Here are some interesting pieces of information about Alberto Gonzales who apparently will be our new Attorney General, from TalkLeft archives:

• He disagreed with President Bush's nomination of Priscilla Owen for a 5th Circuit judgeship:

The [New York] Times points out that at one time even President Bush's own White House Counsel, Alberto Gonzales, charged Owen (in a dissenting opinion) with engaging in "unconscionable . . . judicial activism."

The Houston Chronicle stated in a July, 2002 editorial, "It doesn't take a raving pinko to catch on to Owen's act. Actually, it was pointed out very astutely by Alberto R. Gonzales, now Bush's White House counsel, when he was on the state's top civil court with her."

• He was considered to be one of Bush's top choices for the Supreme Court.

• He authored 57 death row clemency opinions for President Bush. The Atlantic Monthly wrote:

As the legal counsel to Texas Governor George W. Bush, Alberto R. Gonzales — now the White House counsel, and widely regarded as a likely future Supreme Court nominee—prepared 57 confidential death-penalty memoranda for Bush's review. Never before discussed publicly, the memoranda suggest that Gonzales repeatedly failed to apprise Bush of some of the most salient issues in the cases at hand.

The memos can be read by Atlantic Monthly subscribers here.

Verdict Update here.

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The lawyer-doctor jury foreman was dismissed by the Judge today in the Scott Peterson trial. Sounds like he did some reseach on his own and imparted it to other members of the jury who ratted him out, but no one's talking yet and the juror is gagged.

This is the juror who went into deliberations with 19 notepads he filled up during the trial. He seemed particularly interested in DNA evidence during jury selection.

The new alternate has a connection to Scott and Laci Peterson:

His son-in-law now owns a restaurant that Scott and Laci Peterson themselves once owned.

The new foreman is juror no. 6, a firefighter and paramedic.

Juror No. 6, a man who works as a firefighter and paramedic, was elected as the new foreman. During the trial, he at times seemed uninterested in the proceedings. He was seen rolling his eyes on occasion, specifically during the playing of tape-recorded conversations between Peterson and his girlfriend, Amber Frey.

Update: It's a done deal. Bush has named him.

White House officials say Alberto Gonazales most likely will be the next Attorney General.

Update: Looks like the choice is Alberto Gonzales. Now there will be a vacancy in the White House Counsel's office. One of the two lawyers considered as a likely replacement is Harriet Miers, Bush's personal lawyer.

I've served with Harriet on a legal board (non-criminal law related) and like her. Everyone on the board liked her and was sorry when she resigned. I hope she gets the job, if she wants it.

The Boston Globe, in this editorial, says that Judge James Robertson's decision Monday to halt the miltary tribunal proceedings at Guantanamo should be cheered by our troops serving abroad:

THE Federal district judge in Washington, D.C., who ruled Monday that the Bush administration has violated US and international law in its handling of Afghan war detainees ought to be thanked by members of the US armed forces all over the world. If they are captured by the enemy, their chances of being treated in accord with the Geneva Conventions will be greater if the United States holds itself to that standard.

The ruling was in the case of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who had not been provided his right under the Geneva Convention to a hearing on his prisoner of war status.

The New York Times supports Judge Robertson's ruling in the Salim Ahmed Hamdan case. First, what happened:

A prosecution before the first American military commission since World War II was halted this week, just as it was getting started, by a federal judge in Washington who ruled that the proceedings lacked the basic elements of a fair trial and violated the Geneva Conventions.

It was the latest in a series of court decisions that have taken the Bush administration to task for trampling on the law in the name of fighting terrorists. The administration should bring its policies into compliance with the law.

The U.S. has signed the Geneva Conventions, which require,

The Firefox browser was released today in the 1.0 version. I've been using it for a few months (except when I post on TalkLeft, because I can't get the "hot buttons" in textile to work with it--although that may be my shortcoming) and it really is cool. The best feature is no pop-ups. It has tabbed browsing. It also lets you bookmark the rss version of news sites and blogs so as you run your cursor over them in your "favorite places" you can see last ten or so headlines and just click on those that interest you.

Many believe Firefox is going to give Microsoft's IE a run for its money. It's free, you can read about it and download it here.

A reader asked my opinion of Larry Thompson in the comments to the post below about Ashcroft resigning. I went on so long, I figured I'd make it a separate post.

