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 Carolyn Kuhl has withdrawn her name from consideration for a 9th Circuit judgeship.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.

by TChris

A police union that evidently has little else to do produced a 44 page report criticizing the "special treatment" given to Diana Ross while serving her sentence for drunk driving.

[Police Chief] Walters allowed Ross to keep a cellular telephone in her jail cell, have food delivered and let her go home in the middle of her sentence ...

Other inmates deserve the humane treatment extended to Ross, but the real question is why the union -- which "voted no confidence in the chief this month, citing the Ross issue and other matters" -- is so upset. Have a heart, people. It's Christmas.

Rudy Giuliani isn't getting the pass he wants from the Kerik story quite yet. The New York Times Friday details the many lawsuits for damages the city of New York incurred during his watch, quite a few of which are ongoing--suits that allege Rudy or his senior aides violated the plaintiffs' constitutional rights.

In the three years since Michael R. Bloomberg succeeded Mr. Giuliani, the city has spent close to $2 million to settle lawsuits brought by residents and city workers who accused the Giuliani administration of retaliating against them for exercising free speech or other constitutional rights.

Michael Hess, Giuliani's current partner at Giuliani Partners, says the suits amount to a drop in the bucket. Pocket change, right?

I'll agree that settling a lawsuit is not an acknowledgement of the correctness or truth of the prevailing party's allegations--it's more a litigation strategy and an assessment of the risk/reward ratio of going to trial. That's not the issue.

The point I'm making is that for the Times and other papers to be publishing this stuff now shows that Rudy is no longer "the golden boy"--a position he never, ever deserved to hold in the first place. Rudy was on his last leg when September 11 came around. His divorce woes had made him a laughing stock. He was pummeled by the press every day. His prostate cancer and withdrawal from the Senate race against Hillary led many to conclude his political career was over.

The Kerik mess has dethroned Rudy. It's probably the way the Republicans want it, since they think he's liberal on social justice issues. They may even be engineering it. I won't be surprised if the media begins re-hashing the Donna Hanover stories next. That ought to be the final nail in the coffin of Rudy's political aspirations. [hat tip to Terry K.]

When I first read the news of ex-Conn. Republican Governor John Rowland pleading guilty this morning, there was no mention of the likely sentence. I assumed he made a deal for probation or house arrest. This more recent article says Roland faces 15 to 21 months in jail.

Rowland was accused of allowing state contractors to renovate his beach house and accepting similar perks and then lying about it.

Federal prosecutors last year accused Rowland of accepting free renovations to his vacation cottage as well as charter flights and vacations from a state contractor, and of defrauding the Internal Revenue Service by not paying taxes on the free services.

He stepped down to avoid impeachment. Now Rowland has pleaded guilty to one count of "conspiracy to deprive the state of his honest services."

Rowland was considered as a possible VP choice for Bush in 2000.