Overruling a 1980 decision, the Supreme Court today strengthened the right of an accused to confront his accuser. The decision was written by Justice Scalia. Our favorite quote from the opinion:

``Dispensing with confrontation because testimony is obviously reliable is akin to dispensing with jury trial because a defendant is obviously guilty,'' Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the court. ``This is not what the Sixth Amendment requires.''

While the facts of the underlying case were not of national importance, the impact of the decision will be.

The ramifications of today's ruling may not become clear immediately, but they could affect a number of previous convictions across the country. The testimony of a witness who cannot be cross-examined during trial may still be allowed, but only if the defense has had a chance to cross-examine him or her at an earlier stage in the case.

The case is Crawford v. Washington, No. 02-9410 and you can read the full opinion here (pdf). The ACLU and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers ( NACDL) submitted amicus briefs in the case.

Update: The New York Times report on the decision is here. Scotus Blog has a detailed analysis as well.

A new USA Today/Gallup/CNN poll has Kerry ahead of Bush and Democratic voters preferring Edwards for Kerry's VP slot.

Edwards, the North Carolina senator who dropped out of the presidential race last week, was the choice of 30 percent of voters who are Democrats or lean Democratic, according to a CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll.

Nader comes in stronger than we would have thought--at 5%--taking votes away from Kerry:

In a matchup of the presidential candidates, Kerry and President Bush were about even, Kerry at 47 percent and Bush at 45 percent with independent candidate Ralph Nader at 5 percent among registered voters. Kerry was slightly ahead 50-45 percent when only he and Bush were included in the question.

We want a Kerry-Edwards ticket. It will be unbeatable. We hope Kerry sees the light.

Update: Political Wire reports the electoral map favors Kerry as well. And Daily Kos has the 2004 Veep Cattle Call.

We had such high hopes for the Innocence Protection Act. We didn't get it. We got a bill that will spend up to $800 million on DNA crime fighting -- mostly for testing old rape kits trying to solve uncharged crimes and updating computer resources.

Where's the money for DNA testing for inmates with claims of innocence?

One source of controversy in the administration's DNA spending is the omission of significant funding aimed at exonerating the innocent or preventing wrongful convictions. Such measures are key elements of a DNA bill stalled in the Senate since last fall.

Barry Scheck, a New York City lawyer who specializes in exonerating convicts through DNA evidence, said the administration's decision to bypass provisions that could free the innocent was "truly unfortunate." The Innocence Project, which Scheck co-founded, has used DNA tests to exonerate 142 convicts.

Actor-writer Spalding Gray disappeared on January 10. His body was found this weekend floating in New York's East River. Suicide is suspected, as Mr. Spalding was plagued by depression and tried to jump off a bridge in 2002. May he now find the peace that eluded him the last several years.

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: