by TChris

A Sheriff's deputy in Pasco County, Florida arrested a nine year old girl after he found a rabbit in her home that she took from a neighbor. Presumably concerned about "officer safety," the deputy handcuffed the girl, then transported her in his squad car to the police department for questioning.

A Sheriff's spokesperson claimed that the deputy had no choice but to act after the neighbor reported the crime. A local public defender disagrees that an arrest was required, explaining that the deputy could have referred charges to the state's attorney without taking the girl into custody.

The sheriff's department asserts that these heavy-handed tactics teach children to respect the law. Perhaps the girl will learn not to confuse her neighbor's rabbit with the Easter bunny, but there is little to respect in the deputy's actions.

"I think this is a little unusual to say the very least," Cecka Green of Voices for Florida's Children said. "To treat children as hardened criminals, when back in the old days that may have just been seen as mischief that could have been handled by the parents, can contribute to some problems with our kids in this society."

The lesson that is likely to stick with the little girl? The deputy who arrested her was a jerk.

"He put one handcuff on me really tight," she said Thursday. In the patrol car, "He just stared at me in the mirror."

Condi Rice is so five minutes ago. As we write this, the news is coming in fast and furious from Iraq:

In an ominous turn, kidnappers seized 13 foreign hostages and threatened to burn three Japanese captives alive if Tokyo did not withdraw its troops.....TV pictures aired in the Middle East by the Al-Jazeera satellite network and rebroadcast during prime time in Japan showed the three Japanese hostages - two aid workers and a journalist - wide-eyed and moaning in terror as their black-clad captors held knives to their throats, shouting God is Great in Arabic.

Two Arab aid workers from Jerusalem - one who had once lived in Georgia - were abducted in a separate incident, and a Syrian-born Canadian humanitarian aid worker for the International Rescue Committee was taken hostage Wednesday by a local militia in Najaf. Eight South Korean Christian missionaries were seized by gunmen outside Baghdad. Seven were freed after one of them escaped, the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said.

The radical Shi'ite Militia has seized control of two cities in the south:

In the south, the al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army militia had full control in the cities of Kut and Kufa and in the central part of Najaf. Police in the cities have abandoned their stations or stood aside as the gunmen roam the streets.

The U.S. death toll is at 40 for this week alone, six in the past 48 hours. Friday is the first anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Al Jazeera's headline story: Fierce Falluja fighting recalls Vietnam.

No, it's not a joke. President Bush actually declared today, April 8, National D.A.R.E. Day 2004:

I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 8, 2004, as National D.A.R.E. Day.

Drug War Rant provides some appropriate reading to accompany your celebration.

Someone must have hijacked Kevin Drum's Washington Monthly blog today, because we can't believe Kevin would say this:

I'd like to see videotaping required for all police interviews, and in return I'd suggest that the 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination be discarded. If police interviews are all recorded and trials are all held in public, it's not at all clear to me what value the 5th Amendment right to silence has anymore....with Star Chambers a thing of the past and videotaping preventing coerced confessions, I really do wonder if the self-incrimination clause of the 5th Amendment has enough value left to make it worth the problems it causes. I suspect it doesn't.

Where's the Kevin we thought we knew? [hat tip to Kikuchiyo News]

Update: Nick at DeNovo offers some analysis.

The second to last episode of The Apprentice is on tonight. Take the test, figure out which one of the Apprentice candidates is most like you. We're Bill:

What is Bill's definition of "success"? If I can lead a happy life, touch the lives of others in a positive way, win the respect of those that I care about … and make a few million along the way then I have been successful.

After the show, head on over to Oliver Willis' Apprentice blog for comment. Oliver reports, by the way, that he is Katrina.

The Religion of Jesus Church and TheTHC Ministry have sued Attorney General John Ashcroft and the DEA seeking to prevent the arrest of those who use marijuana for religious and medicinal purposes.

A Complaint for injunctive relief was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii against U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, D.E.A. Administrator Karen Tandy, and local U.S. District Attorney Ed Kubo by religious and medicinal consumers of cannabis. The suit seeks to enjoin the Federal government from arresting and prosecuting those residents of Hawaii whose religions and religious beliefs require the consumption of cannabis (the herb governments derogatorily label as “marijuana”).

