We're on lunch break, in the lobby where we have a wireless connection for a few minutes. There was a very interesting presentation this morning by five prosecutors and a judge. All have begun programs to find prison alternatives for drug offenders--the most innovative is in Brooklyn, New York, called DTAP.

DTAP is the first prosecution-run program in the country to divert prison-bound felony offenders to residential drug treatment. The program targets drug-addicted defendants arrested for nonviolent felony offenses who have previously been convicted of one or more nonviolent felonies. Qualified defendants enter a felony guilty plea and receive a deferred sentence that allows them to participate in a residential therapeutic community (TC) drug treatment program for a period of 15 to 24 months. Those who successfully complete the program have their charges dismissed; those who fail are brought back to court by a special warrant enforcement team and sentenced to prison. To prevent relapse and reduce recidivism, the District Attorney's Office has formed a Business Advisory Council to identify and develop employment sources in Brooklyn. DTAP also has a job developer to assist graduates in finding and maintaining employment.

What strikes us as particularly notewortthy is that they take repeat offenders. They realize that drug treatment fails the first few times around for many. In New York, under the Rockefellar drug laws, a first offense for over 1/8 ounce is 15 to life. For a second offense of less than 1/8 of an ounce, it's still 41/2 to 9 years. And these are mandatory minimum sentences.

Well, one thing we didn't figure on is a hotel with just dialup. And slow dialup at that. How the ABA could pick such a place is beyond us, but it's like being stuck in Palm Springs circa 1958. Not is there only no high speed, there is no minibar, no water in the rooms, no HBO, no late night food service, a shortage of electrical sockets, etc. Right now we're on wireless, but it's only available in the hotel lobby, and much as we'd like to blog all night, sitting in a hotel lobby with a room full of strangers just doesn't seem like fun.

We'll be in a Criminal Justice Section Council meeting all day tommorrow, no wireless in the conference center, so we're not sure when we'll return to blogging. It may be tomorrow night or Sunday night.

If you haven't checked out the great sites on our blogrolls, please do.

by TChris

George Tenet testified before the 9/11 commission that he hadn't talked with President Bush during the entire month of August 2001. Well, not quite.

CIA records showed Tenet briefed the president on national security threats once during Bush's 27-day ranch vacation, on Aug. 17, and again at the White House on Aug. 31. He also met with the president at least six more times during the first eight days of September, the spokesman said.

Since Tenet received a memo in August 2001 entitled "Islamic Extremist Learns to Fly," as well as the infamous August 6, 2001 memo warning of "patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks," it is reasonable to wonder whether he briefed the President about a possible connection between extremists learning to fly and extremists who plotted to hijack airplanes. If he didn't, why not? Difficult questions for Tenet to answer, given his inability to recall the meetings he had with the President.

Regardless of what Tenet remembers, Bush still has a difficult question to answer:

No one has been able to say whether Bush followed up in any way after he asked his intelligence agencies whether there was a domestic threat from Al Qaeda, and got a loud "yes" in response.

by TChris

The heat on Donald Rumsfeld would make a less self-righteous man sweat. It's embarassing to be publicly criticized by another Republican, but Rummy can dismiss John McCain's complaints on the ground that McCain is a maverick politician. Besides, McCain is careful to express "enormous admiration" for Rumsfeld even as he complains that Rummy underestimated the number of ground troops needed to restore and maintain order in Iraq.

Rumsfeld should find criticism less easy to dismiss when it comes from a man who spent 39 years in the military: retired Marine General Anthony Zinni, the former commander of the U.S. Central Command.

Zinni wondered aloud yesterday how Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld could be caught off guard by the chaos in Iraq that has killed nearly 100 Americans in recent weeks and led to his announcement that 20,000 U.S. troops would be staying there instead of returning home as planned.

Zinni says he's warned decision-makers for years that Iraq would become more dangerous to American interests without Saddam Hussein. He thinks "heads should roll over Iraq." As entertaining as the sight of a headless Rummy might be, this administration refuses to make accountability a part of the game plan, and never admits it erred.

Osama bin Laden has released a new tape, referring to the recent train bombings in Spain. He offers Europe a truce--but not the U.S. or Israel. The tape was played Thursday on Al Jazeera.

I offer a truce to them (Europe) with a commitment to stop operations against any state which vows to stop attacking Muslims or interfere in their affairs," the voice said on the tape aired by Dubai-based Al Arabiya and Qatar-based Al Jazeera channels.

