We're in San Antonio, a great city, for a meeting of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). We have a great two track program going on for the next few days--Responding to the Ashcroft Agenda (Capital Litigation and Corporate Investigation.) The white collar speakers are among the best in the country. Abbe Lowell from D.C., John Keker from San Francisco, Barry Tarlow from LA; Jerry Lefcourt from New York; Hal Haddon from Denver; Gerry Goldstein from San Antonio. We just ran into Judge Edward Prado, recently appointed to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (and the only Bush judicial nominee we championed, see why, here).

There are a host of stellar defense lawyers here, some of our favorites from arouind the country. Many that we consider to be personal heroes. Given the Bush/Ashcroft agenda that is permeating our criminal justice system, it's great to be among like minds who fear for the future as much as we do.

Today the rights that are being taken away belong to the disenfranchised, the poor and the non-citizens among us. Tomorrow it could be us. Boot Bush.

TChris will be back guest blogging at TalkLeft this weekend--we'll be checking in periodically. Be sure also to check out the great blogs on our blogroll--this is a community we feel privileged to be a part of.

With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Just days after selling her ImClone Systems stock, Martha Stewart said she knew that ImClone CEO Sam Waksal had been trying to dump his shares in the company, a close friend of the domestic style maven testified Thursday. The revelation by Mariana Pasternak, a friend of Stewart for more than 20 years, was perhaps the most damaging testimony yet against Stewart, who claims she sold the stock for an entirely different reason.

Pasternak said Stewart told her about the Waksal sale on Dec. 30, 2001, just three days after Stewart sold her 3,928 shares of ImClone. They were on a terrace at a Mexican resort where they were vacationing. Pasternak said Stewart recalled Waksal "was selling or trying to sell his stock, that his daughter was selling or trying to sell his stock."

A 2000 Senate report on misconduct by FBI agents that has been sitting in the wings is ready for release:

A leading Republican senator charged Wednesday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation may have long tolerated egregious, even criminal conduct by some of its agents, including rape, embezzlement and extortion.

The senator, Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, released an internal report prepared by the F.B.I in 2000, which examined 107 instances of serious and sometimes criminal misconduct by its agents over a 16-year period.

The shocking report is a laundry list of horrors," Mr. Grassley said in a letter to the F.B.I., "with examples of agents who committed rape, sexual crimes against children, other sexual deviance and misconduct, attempted murder of a spouse, and narcotics violations, among many others."

The reaction of the FBI?

Cassandra Chandler, an F.B.I. spokeswoman, said that the agency "takes seriously its commitment to holding its employees to the highest standards of conduct" and had taken strong steps to strengthen its disciplinary process.

And this from an unnamed FBI offiical:

You won't find any organization that doesn't have problems. People have weaknesses, and when the bureau becomes aware of that, we act on it."

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A study in the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies finds that Nevada hands down more death sentences than any other state. Between 1976 and 1998, death sentences were imposed in 6% of all murder cases. In Texas, the rate was only 2%. But don't let Texas off the hook--Nevada's death sentences are rarely carried out. Since 1977, Nevada has executed 9 prisoners, while this year alone, Texas has killed 7 inmates.

Former Lousiana Governor Edwin Edwards is appealing his conviction and ten year sentence. Among the grounds: the Judge may have been impaired by oxycontin.

From the Law.com newswire:

A judge's prescription for painkillers has provided fuel for an appeal by counsel for former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards. U.S. District Judge Frank Polozola's use of OxyContin for back pain may have hampered his decision-making during pretrial motions, argues defense attorney Mike Small. The defense is also alleging juror bias as well as undisclosed financial incentives for a chief witness for the prosecution. Edwards is serving a 10-year sentence for extorting payments for riverboat casino licenses ...

Say hello to TomPaine.com's new blog on Iraq and national security issues: The Dreyfuss Report. It is written by veteran investigative reporter Bob Dreyfuss, and will provide the story behind the headlines and the "Bush administration antics performed in the name of homeland security."

What a welcome site!

Bush and Gov. Arnold may not like it, but San Francisco will continue to marry same-sex couples--many are coming in from all over the world. If you've been wondering how to get a license, the details are here.

The San Francisco Chronicle approves:

But it's plain that the policy rushed out by Mayor Gavin Newsom taps into the heartfelt urge by same-sex couples to claim the same rights and recognition as heterosexuals. Newsom should be commended for taking a high- risk stand for equality, which has turned City Hall into the eye of a political storm.

