by TChris

A one page summary of the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate, which concluded that Iraq possessed chemical and biological weapons, apparently failed to note the dissenting views contained in the full report. Notes taken by Senate staffers who reviewed the report indicate that the summary presented only one point of view, but the White House refuses to release the summary.

According to Richard Durbin, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee:

"We have requested, through the Senate Intelligence Committee, that the White House produce this document and they have refused. I think that's wrong."

by TChris

Innocent people are convicted of crimes for many reasons. One is the failure of state governments to provide adequate funding for lawyers who defend indigent clients. The newly-formed National Committee on the Right to Counsel hopes to call attention to the problem.

"Even though state and local governments are responsible for ensuring adequate counsel for defendants who cannot afford to hire their own lawyers, many people … are nonetheless still convicted and imprisoned each year without any legal representation" or with an inadequate one, the Washington-based group said.

In some states, an accused with a minimum wage job doesn't qualify for a public defender. Public defenders are often swamped with crushing caseloads, and appointed lawyers are frequently denied the funding they need to hire experts and investigators needed to mount a defense.

"The balance is tipped too heavily in favor of the government when it comes to prosecution of persons without means who can't afford private counsel," said [Timothy] Lewis [who served a decade on the federal appeals court in Philadelphia]. "We really need to take a look at that. Who are we as a people if we not giving adequate and equal representation to those who can't afford a lawyer?"

The Sixth Circuit today ruled that the Supreme Court's Blakely Decision. invalidates the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Law Prof Doug Berman reports:

,,,,and now in US v. Montgomery, 03-5256 (6th Cir. July 14, 2004), the Sixth Circuit becomes the second federal circuit court to hold that Blakely invalidates invalidates the federal guidelines. The Court found:

In order to comply with Blakely and the Sixth Amendment, the mandatory system of fixed rules calibrating sentences automatically to facts found by judges must be displaced by an indeterminate system in which the Federal Sentencing Guidelines in fact become "guidelines" in the dictionary-definition sense ("an indication or outline of future policy," Webster's International Dictionary (3d ed. 1963)). The "guidelines" will become simply recommendations that the judge should seriously consider but may disregard when she believes that a different sentence is called for....

Here's another line from the opinion:

In light of Blakely, and the language of the enabling act itself, a district judge should no longer view herself as operating a mandatory or determinate sentencing system, but rather should view the guidelines in general as recommendations to be considered and then applied only if the judge believes they are appropriate and in the interests of justice in the particular case.

The Bush-endorsed same-sex marriage amendment is officially dead. The senate voted today, 48 to 50 to defeat it. The vote was 12 short of the needed 60.

Both Kerry and Edwards opposed the amendment. Kerry has released this statement (via email from his campaign):

The Kerry campaign has announced that Barack Obama, Illinois state senator and the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, will deliver the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, July 27.

Here's an interesting statistic we received from the campaign by e-mail:

According to statistics compiled by the Democratic National Committee, 39.1 percent of the 4,341 delegates to this month’s Convention in Boston are minorities. More African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Native-Americans, and Hispanics will attend the Convention than ever before.

Update: Some are upset that Hillary wasn't invited to speak.

We doubt John Kerry or John Edwards has time to go online. But Elizabeth Edwards does, and she reads blogs. Here's a comment she left on Ed Cone's blog a few days ago:

Hello, Ed. Not much time for blogging -- or much else in the last days. Even when I get to a computer, it is for just a minute -- usually too short to check mail. (I am going to start using my daughter's old laptop -- I am a diehard old-fogey desktop girl -- when I hit the trail next, so that mught improve.) This week has been incredible. The energy seems like October levels, not early July levels. I feel a change a-comin'. Elizabeth Edwards • 7/10/04; 10:24:13 PM

Here's one she left a while back on Jack O'Toole's blog. O'Toole designed a website for the Edwards campaign:

Thanks, Jack. The beta looks terrific. And I can't tell you how great it is to come across efforts like this on the web. John and I really appreciate your support. Posted by: Elizabeth Edwards on November 18, 2003 10:07 PM

Here's another flattering profile of Elizabeth Edwards--from the Christian Science Monitor--"The Modest, Impassioned 'Anti-Barbie.'

by TChris

Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight boxing champion, was arrested in 1912 for violating the Mann Act, a federal law that criminalizes the interstate transportation of women for immoral purposes. Johnson served ten months in jail. Documentary maker Ken Burns is convinced that Johnson was punished for having a consensual relationship with a white woman.

Johnson ... defeated challenger Jim Jeffries, who had come out of retirement as the "Great White Hope" to try to beat the black man. Johnson's victory, in an era when Jim Crow laws and segregation ruled, sparked race riots in parts of the country.

