hearing earlier in the day.

A state prison inmate was killed early Wednesday while riding on a bus with about 35 other inmates, authorities said. Phillip E. Parker Jr., 20, was slain by one or more of the other prisoners, state corrections officials said, but they would not divulge how he was killed or any possible motive.Parker was being returned to the maximum-security Maryland Correctional Adjustment Center in downtown Baltimore after testifying in Hagerstown Tuesday at the sentencing of a fellow inmate.

Officals said the inmates were handcuffed and in leg irons, and that there were five guards on the bus. And still, one inmate gets killed right under their noses? Friday's Baltimore Sun reports Mr. Parker was strangled in his seat by another inmate who was later found to have blood on his wrists.

Sen. John Kerry (via e-mail):

"I will vote against the nomination of Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General. As Counsel to the President he committed grave errors in formulating the administration's detention and interrogation policies which have put American troops in greater danger. American presidents for decades have believed in the Geneva Conventions because they protect American troops captured by the enemy. It's a mistake to choose as our nation's chief law enforcement officer someone who called these protections 'quaint' and opened a Pandora's Box that has tarred America's image in the world and placed our troops at even greater risk.

It's official. Alberto Gonzales has been confirmed as our Attorney General

The Senate voted 60-36 to put the first Hispanic ever into the job, with all of the "no" votes coming from Democrats and Democratic-leaning Independent Jim Jeffords of Vermont. Last week, 12 Democrats and Jeffords voted against Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's confirmation.

Reactions:

From the ACLU. Watch this, it's priceless. I may never order a pizza again.

There's a ton of stuff I'd like to write about today, some are subjects of the articles listed on the newsfeed on the left, like the prisoner killed on the prison bus while it was going back to the jail from court; Chertoff and Gonzales'; new torture documents; Martha Stewart starring in the Apprentice when she gets on home detention; and not listed, five CT death row inmates have begun a hunger strike and Colorado's Governor Owens has called for the resignation of Professor Ward Churchill due to his remarks about 9/11.

But I'm juggling too many things at work right now to write about any of them, so you go ahead, and no need to stick to what I would have written about--pick your own topics if you'd like.

Bump and Update: Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) gave this statement (html) on the floor of the Senate today opposing Alberto Gonalzes' nomination for Attorney General. Here's a portion from the last segment:

I respect and admire Alberto Gonzales for his inspiring life story and the many obstacles he has overcome. Some of my colleagues suggested his life story embodies the American dream. But there is more to the American dream than overcoming difficult circumstances to obtain prominence and prosperity. We also must honor Fred Korematsu's dream that our country be true to the fundamental principle upon which it was founded: the rule of law.

.....I cannot in good conscience vote to reward a man who ignored the rule of law and the demands of human decency and created the permissive environment that made Abu Ghraib possible.

Thanks to Instapundit for alerting me to this section of Bush's State of the Union Address

In America we must make doubly sure no person is held to account for a crime he or she did not commit -- so we are dramatically expanding the use of DNA evidence to prevent wrongful conviction. (Applause.) Soon I will send to Congress a proposal to fund special training for defense counsel in capital cases, because people on trial for their lives must have competent lawyers by their side. (Applause.)

As to DNA testing for the innocent, the final bill that passed Congress is the Justice for All Act, and it is primarily a crime victim's bill, not an Innocence bill. Here is how the money is apportioned (scroll down to portion with subtitle, DNA Testing (Title II, III, IV)):

Bush says those who are 55 and over don't have to worry about social security. Digby responds.

Grooviosity. Reform social security, man, because you can't trust anyone over 30. Cool.

These doughy, briefcase GOP baby boomer geeks have always had a case of arrested development. They started their "revolution" in their 40's. In their 50's they've discovered the "generation gap." The rest of us got over this intergenerational squabbling a couple of decades ago. It's never too late to act like a teen-age a*s.

Free associating for a moment (and then, there will be a relevant point):

Go ahead, live blog or comment, - your turn. Here's a segment of the speech:

Thirteen years from now, in 2018, Social Security will be paying out more than it takes in. And every year afterward will bring a new shortfall, bigger than the year before. For example, in the year 2027, the government will somehow have to come up with an extra 200 billion dollars to keep the system afloat - and by 2033, the annual shortfall would be more than 300 billion dollars. By the year 2042, the entire system would be exhausted and bankrupt. If steps are not taken to avert that outcome, the only solutions would be drastically higher taxes, massive new borrowing, or sudden and severe cuts in Social Security benefits or other government programs.

And one more:

Because marriage is a sacred institution and the foundation of society, it should not be re-defined by activist judges. For the good of families, children, and society, I support a constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage.

Don't forget to visit the many (mostly) Democrat and liberal blogs live-blogging the speech. We'll leave an open thread here right before it begins so you can live blog even if you don't have a blog.

Here's a preview of some excerpts from tonight's speech, obtained at Blogs for Bush (who got it from a White House Press release we also received): Bush will hit three themes:

"First, we must be good stewards of this economy, and renew the great institutions on which millions of our fellow citizens rely.”

“One of America’s most important institutions – a symbol of the trust between generations – is also in need of wise and effective reform. Social Security… on its current path, is headed toward bankruptcy. And so we must join together to strengthen and save Social Security."

His second theme will be asking Americans to support community and faith-based institutions.