Author John LeCarre rips into Bush in this op-ed in the LA Times. Here's a snippet:

Probably no American president in history has been so universally hated abroad as Bush: for his bullying unilateralism, his dismissal of international treaties, his reckless indifference to the aspirations of other nations and cultures, his contempt for institutions of world government, and above all for misusing the cause of anti-terrorism in order to unleash an illegal war — and now anarchy — upon a country that like too many others around the world was suffering under a hideous dictatorship but had no hand in the events of 9/11, no weapons of mass destruction and no record of terrorism except as an ally of the United States in a dirty war against Iran.

[Link via Kevin Drum]

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A federal judge in Washington has rejected the Government's attempt to intrude on the attorney-client relationship of Guantanamo detainees.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly rejected the government's proposal for audio and video monitoring and for a review of notes taken at the meeting because it would undermine the attorney-client relationship.

"The court is acutely aware of the delicate balance that must be struck when weighing the importance of national security against the rights of the individual," she said in the 25-page ruling.

"However, the government has supplied only the most slender legal support for its argument, which cannot withstand the weight of the authority surrounding the importance of the attorney-client privilege," she concluded.

The House of Representatives passed H.R. 10 Friday, containing some of the most repressive immmigration legislation in a decade. It is a bill that panders to irrational fears about immigrants and terrorists in our midst and is borne of a desperate attempt by Republican lawmakers to make Bush look like a hero in the war on terrorism. In their relentless pursuit of instilling the fear of terrorism in the heart of every American, radical right Republicans and the anti-immigration lobby have teamed together to bring you a nightmare of a bill.

The 9/11 Commission did not recommend the new law enforcement powers and immigration provisions of this bill. In fact, today, the 9/11 Commission wrote this letter to Congress objecting to the inclusion of the immigration and law enforcement provisions.

The bill now goes to conference between the House and Senate. You can take action here. If you live in a district of a Senate conferee, get on the phone and tell your Senator to oppose this bill.

The best course would be for the Senate conferees not to give in to the House conferees and to boot this and all the new law enforcement powers contained in the House bill. The conferees should pass only the reforms recommended by the 9/11 Commission and leave the rest for another day and another Congress. If the House won't go along, the whole bill should die. Let Bill Frist declare an impasse...which will be seen as a failure for President Bush.

Here's some reactions to the bill:

Bump and Update: Lawyer and legal commentator Michael Cardoza has been ordered "gagged" by the judge in the Scott Peterson trial. Cardoza prepped Scott Peterson for a potential cross-examination last week and announced it to the media--the Judge says his involvement at the request of Mark Geragos created an attorney-client relationship. Of course it did. What was Cardoza thinking? Will he now become an offical member of the team? Will he trade his paid consulting gig for an unpaid defense consulting one?

Cardoza has sat through most if not all of the four month trial. For naught, it now turns out. He won't be able to comment on critical parts--closings, deliberation and verdict.

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Original Post: 10/19 11 am

The defense began presenting its case in the Scott Peterson trial yesterday. The bigger news seems to be that Michael Cardoza, a former prosecutor who has been providing legal commentary on the case--and who has been highly critical of the prosecution's case--told the media that he met with Scott Peterson twice this past week, at the request of Mark Geragos to help the defense decide whether Scott should testify. He said he met Peterson for a few hours last week and then on Sunday, conducted a mock cross-examination of Peterson for Geragos.

So, here are the issues. Does the gag order imposed on all counsel and investigators and others involved in the case now apply to Cardoza? Did he just bench himself from commenting further?

Say hello to Enjoy the Draft, by Blogpac. You can take the graphics and put them on your own site. E-mail the page to your friends.

Love this picture of GW with Jenna and Barbara...

Maryland is a state that allows some ex-offenders to vote. According to a new ACLU report, its system is seriously flawed and may block some of those who are eligible to vote:

... the ACLU report shows that states differ widely in how they determine when convicted felons should be allowed to vote. Only two states, Maine and Vermont, allow felons to vote while in prison. The report criticized Maryland's system as cumbersome, and prone to inconsistencies and errors.

"In other states, you get something in the mail that says you are off the book, you are eligible to vote," said Amy Cruice, community organizer for the ACLU of Maryland. "It's more clear when you are done with your sentence. Here we have nothing."