Burns is joined by Sens. John McCain and Orrin Hatch, as well as civil rights leaders, in a bid to obtain a presidential pardon for Johnson, who died in 1946.

by TChris

Keith Emerich told the doctor who was treating him for an irregular heartbeat that he drinks a six-pack a day. The doctor, apparently complying with a Pennsylvania law that "requires doctors to report any physical or mental impairments in patients that could compromise their ability to drive safely," told the Department of Transportation that Emerich has a substance abuse problem. The DOT responded by yanking Emerich's driver's license until Emerich can prove he's competent to drive.

Emerich has had a clean driving record for 23 years. He denies that he ever drinks and drives.

"What I do in the privacy of my own home is none of PennDOT's business," he said. ... "They want me to go to counseling to prove that I'm OK," Emerich said. "I tried to go to a place ... and they wanted $250 for a three-month program."

The physician-patient privilege is meant to encourage open communication between patients and their doctors. Requiring a doctor to breach that privilege by reporting a drinking problem to DOT can only discourage patients from being honest with their doctors.

Mehdi Ghezali, age 25, spent 2 1/2 years at Guantanamo after being arrested in Pakistan after 9/11. Ghezali, a Swede, alleges he was subjected to torture after he stopped answering questions during interrogations:

"They put me in the interrogation room and used it as a refrigerator. They set the temperature to minus degrees so it was terribly cold and one had to freeze there for many hours -- 12 to 14 hours one had to sit there, chained," he said, adding that he had partially lost the feeling in one foot since then.
Ghezali said he was also deprived of sleep, chained for long periods in painful positions, and exposed to bright flashes of light in a darkened room and loud music and noise.

"They forced me down with chained feet. Then they took away the chains from the hands, pulled the arms under the legs and chained them hard again. I could not move," he said. After several hours his feet were swollen and his whole body was aching. "The worst was in the back and the legs," he said.

What offense did he commit to warrant his prolonged detention? Apparently, none:

by TChris

This is an interesting approach to witness tampering.

Real estate developer Charles Kushner hired a New York City call girl to have sex with a cooperating witness in a grand jury investigation, had the sex act videotaped and sent photos and a copy of the tape to the witness' wife, U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said.

Kushner was retaliating against the witness, a former employee, for cooperating in a criminal investigation of Kushner for possible tax fraud and illegal campaign contributions, and was trying to discourage him from cooperating further, Christie said.

Kushner's attorney, Benjamin Brafman, says the charges "are entirely baseless." More on the story here.

We got our invitation today to the Blogger Welcome Breakfast being sponsored by the DNCC. It's Monday morning at 10 am and there will be a guest speaker. This will be our first chance to meet many of the bloggers who have been granted press credentials to cover the convention. While no official list of these bloggers has been released, it was pretty easy for us to determine who they are since the invitation came by "mass e-mail" with all of our email addresses in it. There are nine bloggers we read regularly. Two of the blogs we check in with more than once a day. We have met and spent time with only one of the bloggers, Markos of Daily Kos, whom we consider a good friend. (Here's a picture from May. We're in the middle, holding the baby)

It's always fun to be able to put a face with a blog. We have attended a few Rocky Mountain blogger bashes and found that meeting the blogger in person adds a whole new dimension to reading the blog afterwards.

We're still on our fundraising drive to help us cover the costs of the trip. We've raised $900.00 so far and expect the trip will cost us about $3,000.00. So, if you can help us out, we'd really appreciate it. Every few bucks helps. Here's how:

• Amazon (anonymous)
• PayPal

We're still hoping one of the campaigns or a media outlet or corporation will spring for one of our premium ads --that would pay for the trip and we could stop asking readers for contributions. Should that happen, we'll let you know.

The major tv networks may not be broadcasting much of the political conventions on television, but a few will provide extensive coverage on the internet, with interactive features. Among them: CBS and ABC. Here's what they have in store for you:

ABC-TV's Peter Jennings will anchor convention sessions on abcnewslive.com, the 24/7 streaming news channel operated by the Walt Disney Co. subsidiary, available through America Online and the RealNetworks content subscription service. CBS plans free coverage of the sessions on CBSNews.com, plus on-demand clips and news reports.

A highlight of the ABC Web channel's coverage of will be a one-hour, live interactive program conducted at 7 p.m. each night of the conventions. Guests will discuss issues, answer e-mailed questions from AOL subscribers, and comment on live online surveys. "During a period of heightened interest in politics and news, we're able to engage voters in the political process like never before," said Bernie Gershon, senior vice president and general manager of ABC News Digital Media Group.

It's not just tv networks either:

AOL's broadband subscribers can get live gavel-to-gavel coverage and express opinions on convention issues via online InstaPolls, the unit of Time Warner said.