We send our get well wishes to presidential contender Congressman Dennis Kucinich who was hospitalized today with an intestinal ailment. Apparently, it's the stomach flu, but tests are being performed.

In related news, Attorney General John Ashcroft remains in the intensive care unit. While we don't like his policies, we wish him a speedy recovery as well.

A new report by Human Rights Watch charges that American troops are killing and abusing Afghans:

US troops in Afghanistan are operating outside the rule of law, using excessive force to make arrests, mistreating detainees and holding them indefinitely in a "legal black hole" without any legal safeguards, a report published today says. Having gone to war to combat terrorism and remove the oppressive Taliban regime, the United States is now undermining efforts to restore the rule of law and endangering the lives of civilians, Human Rights Watch says.

Its military forces have repeatedly used deadly force from helicopter gunships and small and heavy arms fire during "what are essentially law-enforcement operations" to arrest suspected criminals in residential areas where there is no military conflict, the report says. "The use of these tactics has resulted in avoidable civilian deaths and injuries, and in individual cases may amount to violations of international humanitarian law."

The report is also sharply crtical of our treatment of those we arrest in Afghanistan:

Human Rights Watch is also concerned about the treatment of those arrested. "The United States is setting a terrible example in Afghanistan on detention practices," said Brad Adams, executive director of the organisation's Asia division.

"Civilians are being held in a legal black hole with no tribunals, no legal counsel, no family visits and no basic legal protections." The US holds detainees at its Bagram, Kandahar, Jalalabad and Asadabad bases, where there have been complaints of their being severely beaten, doused with cold water, forced to stay awake or made to stand or kneel in painful positions for long periods.

"There is compelling evidence suggesting that US personnel have committed acts against detainees amounting to torture or cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment," Mr Adams said.

The full report is available here.

Tara McKelvey of Tapped writes of the search for Osama bin Laden:

Even if you'd like nothing more than to see a photo of bin Laden in a spider hole, it's hard not to feel cynical about the way the search has progressed -- slowly and then, as the election approaches, with renewed vigor.

[link via Cursor.org]

This is interesting. We hope it's true. John Ramsey, father of slain JonBenet, may run for the Michigan legislature. He's a Republican, but we bet after his own relentless hounding by law enforcement and the media, he has an appreciation for the rights of those suspected and accused of crime. Run, John, Run.

The latest CEO to be outed by a background check is James Minder of Smith & Wesson:

Springfield handgun maker Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. found... out the hard way last week after a report surfaced that James J. Minder Jr., its new 74-year-old chairman, spent 15 years in prison in the 1950s and 1960s for a series of armed robberies and an attempted prison break in Michigan. Minder resigned from the chairmanship but will retain a seat on the board.

Mr. Minder is one of the many who completely turned his life around. We see no value and a lot of heartache surrounding this outing. The Wall St. Journal reports (subscription only):

His story is all the more remarkable for what he has done since. After his final prison stint ended in 1969, he decided to turn his life around, he says. Before becoming chairman of Smith & Wesson, he spent more than two decades setting up programs and group homes for delinquent, abused, neglected and developmentally disabled children and young adults in Michigan. By the mid-1990s, a nonprofit he started with his wife was providing board, counseling or foster-home placement for more than 1,000 young people a day.

"If my work in the field changed the lives of those children, then I accomplished what I set out to do and this is the legacy I leave behind," he says.

Alan Dershowitz takes Martha Stewart's lawyers to task for their handling of Martha's case, even suggesting that Robert Morvillo had someone else's interests at heart--those of her prior lawyers who referred him the case--part of the "old boys' network" he says. (Subscription only, Wall St. Journal, sorry.) We think Dershowitz is likely to end up with Martha's appeal, if not her motion for new trial. In most jurisdictions, ineffective assistance of counsel claims cannot be brought on direct appeal--only by post-conviction motion. The test is a tough one. Not only do you have to show that counsel was ineffective--you have to show that the result would likely have been different.

Ten days ago we testified as an expert witness in a state case on the issue. In that case, the defendant filed a motion for new trial after the verdict based on ineffective assistance of counsel--prior to sentencing and his appeal of the conviction. The Judge heard the motion, accepted our testimony that the lawyer had been ineffective (even the attorney conceded he had been ineffective) but found the defendant likely would have been convicted anyway. Thus, no relief.

Dershowitz says:

Congratulations are due Kevin Drum, the blogger of the hugely popular blog Calpundit. The Washington Monthly magazine has just hired him to blog for the magazine. Kevin is a terrific writer and expounds on a variety of topics. We look forward to reading the new blog, and suggest you bookmark it as soon as it comes out, which should be in a day or two. Way to go, Kevin!