Here is a map showing how the states differ on felon voting. The report is here.

France ought to get rid of their new law banning students from wearing head scarves at school. Instead, it is enforcing it. The first students, two Muslim girls, have been expelled.

by TChris

A courageous judge stood up to the government by taking a case away from the jury and acquitting the defendant after concluding that the prosecution failed to show that a lawyer who accepted cash from clients knew that the cash came from drug crimes. U.S. District Judge Joseph L. Tauro said "Anybody could wait and see what happened and hope the jury would find him not guilty, then you wouldn't have to, but that's ducking responsibility."

Prosecutors are complaining that "Tauro's actions show that federal criminal rules need to be changed so judges cannot exercise unchecked authority." Nonsense. It is a judge's duty to protect the accused from an unwarranted conviction. The trial judge, who actually hears and sees the evidence, is in the best positon to decide whether a case should go to the jury. The power to acquit before verdict, while rarely invoked, is a vital protection against verdicts that may be based on sympathy or outrage rather than evidence.

"It's rare, I suppose because in most cases the government at least comes up with enough evidence, arguably, to go to the jury and then it's the jury that decides," [Chief U.S. District Judge William] Young said. "But sometimes they don't, and in those cases Rule 29 exists for the protection of the individual and properly so."

Prof. Douglas Berman wonders whether Judge Tauro may have been motivated, in part, by a desire to avoid the harsh and unjust sentence that might have been mandated by a conviction. Perhaps. In any event, the judge deserves praise for protecting an accused from an overreaching prosecution.

Former President Bill Clinton will will campaign with John Kerry in Philadelphia Monday.

Former President Clinton will appear with Sen. John Kerry at a lunchtime rally in Philadelphia Monday in what Democrats hope will be a boost to the presidential ticket in a crucial battleground state.

The latest Reuters/Zogby poll shows Bush and Kerry still locked in a statistical dead heat.

by TChris

The abusive treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib is shocking, but it underscores the need to examine the abuse of prisoners within our borders. The ACLU of Mississippi hopes to do just that by starting a prison accountability project to improve inmates' living conditions. The need for improvement is clear.

[Margaret Floyd] said [her son] was handcuffed and beaten twice by guards at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. The Corinth woman said she sent lawyers to the prison to check on her son, who's now 30, and found he had "a busted head" and bruises on his arms and had been kicked in the ribs.

A recent lawsuit resulted in the improvement of conditions for death row prisoners at Parchman, who were "subjected to excessive heat, human excrement, biting insects and the rants of psychotic prisoners."

Mississippi has the third highest per capita rate of incarceration, behind Louisiana and Texas.

by TChris

Police officers enjoy distinct advantages when they decide to commit crimes. One example: the ability to disguise a robbery as a law enforcement raid.

A former police officer serving 15 years in prison on drug trafficking and weapon charges has admitted that he and other officers were behind a robbery spree that netted hundreds of thousands of dollars between 1998 and 2001. Ruben Palomares, 34, and his colleagues collected drugs, cash, guns and other items in robberies that sometimes turned brutally violent, according to a plea agreement and other documents, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

Dressed in their uniforms and driving police cars, the LAPD officers were able to steal "more than 700 pounds of marijuana, 50 kilos of cocaine, and an assortment of firearms and jewelry." Sometimes they handcuffed their victims or shot them with stun guns. The majority of Palomares' crimes were committed while he was being investigated for his role in the Rampart scandal.

by TChris

A federal appellate court ruled yesterday that the free speech rights of protestors were violated when they were herded into a "free expression zone" more than 200 feet from the people to whom they hoped to convey their message. Animal rights activists brought the lawsuit after their efforts to protest at San Francisco's Cow Palace were limited.

The state said it was necessary to cordon protesters to assure the flow and safety of vehicle and foot traffic. But the court said that was unnecessary, because few protesters show up at the Grand National Rodeo and Stock Show, and the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus.

While the state argued that a "free expression zone" gives protestors the opportunity to interact with any member of the public who wants to listen, the court held that the zones were "more likely to give the impression to passers-by that these are people to be avoided."