A civil rights sage set in 1920 won out over the 9/11 Report to get the non-fiction National Book Award Wednesday night.

"Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age," an account of the struggles of an African American in Detroit in the 1920s, took the trophy, disappointing the many who had contributed to and orchestrated the publishing industry's surprise bestseller of the year, the 9/11 Commission Report.

"Arc of Justice" author Kevin Boyle seemed awed by the triumph of his book, about the efforts of a man named Ossian Sweet to integrate a white neighborhood. He expounded on the unfinished work of integrating American cities. "Eighty years on, the system of segregation that Dr. Ossian Sweet confronted is still in place," Boyle said, "including in this extraordinary city that we're in at the moment."

The U.S. Sentencing Commission held a hearing in Washington today at which it solicited proposals from Justice Department officials, law professors and judges about how to remedy the Sentencing Guidelines if, as expected, the Supreme Court invalidates at least a portion of them in the aftermath of its Blakely ruling.

Leave it to the Justice Department to come up with a scheme to lengthen, rather than shorten sentences. It's referred to as the "topless" option:

Under the change recommended by the Justice Department, and appearing to enjoy some support on the commission, minimum sentences will not change. However, judges will have flexibility to give longer sentences, up to the maximum defined by Congress. Judges could decide on a long prison sentence, without adding extra time for specific things like gun possession. The plan was devised by Indiana law professor Frank Bowman. Assistant AG Christopher Wray, in testimony before the Commission today, said:

...the change, called by some the "topless" plan, would "preserve the traditional roles of judges and juries in criminal cases" and would be easy to get through Congress.

So you thought Republicans were the party advocating limited government spending and fiscal responsibility? Think again. The Republican-dominated Senate voted today for to increase our federal debt by $800 billion.

The bill, if approved by the House in a vote expected on Thursday, would authorize the third big increase in the federal borrowing since President Bush took office in 2001. Federal debt has ballooned by $1.4 trillion over the past four years, to $7.4 trillion, and the new ceiling would allow borrowing to reach $8.2 trillion.

With no end in sight to the huge annual budget deficits, which hit a record of $412 billion this year, lawmakers predicted on Wednesday that the new ceiling would probably have to be raised again in about a year.

Democrats opposed the measure.

I don't know who comes up with these but this one is very funny--meet The Lie Girls .

Flag waving, bible thumping babes are waiting for you to help them spread their freedom.

If you're easily offended, skip it.

A Kansas California judge yesterday told a 24 year old marijuana possessor that he could either go to jail or join the military.

Brian Barr was the victim of a home burglary. He shot and killed the intruder, and all agreed it was a justifiable act. Barr, while waiting for the cops to come, hid his marijuana stash. What upset the Judge was that Barr had a weapon and marijuana in his home.

After announcing that the Probation Department had recommended 240 days in jail, and praising the probation officer assigned to the case, Moody gave Barr the option of enlistment instead. "There's an awful lot of good in this young man," said Moody, citing Barr's record as a student, his civic involvement and his intervention in a Salinas bank robbery last year. Barr's father, William, is the county superintendent of education.

Even the DA was surprised because people in that county are usually sent to drug treatment, not prison. And the military suggestion was never discussed and had never occurred in the county before.

Apparently, this was a common option during the Vietnam war. The Judge said,

...when he was bused to Monterey as a draftee 30 years ago, many of the other young men on board had chosen the Army over jail.

Young Mr. Barr has one month to make up his mind.

by TChris

Bump and Update: Rule change approved.

Rules are made to be broken ... or at least changed, when they become inconvenient. And so we hear of Republican threats to change the time-honored Senate rule that permits the minority party to thwart the majority's overreaching by resorting to a filibuster -- Republican threats that are unwarranted, as explained here.

And now we hear of a proposed change of rules in the House.

House Republicans plan to change their rules in order to allow members indicted by state prosecutors to remain in a leadership post, a move designed to benefit Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) in case he is charged by a Texas grand jury that has indicted three of his political associates, GOP leaders said today.