We said in the comments section to one of TChris's posts last week, the lesson in Martha Stewart's conviction is: When the feds come calling, don't talk.

Martha was convicted of making false statements to investigators, obstructing justice and conspiring to do both. In essence, the jury found her guilty of covering up a crime (insider trading) she never committed and was never charged with.

The lesson: when the feds come calling, don't talk--call your lawyer instead. And if your lawyer tells you to go down and talk, make sure you know what the pitfalls and downside can be. One of our favorite sweatshirts is one we got at a legal seminar a while back. In big, bold letters it says: "Nobody Talks, Everybody Walks."

The Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination is in the Constitution for a very good reason. Use it or lose it.

The Wall Street Journal, in this editorial (subscription only,) agrees:

As we said yesterday:

We can't thank TChris enough--he did such an outstanding job of blogging here this week, what a great writer he is. TChris, thanks, and check your mail in a few days for a nice present from us.

U.S. Marines are bringing a new weapon to Iraq--one that can deafen and cause cellular damage.

Marines arriving in Iraq this month as part of a massive troop rotation will bring with them a high-tech weapon never before used in combat — or in peacekeeping. The device is a powerful megaphone the size of a satellite dish that can deliver recorded warnings in Arabic and, on command, emit a piercing tone so excruciating to humans, its boosters say, that it causes crowds to disperse, clears buildings and repels intruders.

"[For] most people, even if they plug their ears, [the device] will produce the equivalent of an instant migraine," says Woody Norris, chairman of American Technology Corp., the San Diego firm that produces the weapon. "It will knock [some people] on their knees."

American Technology says its new product "is designed to determine intent, change behavior and support various rules of engagement." The company is careful in its public relations not to refer to the megaphone as a weapon, or to dwell on the debilitating pain American forces will be able to deliver with it. The military has been equally reticent on the subject.

The new megaphone being deployed to Iraq can operate at 145 decibels at 300 yards, according to American Technology, well above the normal threshold for pain. The company posits a scenario in which Al Qaeda terrorists would run screaming from caves after being subjected to a blast of high-decibel sound from the devices, their hands covering their ears. But in Baghdad or other Iraqi towns, where there are crowds and buildings, the sick and elderly, as well as children, are likely to be in the weapon's range.

Military analyst William Arkin asks, shouldn't there be a discussion about this new weapon before it's deployed?

Is actual combat in a foreign country the appropriate place to test a new weapon? Apparently, we are about to find out.

[comments now closed]

The new issue of Newsweek has several articles on Martha Stewart's conviction. One discloses that Martha turned down two deals , including one in April, 2003 which would have allowed for, but not guaranteed, a non-jail sentence.

Had she admitted wrongdoing in early 2002, she could have gotten off with a $200,000 fine and no jail time. And NEWSWEEK has learned that the Feds gave Martha another opportunity to avoid prison. Federal prosecutors offered Martha a deal last April to cop to one count of making a false statement, say several sources familiar with the offer. She would have received probation and continued working at her company, they say. But Martha refused to plead guilty to a felony, and a defense source says the Feds couldn't guarantee she'd stay out of jail.

Police now speculate that former federal prosecutor Jonathan Luna, whose mysterious death three months ago has never been explained, may have killed himself. We don't see it. Not with 36 superficial stab wounds and Luna found face down in a creek. Some experts say the number of wounds don't rule out suicide, they could be "hesitation wounds."

We think the investigation got botched along the way. Why? How many times does this happen in a federal murder investigation?

When an unidentified female FBI agent was found to have "referred several cases to Luna" for prosecution she was "questioned about her private life," "ordered to turn over her private computer for a search" and was "asked if she had been having an affair" with Luna. The agent "denied the implication" and "protested the questioning." FBI headquarters now admits that interrogation was "wrong," and may have been prompted by "personal" animosities on the part of supervisory agents. The "potentially inappropriate behavior" is now under internal investigation, according to a bureau spokesman.

The Luna homicide had been under the direction of former acting Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Love....Now, a senior agent working for Love - and possibly Love herself - appear to be the subject of the internal FBI probe.

Then there's this unresolved angle:

As the FBI looked into Luna's background and financial situation after his death, agents reopened a probe into $36,000 in missing evidence in a bank robbery case that Luna prosecuted in September 2002. As the trial ended, authorities discovered that the money had vanished while being transported from the courtroom to a storage area. The FBI investigated the disappearance, but the case is unsolved.

Luna left behind a wife, children and parents. We think the investigation should continue--it should not get shut down as a suicide without more evidence than that disclosed to date.