The lawsuit also seeks protection from federal prosecution for those citizens of Hawaii who cultivate, consume and/or distribute cannabis legally pursuant to legislatively enacted Department of Public Safety Narcotics Enforcement Division guidelines and valid patient/caregiver registration certificates.

THC says they believe they will prevail based upon the recent 9th Circuit case of Raich v. Ashcroft.

The Plaintiffs also rely upon the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act to secure their definitive right to free exercise of religion. That Act was recently used to prevent the federal government from prosecuting a New Mexico based, Brazilian Uniao Do Vegetal themed religion for their importation and distribution of Ayahoasca, a hallucinogenic-laced tea from the Brazilian rainforest.

The lawyer for the Plaintiff adds:

After being fined $495k by the FCC, Clear Channel today dropped Howard Stern's show from its radio stations. Here is Howard's response:

"This is not a surprise. This is a follow up to the McCarthy type "witch hunt" of the administration and the activities of this group of presidential appointees in the FCC, led by "Colin Powell Jr." and his band of players....It is pretty shocking that governmental interference into our rights and free speech takes place in the U.S. It's hard to reconcile this with the "land of the free" and the "home of the brave". I'm sure what's next is the removal of "dirty pictures" like the 20th century German exhibit in a New York City Museum and the erotic literature in our libraries; they too will fall into their category of "evil" as well.

by TChris

Two Cubans who fled to the United States never lost their faith in the American way of life, even after they were charged with assault as a result of a confrontation with the Coast Guard. Their faith has been rewarded, as a federal jury today found them not guilty. After the trial, the jury foreman shook their hands and welcomed them to America.

by TChris

When U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia spoke to high school students yesterday about the importance of protecting constitutional rights, he may have forgotten that freedom of the press is one of those rights.

During Scalia's speech at the high school, U.S. Marshal Melanie Rube demanded that a reporter with The Associated Press erase a tape recording of the justice's remarks. Rube also took a tape recording made by a reporter with the Hattiesburg American.

At an earlier appearance before a college audience, Justice Scalia told television reporters to leave.

Did Justice Scalia have a reason not to want his remarks reported accurately? Perhaps the Justice recalls that he had to recuse himself from the Pledge of Allegiance case after publicly commenting on the lower court decision at a Knights of Columbus rally.

by TChris

Poor police work by the New Orleans Police Department was frequently responsible for the dismissal of criminal charges in Orleans Parish in 2003, according to a report released by the District Attorney's office.

In 57 cases, the charges were tossed because a police officer failed to appear in court. An additional 120 cases ended because there wasn't enough testimony to prove a crime had occurred. Prosecutors tossed another 45 cases, finding them "unsuitable for trial" the report said, without listing reasons.

Another 63 cases were dismissed because judges suppressed evidence or confessions that the police improperly obtained.

by TChris

Courtesy of AlterNet, here's a quick comparison of Condoleezza Rice's testimony to facts of record and to her other statements. A taste:

CLAIM: There was "nothing about the threat of attack in the U.S." in the Presidential Daily Briefing the President received on August 6. [responding to Ben Veniste]

FACT: Rice herself confirmed that "the title [of the PDB] was, 'Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States.'" [Source: Condoleezza Rice, 4/8/04]

by TChris

Lawyers who represent jailed defendants customarily make sure that their clients are wearing "street clothes," not a jail uniform, when they appear in front of a jury. Allowing the jury to see a defendant in jail garb sends the wrong message: if he's already in jail, he must be guilty.

White supremacist Matt Hale, who has a law degree but isn't licensed to practice, made an odd strategic decision in his own trial: he's going to wear his bright orange jail jumpsuit. Hale is charged with soliciting the murder of a federal judge, and jury selection is underway. Although his trial judge warned him that wearing a jail uniform doesn't make a good impression on potential jurors, Hale chose to disregard that advice. Maybe he thinks he looks good in orange.