Of course, the rule was adopted by House Republicans in response to Dan Rostenkowski's misbehavior, but hey, he was a Democrat. The rule is no longer convenient for Republicans, so it's gotta go.

Outgoing Attorney General John Ashcroft gave a farewell address Monday to the International Association of Police Chiefs. He told them America was safer from terrorists and violent criminals. The next day, the Association responded: Baloney, they said.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) said that cuts by the administration in federal aid to local police agencies have left the nation more vulnerable than ever to public safety threats. The 20,000-member group also said in a statement that new anti-terrorism duties for local cops - which have come as state and local budgets have declined and historically low crime rates have crept upward - have pushed police agencies to "the breaking point."

Among other things, members of the chiefs' group have long complained about localities having to pay millions of dollars in overtime costs when the U.S. government issued terrorism alerts. The group also is annoyed that President Bush (news - web sites) is phasing out a $10 billion program begun by the Clinton administration in 1996 to help local departments hire tens of thousands more cops.

IACP President Joseph Polisar, the police chief in Garden Grove, Calif., said hundreds of police officer jobs have been lost across the nation during the past four years. And proposed cuts in federal aid in the 2005 budget could reach almost $1 billion, threatening hundreds more, the chief said.

You can fool some people some of the time....[link via Raw Story.]

Rush Limbaugh just won a round and we're glad. It's a potential victory for patients' privacy rights. Congrats to Roy Black, Limbaugh's attorney, for convincing the Florida appeals court to allow the Florida Supreme Court to decide the issue.

The appeals court ruled a few months ago that it was ok for prosecutors to seize Rush's medical records without telling him first.

CIA Chief Porter Goss sent out a memo telling employees to get on the Bush bandwagon...he warned of more firings to come. Our earlier thoughts that CIA staff were revolting against Goss may have been inaccurate -- this sounds much more like a purge.

Update: CNN reports the CIA denies Goss told workers to back Bush.

The Department of Homeland security is requiring that its 180,000 or so employees amd contractors sign a three page secrecy pledge. The pledge covers sensitive but unclassified information.

Congressional critics and government watchdog organizations such as the Federation of American Scientists call the policy a potentially precedent-setting expansion of official secrecy whose provisions are overly broad and unworkable, if not unconstitutional.

This, just after the 9/11 commission report criticized the government for over-classifying information? [hat tip Crooks and Liars.}

16 may be too young to serve in the military, and there may be no draft coming (according to Bush, at least) but that hasn't stopped Louisiana from thinking ahead to when there may be a draft: In order to get a driver's license, those as young as 16 must register with the Selective Service

There may be no "plans" for a national military draft, but that hasn't kept Louisiana from registering teenagers too young to serve in case conditions change. During the recently concluded presidential campaigns, the major candidates repeatedly said they had no plans to resume compulsory military service.

Their promises were not reassuring, however, to Larry Chevalier of Glenmora who was alarmed when his 16-year-old son Nathan had to register with the Selective Service System in order to get a driver's license.

When was this law enacted? In 2003:

the Legislature passed Act 373 in the 2003 session dictating that all males aged 15 up to 18 seeking a first-time driver's license or an OMV identification card must register with Selective Service.

[link via What Really Happened.]

Looks to us like Tom DeLay is about to get indicted. Why? Because, as TChris wrote earlier, the Republicans are moving for a rule change. Wednesday's Washington Post says:

House Republicans proposed changing their rules last night to allow members indicted by state grand juries to remain in a leadership post, a move that would benefit Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) in case he is charged by a Texas grand jury that has indicted three of his political associates, according to GOP leaders.

The proposed rule change, which several leaders predicted would win approval at a closed meeting today, comes as House Republicans return to Washington feeling indebted to DeLay for the slightly enhanced majority they won in this month's elections. DeLay led an aggressive redistricting effort in Texas last year that resulted in five Democratic House members retiring or losing reelection. It also triggered a grand jury inquiry into fundraising efforts related to the state legislature's redistricting actions.