Don't miss this New York Times editiorial on mandatory minimum sentencing and on why politicians need to keep the prisons full.

Seldom has a public policy done so much damage so quickly. But changes in the draconian sentencing laws have come very slowly. That is partly because the public thinks keeping a large chunk of the population behind bars is responsible for the reduced crime rates of recent years. Studies cast doubt on that theory, since they show drops in crime almost everywhere - even in states that did not embrace mandatory minimum sentences or mass imprisonment. In addition, these damaging policies have done nothing to curb the drug trade.

Prison should be saved for the violent offenders who pose a serious threat to others. It should not be used as a panacea for all of society's ills. The Times also takes on the booming private prison industry - and the practice of counting inmates as residents of a county for political purposes, even though they are denied the right to vote while incarcerated:

Human Rights groups have complained for months about the U.S. secreting terror prisoners and detainees in foreign countries. The Guardian has reported on the disappearing detainees. Human Rights Watch issued this report on the "hidden detainees." Also more than a year ago, Human Rights Watch Attorney and Findlaw columnist Joanne Mariner wrote about them.

The Washington Post catches up with this new article on ConAir for Detainees--a Gulfstream V turbojet:

A big welcome home to Erik Aude, the 24 year old actor released from a Pakistani jail this week. He arrived back in California tonight where he reunited with his family. More details emerge about why Pakistan released him:

Aude's mother and manager said a Pakistani judge earlier this month ordered his sentence commuted to time served after the man who hired him was convicted in the United States on drug-smuggling charges. In a deposition, the man said he never told Aude he would be picking up opium on the trip, they said.

In addition to his mother Sherry who worked tirelessly to free him, praise is also due Rep. Howard McKeon (R-CA) who lobbied the Pakistanis for his release and provided them with the dealer's statement exculpating Aude.
Here is the must read article about Aude, by Seamus McGraw.

Time Magazine in Canada shows its enlightenment over its stateside counterpart. Instead of President Bush, it has named Maher Arar "newsmaker of the year." [link via Buzzflash.]

Who is Maher Arar? We all know the basic contours of his story. In 2002, U.S. officials detained the Canadian software engineer at New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. They alleged that he was linked to al-Qaeda and secretly deported him to Syria, where he says he was tortured. When Arar was freed more than a year later and the public got a glimpse of him, he seemed to be a likable, hard-working family man caught up in a monstrous international screwup.

He receives the newsmaker award because he is illustrative of "how one man’s quest for justice is quietly reshaping a nation’s values and law." Maher Arar did not fade from sight after returning home. He fought back.

One conservative judicial activist down. Carolyn Kuhl has withdrawn her name from consideration for a 9th Circuit judgeship. Kuhl was one of the nominees filibustered by Democrats last year. Her most vocal opposition came from women's and pro-choice groups.

We wrote about opposition to her nomination almost two years ago, quoting another Law.com article that reported:

On Friday, a coalition of left-leaning employment law, environmental, abortion rights and minority groups met to urge public opposition to Kuhl, saying she was among President Bush's most conservative nominees. She was called anti-consumer, anti-labor, anti-abortion, anti-environment and more.

If only William Meyers and Janice Rogers Brown, who are among two of the twenty names Bush resubmitted last week, would follow Kuhl's lead.

Bump and Update: The Washington Post reports on further allegations of abuse by ten detainees.

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Original Post

Guantanamo detainee David Hicks alleged that he was subjected to experimental torture techniques, including the administration of unknown drugs, while detained at the camp. [Link via Raw Story]

[Hicks]recently disclosed in a sworn affidavit, made public in his country, that he was forcibly injected with drugs. In an affidavit provided by his defense attorneys in Australia, Hicks details the torture he suffered at the hands of his U.S. interrogators, explaining how they banged his head on the asphalt, with his eyes blindfolded, during interrogations that lasted for hours.

Now, French lawyers for two other detainees, Nizar Sassi and Mourad Benchellali, make similar allegations:

His first term did not endear Bush to the international world--including the French and those between Berlin and Beijing. What are they thinking of his second term? Trepidation:

To the French, he's an uncouth cowboy - a swaggering statesman in a Stetson who shoots from the hip and asks questions later, if he asks them at all. They're not the only ones who think so. From Berlin to Beijing, President Bush was widely scorned abroad during his first term as a headstrong hombre more interested in action than consultation. Now, as the world spins into a new year, many are eyeing his second term with a mixture of caution, frustration and resignation.

It's an interesting article because it goes through the European and Asian sectors of the world, reflecting what leaders of the various countries say about Bush. Not all are negative....he's popular in Japan and Poland. [link via Buzzflash.]

The Bush Administration has decided on a new formula for calculating student aid--a formula which will eliminate Pell Grants and cause a loss of student aid for up to 90,000 low-income students.

Bush administration officials said the new formula — used to measure a family's ability to pay college costs — will save the government at least $300 million in the 2005-2006 academic year. ...

The media reports this was an unexpected action. Not exactly. It was buried in the 3,000 page spending bill passed by Congress last month and TalkLeft warned readers about the Pell grant change, after reading this article in the New York Times. Maybe these members of Congress failed to read the bill they passed in its entirety:

by TChris

A 26-year-old man locked his keys in his car while robbing a convenience store across the street from a police station, authorities said.

He was stealing cigarettes ... and his arrest is further proof that smoking is bad for you.

by TChris

Starting your Christmas with an invigorating swim? Not a bad idea if you live in the Carribean, or have access to a heated pool.

The "Berlin seals," however, took their Christmas morning dip in Berlin's Oranke lake. Although the water temperature was 34 F, some of the 30 swimmers -- wearing only their Santa Claus hats -- complained about the lack of ice on the lake this year.

The tradition dates back to at least 1980. The swimmers -- outnumbered by media photographers drawn to the annual event -- built up their courage for the dip by singing Christmas carols and sipping mulled wine.

by TChris

Of all the things to complain about, being greeted with the phrase "Happy Holidays" should be low on the list. But not to Manuel Zamorano, for whom the greeting is insufficiently Christian.

Fed up with what he calls "political correctness run amok," Zamorano has organized a nationwide boycott of Macy's and all Federated Department Stores because corporate officials declined his request to use the word "Christmas" in advertising and store decorations.

Perhaps Macy's understands that not all of its customers are Christians. "Happy Holidays" embraces the diversity of our nation by including Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and (for those who celebrate none of the above) New Year's Day.

And so ... Happy Holidays!

by TChris

Suffolk County, Massachusetts District Attorney Daniel Conley is making a stink about five jurors who lied about having criminal records.

Prosecutors learned of the jurors' criminal records Wednesday, Conley said, the day after the jury acquitted a second defendant -- Marquis Nelson, 25, of Roxbury -- of first-degree murder in the death of Persad, a 10-year-old who police said was caught between two rival gangs in a Roxbury park.

The jury hadn't reached a verdict against the first defendant (six were for acquittal, four for conviction, and two undecided) when prosecutors conducted a background check on the jurors and discovered the convictions, causing the judge to declare a mistrial in the prosecution of that defendant. The defense questions whether the prosecution, having just suffered an acquittal, searched for a way to derail the jury before it acquitted the other defendant.

Conley claims that "These corrupted jurors helped a killer to go free," a claim belied by the agreement of the jurors with clean records that the government failed to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Sounds like sour grapes from a prosecutor who built a case on the dubious testimony of a gang member.

In any event, a criminal conviction shouldn't disqualify a citizen from jury service. People who have been through the criminal justice system bring a real-world perspective to jury deliberations that are otherwise dominated by those who believe that "Law and Order" presents a realistic view of the way that police and prosectors operate.