Bush's criticism of John Kerry for quoting the scriptures was "predictably shrill and ridiculous." So says Kevin at Lean Left , who has an eloquent post on this. A snippet:

As usual, when faced with a criticism, the Bush Administration runs from the substance and attempts to smear the critic. Anyone who says their favorite political philosopher is Jesus Christ had best be prepared to defend his actions in the light of Jesus' teachings.

And that, of course, is the real rub. For far too long, the right wing has gulled the media and the country into thinking that its religion was the only acceptable face of Christianity. It has used the respect for all religions on the left as evidence of the left's irreligiosity. That has never been the case. The teachings of Jesus Christ are at the core of how millions define their support for liberal causes, myself included. John Kerry, with one small statement, has reminded the nation of that fact. Millions of us are liberal because of our religion. Millions of us are not represented by Opus Dei, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, or any of the other right wing talking heads the media turns to when it wants to "discuss" religion in this country. Antonin Scalia does not speak for all Catholics. And Kerry's statement is also a very Catholic statement.

by TChris

Since 1982, stockbroker Irvin Rosenfeld has had the federal government's permission to use marijuana to treat pain from a chronic bone condition. In 2001, Delta Airlines refused to allow Rosenfeld to board a flight from Florida to Washington, D.C. because he wanted to take his marijuana with him. Rosenfeld complained to the Department of Transportation that Delta was discriminating against him by failing to accommodate his disability.

In a victory for advocates of medical marijuana, the DOT agreed that Delta should have allowed Rosenfeld to board the plane. The DOT dismissed Rosenfeld's claim, however, ruling that Delta had reason to doubt Rosenfeld's entitlement to use the drug since so few people are allowed to possess marijuana. Rosenfeld plans to appeal the denial of a remedy.

Say hello to The White House Props Department--it's new and clever.

The House of Commons today endorsed a sweeping change for law enforcement in Great Britain by approving the creation of a new crime-fighting agency, similar to our F.B.I. It sounds just awful:

The creation of a new "British FBI" to combat organised crime, with informants being offered reduced sentences to snitch on their gangland bosses, was given unanimous support in the Commons today - despite a controversial raft of new powers. The home secretary, David Blunkett, told MPs he was in favour of allowing intercept material - bugged phone calls and emails - to be used as evidence, pending a review which would report back in June.

And he would also, for the first time, force professionals such as lawyers and solicitors to cooperate with police enquiries into organised crime, even if it meant betraying client confidentiality.

The new agency will be called SOCA, which stands for the Serious and Organised Crime Agency. Copying a page from the U.S., there will now be benefits for turning "Queen's Evidence."

by TChris

Is Richard Clarke credible? Not if you believe the Bush administration and its supporters.

In an extraordinary assault last week, they portrayed him as a disgruntled job seeker, a self-promoter looking to sell books, a hidden Democratic partisan (who somehow concealed his loyalties while working for presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush), and an unreliable witness whose past praise of President George W. Bush undermined his current criticism.

Here's a different view, from former intelligence professional Larry Johnson. He thinks Clarke is arrogant, but he believes Clarke is a dedicated professional who is justly criticizing both the Clinton and Bush administrations. Johnson happens to be a Republican who supported Bush in 2000.

[comments now closed]

According to a new AP article, Saddam is not only not talking to authorities, he is amused and having fun.

He doesn't have a lawyer in the room, but Saddam Hussein apparently is practicing what most attorneys would advise: Don't talk. Diplomatic and military officials say the former Iraqi leader has provided little useful information in interrogations so far - and may even be having fun....In a recent interview, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said he occasionally sees the interrogation briefing reports. "He's a pretty wily guy, and he's not giving much information that I've seen. But he seems to be enjoying the debate," Armitage told WPHT-AM radio in Philadelphia.

There are signs the intelligence phase of Saddam's capture is coming to an end. The investigation is now a joint effort by the CIA and FBI:

The Supreme Court heard oral argument today in the case of Alabama death row inmate Larry David Nelson. Our most recent background on the lethal injection controversy is here and here. From the AP article:

Because of the condition of his veins - damaged by drug use - it may be impossible to insert an intravenous line without a type of surgery, Stevenson said. Justices peppered Stevenson and Alabama's lawyer with questions about how his death sentence would be carried out, with the possibility of prison staff cutting into his neck or thigh to get to a good vein. The court is deciding a technical question of whether last-minute appeals from death row inmates should be allowed in federal courts.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently published a series of articles on punishing juvenile offenders as adults. They are included in Throwing Away the Key , which begins with a description of the transition from juvenile facility to adult prison and its devastating consequences for the juveniles.

Check out this graph, which shows that of the more than 600 juveniles sentenced as adults under Georgia's Senate Bill 440 since 1994, nearly 83 percent were black, according to state records.