.... It should reassure Americans who are uneasy about same-sex marriage to see the joy and love in the eyes of so many applicants. Some of these unions will last a lifetime, others will fail -- compatibility and commitment are not determined by sexual orientation. Neither should the concept of equal protection under the law. Old or young, single or with extended families, these couples crave -- and deserve -- the respect and rights accorded to others in this society.

....All couples, gay or straight, should enjoy the same rights, including marriage.

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Meet Dudley Hiibel:

Meet Dudley Hiibel. He's a 59 year old cowboy who owns a small ranch outside of Winnemucca, Nevada. He lives a simple life, but he's his own man. You probably never would have heard of Dudley Hiibel if it weren't for his belief in the U.S. Constitution.

One balmy May evening back in 2000, Dudley was standing around minding his own business when all of a sudden, a policeman pulled-up and demanded that Dudley produce his ID. Dudley, having done nothing wrong, declined. He was arrested and charged with "failure to cooperate" for refusing to show ID on demand. And it's all on video.

On the 22nd of March 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether Dudley and the rest of us live in a free society, or in a country where we must show "the papers" whenever a cop demands them.

A new USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll shows that both Kerry and Edwards would beat Bush:

Democrat John Kerry holds his largest lead yet over President Bush in a head-to-head match-up among likely voters, a new USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup poll concludes, and rival John Edwards also holds a double-digit lead over the president.

The poll, taken Feb. 16-17, indicates that if the election were held today, Kerry would be chosen by 55% of likely voters, compared to 43% for Bush. In the last polling, Feb. 6-8, Bush held a 49-48 advantage.

Edwards, Kerry's sole remaining major rival for the Democratic nomination, holds a 54%-44% advantage, the poll indicates. The question has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The former CEO of Enron, Jeffrey Skilling, was indicted today by a Texas federal grand jury. Skilling is expected to surrender tomorrow. He is the highest-ranked Enron executive to date to be indicted.

Skilling did not invoke his 5th Amendment privilege when subpoenaed to testify before Congress. He testified before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee on Feb. 7, 2002. Here's a snippet:

When I left on Aug. 14, I believed the financial reports accurately reflected the condition of the company . . . I absolutely, unequivocally thought the company was in good shape." "I cannot for the life of me see how we could go from where the company was then to bankruptcy in such a short time."

"It is my belief that Enron's failure was due to a classic 'run on the bank,' a liquidity crisis spurred by a lack of confidence in the company. At the time of Enron's collapse, the company was solvent and highly profitable -- but apparently not liquid enough. "

Will Ken Lay be next?

Just what we need--a more intrusive alcohol test. But that's what's coming down the pike. A new test is being developed that will detect drinking over months:

Tests which can show how much someone has drunk in previous weeks and months and not just in the past few days are being developed, it was reported today. The new research is likely to benefit not only doctors but police investigating a crime and could attract the interest of employers and insurance companies.

The tests could let a GP know if someone is a light or heavy drinker and tell investigators if a driver or worker involved in an accident was drunk at the time, even if they were not tested until days later, reported the New Scientist magazine.

The New Scientist article is here. Among the uses it predicts for the new tests:

Doctors are likely to be the first to employ some or all of the new tests, to monitor patients with alcohol problems. But they are also likely to attract the interest of employers, insurance companies and forensic scientists. Airlines could, for instance, identify pilots who are heavy drinkers by testing their hair. A urine test might allow police to prove many hours or even days after an accident that someone had been drinking.

From a Press Release issued by Change the Climate, the ACLU, Marijuana Policy Project and other drug reform groups:

The nation’s major drug policy reform groups today filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for censoring the speech of those critical of the government’s “War on Drugs.”

....The lawsuit responds to an amendment buried in the 2004 federal spending bill that cuts off more than $3 billion in federal funding from local transit authorities that accept advertisements critical of current marijuana laws and other drug laws. With at least $85 million at stake, the Washington Metro last week rejected an advertisement submitted by a coalition of drug policy reform groups that criticizes marijuana laws for wasting billions of taxpayer dollars and imprisoning non-violent offenders.

The rejected advertisement sponsored by the ACLU, Change the Climate, the Drug Policy Alliance, and the Marijuana Policy Project shows a group of ordinary people standing behind prison bars under the headline, “Marijuana Laws Waste Billions of Taxpayer Dollars to Lock Up Non-Violent Americans.” The same groups that sought to run the advertisement filed today’s lawsuit.