"The announcement of the truce starts with the withdrawal of the last soldier from our land and the door is open for three months from the date of the announcement of this statement. "Whoever rejects this truce and wants war, we are its (war's) sons and whoever wants this truce, here we bring it." Security analysts said bin Laden was maneuvering to split the U.S.-led coalition and scare wavering members out of Iraq.

Bin Laden said the Spain bombings were retaliatory for Spain's actions in Afganistan and Iraq and against the Palestinians.

[comments now closed]

The country's first "faith-based prison" for women opened yesterday in Tampa. Florida also is home to the first such prison for men which opened in December, with Jeb Bush on hand to work the crowds.

President Bush is also trying to institute religious bias:

Bush is trying to get Congress to exempt religious groups from adhering to anti-discrimination laws on hiring policies. He wants the groups to be able to discriminate based on religion and sexual orientation.

Background here.

Good news! The three Japanese hostages have been released.

Anti-polygraph.org reports:

AntiPolygraph.org has received anonymous, but seemingly credible reports that the head of the LAPD's polygraph unit, a Mr. Roy Ortiz, falsified polygraph test results of both LAPD applicants and currently serving officers seeking assignment to elite units such as counternarcotics and the anti-terrorist division, and that LAPD commanders swept the matter under the rug.

You can read the actual communications here.

It's tax day. How'd you fare under President Bush? Journalist David Sirota says the middle class took a beating:

Most people got almost nothing from any of the Bush tax cuts, while their state/local taxes/fees went up, their services were slashed, and their wages stagnated. Translation: higher taxes, worse services, less money coming in, all while the White House says we need to cut overtime pay and outsource U.S. jobs. Translation: middle class gets screwed to pad the wallet of George Bush, Dick Cheney and their fat cat friends.

A major thanks is due to TChris, who kept TalkLeft current this week while we've been busy in court. We've tried to catch up at night, but even so, without his contributions, the site would not have been up to its usual standards--particularly with respect to output. TChris is off on a journey from now until next week, and although we're headed out of town Friday for an ABA meeting in Palm Springs, we'll keep blogging as much as we can.

We've added some new blogs to our blogroll, quite a few on politics and elections, so be sure to check them out.

by TChris

The latest accusation against Michael Jackson stems from a notoriously unreliable source: a "repressed" memory that the accuser "recovered" in therapy.

"In my opinion, one has to be incredibly suspect of recovered memory," Beverly Hills psychiatrist Dr. Howard Shapiro told Reuters. "The younger the subject was (when the incident occurred), the less they're able to make sense of the experience, and when they remember it later they may put an interpretation on it," he said.

Some "recovered" memories are imagined, some are induced or encouraged by the therapist. If that's all there is to the latest accusation against Jackson, it doesn't merit prosecution.

From an esteemed colleague and former D.O.J. official (under Clinton/Reno), who gave us permission to post this on TalkLeft:

John Ashcroft

"
John Ashcroft took office as Attorney General claiming that he wanted to "depoliticize" the Department of Justice. His testimony before the 9/11 Commission this week is only the latest indication that he has, in fact, politicized it to an extent not seen since the days of Richard Nixon. Louis Freeh, Janet Reno, Thomas Pickard and Cofer Black all testified in a measured and serious fashion, identifying what they thought the problems were and talking about potential solutions. It was actually surprising how little cross-firing went on, particularly when one considers the history between, for example, Freeh and Reno.

Ashcroft's testimony was entirely different - completely partisan and combative. He was clearly not interested in truly identifying problems, but simply in attacking others (presumably in part to deflect attention from his own failings. Moreover, his testimony was misleading at best. While he conveniently declassified one memo so that he could use it to attack Commissioner Gorelick, he neglected to mention that his own Deputy Attorney General had expressly reaffirmed those same procedures after Ashcroft took office. The fact is that those procedures (a) were reasonably believed to be required by law and (b) actually required the FBI to provide information to criminal investigators whenever they was a reasonable indication of criminal activity.

This partisanship is part of a consistent pattern with Ashcroft. He has politicized hiring in the Department of Justice Honors program, repeatedly rejecting the recommendations of career lawyers to ensure that Federalist Society types are hired. He has made decisions on matters such as the Second Amendment without consulting the lawyers who have litigated these issues for years, and in a manner that is adverse to the interests of the Department. And his statement in October 2001 that those who opposed the Administration were giving aid and comfort to the enemy was truly scary coming from an Attorney General.

Let's hope that Ashcroft does not have the opportunity to serve beyond this fall; but let's also hope that if Bush is re-elected he has the good sense to bounce this dangerous zealot.

"