I think Larry Thompson would be an excellent choice--the best of all the names that have been suggested so far--by miles. Is he conservative? Yes. But anyone Bush picks is going to be conservative. Most prosecutors are that way.

Larry Thompson has been a defense attorney and when he was, he was as committed to his clients and their defense as any career defense attorney.

I've known him since he was a defense attorney, and I am not the only defense attorney to have such a high opinion of him. He was a much admired and respected member of the defense organizations I belong to.

I believe that if he takes the job, he will be fair and not trample constitutional rights.

I wish he wasn't such a strong believer in the drug war, but again, no prosecutor is going to be great on defense issues. I don't know his side of the Maher Arar story, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on that one.

The other names being bandied about are no better than Ashcroft and quite possibly worse.

I heard on CNN that he recently took a job with Texaco Pepsico, and I know that being AG was very trying for him, especially the lack of time he had for his family, so I wouldn't be surprised if he decides against taking the job.

On the other hand, he has also been mentioned as a possible Supreme Court nominee, and that is such a much more prestigious position than AG. Since Bush is so fond of him, perhaps Larry will agree to be AG for two years or so if he's reasonably confident the Supreme Court is waiting for him afterwards.

It's that time. TalkLeft has not asked often for reader contributions in recent months due to revenue received through our blogads. But, blogads have all but disappeared since the election. Even after dropping the ad rates, there have been no takers.

As regular readers and commenters know, this site takes hours of my day and evening to maintain. What began as a fanciful hobby is now a news and opinion site read daily by 15,000 people, and growing. Many of these readers return several times throughout the day, evening and weekends, looking for fresh material. So far, I haven't disappointed.

Without the ad revenue, I have to ask for reader contributions. There really is no other way to keep the site going at the current level. So, if you are a frequent reader, or if you just like TalkLeft and want to see it continue and thrive, please make a donation. All amounts from $1 up are welcome and appreciated.

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Yes, read it again, it's true. Attorney General John Ascroft has resigned. In his resignation letter, he claims victory in the war on terrorism and crime.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) on Ashcroft's resignation:

I wish John Ashcroft the best as he prepares to leave the public arena for private life.

President Bush now has the opportunity to appoint a new Attorney General who will protect not only our safety, but our Constitutional rights as well.

Update: Here is the text of Ashcroft's resignation letter, which was 5 pages, written in longhand.

A blogger named "anniesj" at Live Journal criticized Bush the week before the election and received a night-time visit from the Secret Service. She is single and lives with her mother. The agents determined she was not a threat to national security, but she now has her very own FBI file that includes her photo, email, and weblog address.

Now, as to what made them pick her: She wrote a post after the presidential debate critical of Bush. Another reader called it in to the authorities. The Secret Service told her they were following up.

Some advice:

The tale is a lesson to us all. Number one lesson is that what happens on the internet can and will bite you on the a** in real life. We've seen it time and time again with internet affairs and sordid emails - now, you'd better watch where you put your political commentating toes. Number two is that no matter how cool and geeky the community - and LiveJournal is both - there will always be someone that ruins it for everyone else.

Put another way, people need to keep in mind that the internet has no erasers.

Here's Annie's version of her ordeal. [link via What Really Happened.]

Update: Not so clever attempts by Right wing bloggers, including a prosecutor, to post words in the comments to this post that will result in this site being linked to unacceptable behavior when googled have led to a decision to shut the comments down. Their comments have been edited.

A new passenger scanner being employed at London's Heathrow airport uses radiation to see through clothing. Civil liberties groups are angry.

No wonder they are angry,check out this picture of what they can see. [via the Modulator who got it from Yahoo.]

We warned about this back in June, 2003:

Airport Screeners May Get X-Ray Vision

Thinking of going to London or France? Get ready. They may be looking at your underpants.

Update: On the Guilty Verdict. Here is a live chat with questions and answers.

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Bump and Update: A juror has been replaced with an alternate in the Scott Peterson trial.

The removed juror is juror #7, an Asian woman who works for Pacific Gas and Electric who described herself during jury selection as a crusader who would never buckle under from pressure from other jurors.

The alternate juror is Alternate No. 1, "the red-haired woman dubbed "Strawberry Shortcake" by trial watchers.

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Original Post: