by TChris

TalkLeft recently observed that the Army is investigating allegations of abuse against civilians as well as prisoners. Now we're learning more about the scope of the investigations.

Over the past year and a half, the Army has opened investigations into at least 91 cases of possible misconduct by U.S. soldiers against detainees and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, a total not previously reported and one that points to a broader range of wrongful behavior than defense officials have acknowledged.

Taken together, the 91 cases indicate misconduct by U.S. troops wider in type and greater in number than suggested by the focus simply on the mistreatment of Iraqis held at the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad. The majority of the cases under investigation occurred in Iraq, although the Army has not provided an exact accounting of all the locations.

More than half of the 91 cases involved misconduct outside of detention facilities. Thirty of the investigations involving detainees related to the deaths of 34 individuals. Among those are ten homicides, only one of which has so far resulted in discipline. Eight homicide investigations "remain open amid evidence the dead detainees were assaulted before or during interrogation sessions."

by TChris

The Columbia Journalism Review features a debate between The Washington Post's ombudsman and the foreign editor of London's The Independent. The topic: is objectivity and balance, the supposed hallmark of U.S. journalism, preferable to the more adversarial style of journalism practiced in the British press?

The argument starts from a flawed premise: that American journalism is indeed objective. The New York Times recently admitted (albeit not in these words) that it became the President's propoganda machine during the run-up to, and the early days of, the war in Iraq, passing along whatever the administration said without reporting on its probable veracity. Sidney Blumenthal's The Clinton Wars makes a strong argument that the mainstream media relentlessly advanced anti-Clinton rumors and accusations without first deciding whether they were supported by facts. Uncritical reporting of partisan accusations isn't objective journalism.

The Independent's Leonard Doyle provides additional examples to debunk the myth that American reporting is objective, including CNN's failure to report on civilian deaths in Afghanistan because CNN's chairman just didn't want to hear it. According to Doyle:

Scott Peterson's jury trial begins today with opening arguments. Many experts say the case is a toss-up. Mark Geragos, notwithstanding a tough gag order, has succeeded in reducing the public certainty of his guilt.

A circumstantial case, no murder weapon, confession, eyewitness. No obvious crime scene. No cause of death. What's left? Speculation over his odd behavior, his affair and a hair that could easily have been transferred --

Geragos says his closing may take all afternoon.

by TChris

Jonathan Singletary, a 16-year-old high school student, is accused of injuring a girl by throwing a piece of clay at her. He was offered a deal: admit to the misdemeanor charge and stay out of trouble, and the conviction would be kept sealed. Singletary says he didn't commit the crime and won't admit to something he didn't do, so he rejected the offer.

Prosecutors in Sutter County, California responded in typical fashion, by upping the ante: they increased the misdemeanor charge to a felony. The felony charge carries a maximum of four years in the California Youth Authority.

Since word about the Sunnyvale youth's case leaked out last month, outraged Bellarmine teachers and classmates have been rallying behind him. Many question the evidence and whether Jonathan was targeted simply because he's African-American.

Only one student claims to have seen Singletary throw something as he was walking past the classroom. The student who was with Singletary denies that Singletary threw anything. Since the victim was in a ceramics class, it seems likely that the piece of clay came from inside the classroom.

The felony charge requires proof that Singletary caused a serious injury. The injured girl had a scratched cornea and a bruise, but suffered no lasting injury. The initial decision that a misdemeanor charge was appropriate is supported by the degree of harm caused. The felony charge is either an attempt to bully Singletary into accepting the misdemeanor, or an attempt to punish him for rejecting the offer and exercising his right to a trial. Enhancing a charge for either reason is relatively common, but still an abuse of power.

The Rocky Mountain Progressive Network reports that President Bush will be in Denver Tuesday, attending a dinner and fundraiser where the cost of a ticket is $15,000.00 a plate. There will be a peaceful protest, here's the details:

Bush's fundraiser is being held at 3400 Belcaro Drive, at the Phipps Mansion/Tennis Pavilion. Police are there already, setting up barricades and whatnot, so obviously we will not be allowed anywhere near the president. Instead we will be assembling on the public sidewalks of both East Exposition Avenue and University, with signs, informational literature, and basically anything we can get put together before tomorrow.

If you want to join the peaceful protest, come on down and bring whatever anti-Bush stuff you have available. We will be meeting at 4:30 on the sidewalk in front of Knight Fundamental Academy, a DPS elementary school, and will spread out from there to achieve high visibility during rush hour. People plan to be in this area from 4:30 till around 8 pm, so anytime you could come down would be greatly appreciated. There is some public parking available.

Did anyone really believe he was just coming to deliver the commencement address to the Air Force Academy?

We haven't seen too many liberal bloggers writing about Memorial Day. Skippy does, quite nicely. Skippy's dad was a WWII vet who served in the Pacific. TL's dad served in WWII in France and other places, from 1942 until 1945. Both came home to spend many years with their loved ones. We are truly sorry for the families of those who served in any war who were not so fortunate. We may be against the war, but we support our troops and feel the loss of those who died.

