Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) is the first U.S. Senator to call for an end to the U.S. presence in Iraq. Shorter version: Give the Iraqis back their country and bring our troops home. Put an end to "George Bush's Vietnam."

Associated Press reports:

Female interrogators tried to break Muslim detainees at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay by sexual touching, wearing a miniskirt and thong underwear and in one case smearing a Saudi man's face with fake menstrual blood, according to an insider's written account.

A draft manuscript obtained by The Associated Press is classified as secret pending a Pentagon review for a planned book that details ways the U.S. military used women as part of tougher physical and psychological interrogation tactics to get terror suspects to talk.

It's the most revealing account so far of interrogations at the secretive detention camp, where officials say they have halted some controversial techniques.

by TChris

When a state legislature dislikes a court's interpretation of a state law, the legislature is always free to change the law. But is it free to pass a law that expressly "nullifies" a court decision without violating the doctrine of separation of powers?

The Delaware Supreme Court construed state law to require offenders who were sentenced to life to be released after 45 years. The decision applies only to offenders who were sentenced before the state changed its sentencing laws in 1990.

Before 1990, a sentence of life with parole was considered a 45-year term for purposes of calculating good time credit and setting a parole date. Prosecutors maintained that if an inmate was repeatedly denied parole, he could be held until he died.

Claiming that the court's ruling would require the immediate release of 200 (mostly elderly) inmates, the state legislature unanimously passed a bill that purports to declare the court decision "null and void."

The bill now goes to Gov. Ruth Ann Minner for approval. Minner acknowledged the state may be setting itself up for prisoner lawsuits in attempting to nullify the court ruling.

No kidding. The notion that a legislature can pass a law that nullifies any court decision it doesn't like is antithetical to a political system that relies on the checks and balances afforded by coequal branches of government. Legislatures have the power to change the law; they don't have the power to change (or ignore) court decisions, even decisions that are politically unpopular.

by TChris

Lamont Koonce made a mistake when he was pulled over by Petersburg, Virginia police officer Michael Tweedy. Koonce got out of his car and ran. Eventually he surrendered, but what happened next is a far greater crime than Koonce's attempt to evade an arrest.

Koonce ... put his hands in the air. Tweedy then sprayed Koonce with a "substantial" amount of pepper spray, causing Koonce to fall, court papers said. Moments later, Tweedy ran over to a handcuffed Koonce and "forcefully" stomped on his head several times, court papers said. He then returned several times to Koonce and delivered multiple blows to his head.

Koonce was in a coma for more than two months. Yesterday, Tweedy entered a guilty plea to a federal civil rights charge. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed a charge that Tweedy had falsified reports to cover up his misconduct and to shield other officers who played a role in the beating.

Police officers have a duty to let courts determine what punishment, if any, an arrestee deserves. Beating a suspect to send a message about the importance of obeying the police is unacceptable. Tweedy's conviction sends a more important message, as articulated by U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty: "Those who have been sworn to protect the law have a special duty to obey the law."

A new report on wrongful convictions prepared by prosecutors and police in Canada has been released.

"Various commissions and studies in Canada and around the world have provided valuable insight into the systemic causes of wrongful convictions and into what has gone wrong in individual cases," the report says...."What is startling, however, is that some problems, themes and mistakes arise time and time again, regardless of where the miscarriage of justice took place."

Fault lies with the conduct of police, prosecutors, defence lawyers, judges and forensic scientists, and they are not confined to proceedings in the courtroom, says the report.

The report compares wrongful convictions to natural disasters, and says they are rarely the result of just one thing going wrong.

"Police officers, Crown counsel, forensic scientists, judges and defence counsel all have a role to play in ensuring that innocent people are not convicted of crimes they didn't commit," says the report. "As useful as commissions of inquiry may be, they usually come many years after the fact. The goal of all justice system participants must be to prevent wrongful convictions from occurring in the first place."

The report identifies the leading causes:

When I first read the news reporting this, I thought it was dumb satire. Turns out, Bush really said it:

Mr. Bush also encouraged the leaders to support his plan to add personal investment accounts to Social Security, which White House officials say could benefit blacks because they have a shorter average life span than whites and end up putting more money into the retirement system than they take out.

African-American men "have had a shorter life span than other sectors of America," Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, told reporters. "And this will enable them to build a nest egg of their own and be able to pass that nest egg on to their survivors."

