Democrats will challenge the electoral vote count in the 2004 election. Senator Barbara Boxer of California has told Progressive Democrats of America that she will stand with the members of the Congressional Black Caucus in the challenge.

Call Senator Harry Reid (D., Nevada) this morning, or send him a fax. Ask him to support Senator Boxer and the challenge. It is not a question of making a claim as to who won Ohio, but of acknowledging the undisputed fact that the election there was deeply flawed.

Phone: 202-224-3542
Fax:: 202-224-7327

A Texas appeals court has reversed the conviction of Andrea Yates, convicted of drowning her five children in the bathtub and sentenced to life in prison. The opinion is here.

The reason for the reversal was the false testimony of psychiatrist Park Dietz:

During her March 2002 sentencing, a jury rejected Yates' insanity defense and she was convicted in the deaths of three of her five children. She was sentenced to life in prison. Her attorneys argued that she suffered from postpartum psychosis, and she had a well-documented history of postpartum depression.

The Texas First Court of Appeals ruled that the conviction should be reversed because an expert witness for the state, Dr. Park Dietz, presented false testimony when he said Yates may have been influenced by an episode of the "Law & Order" television program. No such episode had ever aired.

Yates will face a new trial. I would rather the Court had found her insane despite the jury's verdict.

The confirmation hearings for Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General begin today. Alan Berlow, who authored the Atlantic Monthly article on Gonzales' role as clemency advisor to President Bush when he was Governor of Texas recaps Gonzales role as Facilitator in Chief in Salon:

When Alberto Gonzales briefed George W. Bush on the cases of Texas death row inmates up for clemency, his memos were so shabby they seemed intended solely to make it easy for Bush to send prisoners to their deaths.

...Now that conventional wisdom has focused attention on "moral values" as our paramount national concern, it might be worth spending a few minutes considering how President Bush's nominee for attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, dealt with one of those values -- human life -- on 57 occasions.

The Washington Post analyzes Gonzales' record in an editorial today:

Mamdouh Habib is a detainee at Guantanamo. He came here from Egypt in 2001 where he alleges he was The tortured for six months.

The court petition said that while in prison in Egypt Mr. Habib was subjected to regular beatings, electric shocks and attacks by dogs. During his imprisonment, he confessed to several crimes, and his lawyer said that those coerced confessions had been used by American military authorities at Guantánamo to deem Mr. Habib properly detained there as an unlawful enemy combatant.

Habib filed suit in November in federal court in Washington to block his transfer back to Egypt. The case was unsealed yesterday. The Times reports it is not known if the U.S. plans to send him to Egypt.

Need we say more?

But remember, sometimes the devil you know....

CNN has told Tucker Carlson it will not renew his contract. Crossfire most likely will be "folded into" regular programming. Carlson may go to MSNBC...replacing Deborah Norville. [Link via Poor Man.]

He subbed last week for newscaster Aaron Brown as {CNN CEO Jonathan] Klein wanted to see him in a different role before making a decision about his future. Klein said his views on wanting to change the tone of political coverage were separate from the decision to keep Carlson.

"His career aspirations and our programming needs just don't synch up," Klein said. "He wants to host his own nighttime show and we don't see that in the cards here. Out of respect for him and his talent, we thought it would be best to let him explore opportunities elsewhere."

The age of the politcal scream-fest may be coming to an end.

by TChris

The President’s second term doesn’t officially commence until January 20, but there’s little reason to suspect that he’ll experience the kind of “hundred day honeymoon” that presidents often enjoy, even if he believes his narrow victory constitutes a mandate. Since the election:

● He’s offered a miserly (although steadily increasing in the face of ridicule) amount of money to tsunami victims while proposing to spend $40 million on “an inauguration extravaganza”;

● He’s nominated Bernard Kerik to run Homeland Security, who withdrew in the face of mounting scandals;

● He’s nominated Alberto Gonzalez for AG, despite the central role Gonzalez played in support of torturing detainees; and

● He’s insisted on privatizing social security without suggesting a way to pay for such a potentially disastrous plan.

Not an auspicious beginning.

(Feel free to add to the list. It’s fun for the whole family!)

Major thanks are due TChris again for keeping readers up to date while I've been in court the past two days...it's over now and after a long nap, I'll be back. Feel free to use the comments to fill me or each other in on the big stories of the past two days.

by TChris

Abuse allegations at Guantanamo -- revealed in FBI emails made public last month -- will be investigated by two military officers attached to the Southern Command.

The FBI e-mails described Guantanamo prisoners being shackled hand and foot in a fetal position on the floor for 18 to 24 hours, and left to urinate and defecate on themselves. One FBI agent reported seeing a barely conscious prisoner who had torn out his hair after being left overnight in a sweltering room. Another told of an interrogation in which a prisoner was wrapped in an Israeli flag and bombarded with loud music and strobe lights.

The investigators are to issue a report by February 1, but may seek more time so that they can interview individuals who are no longer assigned to Guantanamo.

by TChris

Trial has commenced against U.S. Army Sergeant Tracy Perkins, "accused of killing an Iraqi civilian by having subordinates push him off a bridge into the Tigris River."

Witnesses called by the prosecution said they heard Perkins say over the radio, "Somebody is going to get wet, tonight."

The defense contends that there is no evidence that the Iraqi died by drowning, and some witnesses apparently say they saw the man standing in the water before they left. The body was not exhumed after being buried by his family.

by TChris

According to news reports, Chief Justice Rehnquist is back at the Court after battling thyroid cancer.

Rehnquist has undergone a tracheotomy, chemotherapy and radiation, a treatment plan typically associated with an especially aggressive form of thyroid cancer.

The Chief Justice intends to administer the oath of office to President Bush at the January 20 inauguration. No word on whether the Chief Justice plans to retire this term.

by TChris

Federal prosecutors love to bring Patriot Act prosecutions, even when they can't find appropriate targets for the law's anti-terrorism provisions. Hence the decision to charge David Banach, who the Justice Department admits is not a terrorist.

Banach was charged with "interfering with a flight crew" by shining a laser at a charter jet flying over his home. Banach's lawyer says that Banach was playing with his daughter in the back yard, using the laser to point at trees and stars.

Banach's attorney blasted federal officials for what she called an overreaction. "One would think they would want to devote their time and resources to prosecuting real terrorists, not people like my client," Gina Mendola-Longarzo told the Associated Press.

The Justice Department -- noting recent but unrelated reports of lasers shining on airplanes -- says it wants to "send a message." The message it is sending: we have nothing better to do. Assuming there's evidence that Banach acted intentionally, his crime was disorderly conduct. Treating him as if he's a terrorist, when he admittedly isn't, demonstrates bad judgment in the extreme.