[comments now closed]

by TChris

Remember all those solemn assurances that the invasion of Iraq wasn't about oil? Maybe it wasn't solely about oil, but oil is never far from the minds of Bush and Cheney.

An e-mail from an Army Corps of Engineers official in March 2003 refers to Douglas Feith's approval of a decision to award a contract to Halliburton, the company that was formerly under Dick Cheney's stewardship.

According to an e-mail excerpt in Time, the contract was "contingent on informing WH [White House] tomorrow. We anticipate no issues since action has been coordinated w[ith] VP's office."

The Corps of Engineers gave Halliburton the contract three days later without seeking other bids, Time reports.

It doesn't look good for Cheney to be coordinating business with his former employer, so Cheney's office says that the "action" being coordinated was the announcement of the contract. And why would Cheney's office, in particular, be involved in the announcement of the contract? Well, um, you know, because they thought it might, well, look bad that Halliburton got the contract, and they wanted to give Cheney a "head's up," so he'd be prepared to deny that he had anything to do with it.

So according to Cheney's office, Cheney wasn't coordinating the contract, he was coordinating the announcement of the contract so that he'd be prepared to deny that he had anything to do with the contract being announced. Huh?

Should local police have access to federal terrorism files? Civil liberties groups say no and are objecting to the policy which is in effect in New York and Vermont.

Critics of the pilot program caution that it poses an "enormous risk" of arrest and detention of people without cause. However, officials announcing the new information-sharing system last week emphasized that civil liberties will be protected. "It's a very dangerous assumption that just because the information is in the system, it's right," said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. "In the drive to collect data and share it, there has been a neglect of the safeguards that are absolutely essential to protect us from the misuse of information.

The FBI wants to see the program spread to other states. Here's how it works:

As if Abu Ghraib isn't bad enough, military officials have confirmed that the army is investigating reports of soldier assaults and thefts against Iraqi civilians not being held in detention centers:

The Army is investigating reports of assaults against Iraqi civilians and thefts of their money and jewelry by U.S. troops during patrols, raids and house searches, defense officials said on Monday.

The probe by the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigation Division, or CID, suggests that a major scandal over abuse of Iraqi prisoners by Americans goes beyond detention centers into the homes and streets of the troubled country.
"There are a number of criminal investigations by the Army into allegations of assault, theft and other issues that extend beyond the investigations into activities at detention facilities," Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

Newsweek reports Martha Stewart has a plan to limit her jail time:

Convicted domestic diva Martha Stewart is planning to try to shorten her time in jail by offering to serve part or all of her sentence helping underprivileged women start businesses, according to a story in the June 7 edition of Newsweek due to go on sale on newsstands Monday.

Stewart recently approached the Women's Venture Fund, a new York nonprofit group, offering to work 20 hours a week teaching low income and minority women to become entrepreneurs according to the report which cited the venture's President Maria Otero.

We hope it works.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, (NACDL) through its President, E.E. "Bo" Edwards, has issued this statement in response to the death of Sam Dash. (TalkLeft's tribute is here. )

Samuel Dash, 79, a founder of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the association’s second president (1959), died Saturday, May 29, in Washington, DC, after a long illness. Sam Dash and a handful of concerned colleagues founded our association in 1958 “to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime.” Despite health problems, he remained an active member of NACDL until his death Saturday. At a symposium on the 40th anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright last year at Georgetown University Law Center, Sam observed that as a district attorney in Philadelphia in the 1950s, he learned what it was like to be a competent lawyer presenting a well-organized case against a poor defendant represented only by himself, who did not know courtroom procedure and often did not even understand the charges against him. He stated:

by TChris

It's unfortunate that Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico learned the wrong lesson from the arrest of Chief District Judge W. John Brennan for possession of cocaine. Judge Brennan may also be charged with driving under the influence. He was stopped after turning into a parking lot to avoid a sobriety checkpoint on a Saturday morning, and was described as appearing "highly intoxicated." A passenger in his car was arrested for having cocaine in her purse.

Although Richardson considers Judge Brennan and his passenger to be his friends and says he is saddened by their arrest, his political response is predictable: more of the same.

"This incident will only redouble my efforts to deal with the DWI and drug scourges in our state in the next legislative session," Richardson said.

Richardson says Judge Brennan's case shows how pervasive drug use is, and vows to deal with the problem even more aggressively. In other words, still harsher penalties. Does Richardson think Judge Brennan, who presides over criminal cases, doesn't know the penalties for DWI or for cocaine possession? Does he think Judge Brennan wouldn't have committed these crimes if the penalties were even more extreme than they are?

The punishment model doesn't work. If it did, Judge Brennan -- who knew the risks as well as anyone and who had more to lose than most -- wouldn't have been getting high on a Saturday morning. The real lesson is that "more of the same" is not a solution. If a judge who sentences people for the same acts the judge is committing isn't deterred by the threat of punishment, why should we blindly assume that even harsher penalties will deter? People with substance abuse problems need help, not punishment -- whether they're judges, talk radio hosts, or kids on the street.