Here's the story of one more juvenile offender the system failed at first, but thanks to a caring deputy district attorney, was allowed to withdraw his plea and be sentenced as a juvenile. He stayed in juvenile detention until age 21. He recently completed his GED, with honors.

We have nothing but praise for Suffolk County, Mass. District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, and recommend you read his op-ed in last week's Boston Globe about efforts his office is making to identify and free the wrongfully convicted:

As district attorney, I believe that the act of freeing one innocent person wrongly imprisoned is profoundly more important than all the criminals we arrest, prosecute, and convict. On behalf of the criminal justice system, I have expressed sorrow and regret at what these individuals have lost, but this is not enough. So the Suffolk County prosecutors and I rededicate ourselves to upholding the highest standards of professionalism and integrity to ensure as best we can that the mistakes that happened in the past are not repeated.

....The job of police and prosecutors is not merely to make arrests or seek convictions, nor is it to preserve an indictment or a conviction at all costs. Rather, our job -- at all stages of the process, from investigation to arrest to indictment to trial to appeal and to the review of new information that surfaces after a conviction -- is to seek the truth. When we determine that justice has not been served by an indictment or a conviction, we have an obligation -- legal, moral, and ethical -- to act decisively to correct the injustice. This is a sacred trust that this office has embraced.

Thank you, Mr. Conley.

by TChris

The facts surrounding the arrest of two daughters of Minnesota's attorney general are murky, but the Chicago police Office of Professional Standards announced that it will investigate whether officers used excessive force during the arrest.

Elizabeth Hatch's father says Elizabeth and her sister Anne were kicked out of Crobar, a Chicago nightclub where they had been celebrating Anne's birthday, after Elizabeth complained about a man groping her. A police spokeswoman says that the sisters created a disturbance after their ejection from the club, and ignored a police request to leave the area. The spokeswoman says that Anne resisted arrest, knocking an officer's glasses off and scratching him under his eye, while Elizabeth struggled with another officer. Once in the squad car, officers say that Anne kicked out the back window.

Father Mike Hatch says the police knocked Elizabeth's legs out from under her and held her on the ground with a knee on her back. He says that Anne was just trying to pull the officer off of her sister, who was screaming in pain.

After several hours in lockup, the sisters were taken to a hospital. Elizabeth "had a black eye, a sprained wrist and bruises on her back and forearm," while Anne had some scratches. Their father wonders whether the police "were needlessly heavy-handed" and is concerned about the delay in providing them with medical care.

Here is a very sobering article about the problem of prison rape. It focuses on the Roderick Johnson case, (more here) but goes much deeper:

The feminist mantra that "rape isn't about sex, it's about power" may be even more applicable in the prison context, where it is common for men who would have never engaged in sexual contact with other men on the outside to become rapists when incarcerated. What's more, the relationship between rapist and victim in prison is often more than just a sexual one—it can devolve into out-and-out servitude. Victims are given women's names and made to perform household tasks such as cooking food, washing clothes, and cleaning the living space. Roderick Johnson cooked and cleaned for Andrew Hernandez. "It's slavery," he said. "It's being in a position where you have no choice but to do whatever it is you're being told to do. It's like you have no control over your position. You're totally powerless."

The traditional rationale for prison rape is the lack of women, but most psychologists consider this facile. They see prison rape mainly as a means by which people who have been stripped of control over the most basic aspects of their lives—when to eat a meal, take a shower, or watch TV—can reclaim some sense of power.

The $60 million passed by Congress to study prison rape last year is a beginning, but a drop in the bucket. American attitudes towards prison rape must change:

by TChris

Federal court is no place for a kid. The Bureau of Prisons doesn't have a juvenile institution, and it has few resources to assist the rehabilitation of a juvenile offender. The federal system has little use for such resources because federal prosecutions of juveniles are relatively rare. In fact, the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act recognizes that accused juvenile offenders should generally be prosecuted by states, which typically have specialized juvenile courts and a host of rehabilitative services that are not readily available in the federal system.

Why, then, was a 14 year old boy in Maine prosecuted in federal court for setting fire to a boatyard? And why was he sentenced to 30 months in a maximum security juvenile prison in Pennsylvania (under contract wth the federal Bureau of Prisons) instead of keeping him close to home, as federal law requires?

The boy's family and lawyer think it's because former President Bush lost a boat engine in the fire. Whatever the reason, the boy is the only juvenile from New England (or from New York, Ohio or Pennsylvania) in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons.

An appellate court has ordered the judge who presided in the boy's case to give his sentence a second look. The First Circuit held that Judge George Singal did not adequately consider the "location and rehabilitative capabilities" of the Pennsylvania detention facility. The boy's family hopes that he can be placed in a facility closer to home where more counseling and educational opportunities will be available.