Jesse at Pandagon has now started the Black People Gonna Die Watch, to be known as "BPGDW."

Chaos ruled today in the trial of defense lawyer Lynne Stewart when deliberating jurors reported "an incident" between their van driver and a Stewart supporter.

The incident, which some jurors said made them feel threatened, prompted defense lawyers to ask U.S. District Judge John Koeltl to declare a mistrial. Koeltl denied the request.

Their note to the Judge read:

"Judge Koeltl, we had an incident in the van on the way home yesterday," read a note from the jury foreman. "The Marshal was notified. ... Because we feel threatened, we would like to discuss this with you in person."

Radly Balko, via Arthur at Light of Reason and Instapundit:

On walking, quacking, swimming, and crapping like a duck...

Rep. David Dreier's new bill will not create a new national identification card.

Oh sure, it will add a magnetic identification strip and identifying photo to your existing Social Security card, and you'll be required to present the new card for identification any time you want to apply for a new job. At that point, your prospective employer would then check the identification listed on your card against a national database which identifies eligible employees.

This was too good to leave in the comments, so I'm making it a post of it's own. From Terry Kindlon:

As a Vietnam Veteran and former Marine Sergeant, and as the father of a Marine Captain (JAG Officer), I must admit that I felt like somebody kicked me in the stomach today when I heard about the CH53 going down with 30 Marines and one sailor aboard.

My company in Vietnam, Echo Company, 2d Battalion, Third Marines, lost 22 KIA in a horrific ambush on one day in December of 1968, and I still think about that every day, even though it's been almost 40 years.

Although Vietnam was a harsh, hot, insane war that killed 58,000 of my colleagues, wounded a few hundred thousand more and left untold numbers psychologically scarred, all for no good reason, it is beginning to seem that our misguided adventure in Iraq, for the soldiers and Marines serving there,is every bit as physically dangerous and probably a lot more emotionally destructive than the War in Vietnam (I'll take the boonies over urban combat any day).

by TChris

Because people sentenced for drug crimes are so often poor and disadvantaged, their shockingly harsh punishments gain little notice. Not so when prominent citizens are sent to prison.

David Collins of Pensacola, Florida "is among 53 mostly middle-aged and middle class defendants charged with offenses ranging from drug possession to trafficking." A state court judge today sentenced Collins to 3-1/2 years in prison.

Defense lawyer Drew Pinkerton said Collins, co-owner of Collins-Kiefer Seminars in suburban Gulf Breeze, will appeal but probably serve about 18 months even if he wins because Florida's drug trafficking law prohibits appeal bonds. "It's the most draconian law in the world," said Pinkerton, who insisted his client was a recreational user, not a trafficker. "This guy goes to prison for 42 months and half the burglars and robbers are walking around the street out there on probation."

by TChris

In July, the Bush administration predicted that last year's budget deficit of $412 billion would fall to a mere $331 billion this year. Today the administration admitted that the number will be closer to $427 billion, making this the fourth consecutive year in which the deficit has grown.

Although "senior administration officials insisted they were still on track to fulfill Mr. Bush's campaign promise of reducing the federal budget deficit by half by 2009," the administration has offered no convicing plan to meet that pledge while moving forward with its other costly goals: making last term's tax cuts permanent, paying for the aftermath of the war in Iraq (and maybe a war in Iran?), and privatizing social security.

The administration asked Congress for about $75 billion to cover war costs in Iraq and Afghanistan, but provided few details about how the money will be spent. It asked for another $5 billion for related purposes, including "financial aid to Palestinians as they try to build a democratic government and a heavily fortified embassy in Iraq for the State Department."

by TChris

As expected, the Senate confirmed President Bush's choice of Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State. Thirteen senators (twelve Democrats and independent James Jeffords) voted against the confirmation. Two Republicans did not vote, producing a final tally of 85-13.

Despite the overwhelming vote, White House vote-counters were somewhat disappointed, having hoped the nominee would glean well over 90 votes.

Although Alberto Gonzales is likely to be confirmed as Attorney General next week, his confirmation vote may be a bit tighter. As TalkLeft noted earlier today, the Senate Judiciary Committee split along party lines today, sending his confirmation to the Senate by a 10-8 vote.