Gov. Chris Christie sent this email in response to the media flap caused by a letter written by the lawyer for David Wildstein, the former Port Authority official involved in the lane closure scandal who has been seeking an immunity deal and payment of his legal fees.

I had written a long post with a lot of links on this yesterday but it got eaten by the computer when I accidentally closed the tab before publishing it. I don't have time to rewrite it all, so I'll just say it made many of the same points Christie does about the letter.

The lawyer's letter, which was carefully and ambiguously worded, didn't prove anything, let alone that what Christie said at the news conference was false. Here's the transcript of Christie's Jan. 9 press conference. [More...]

A chemist with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in Pensacola who conducted drug tests in 2,600 cases in 35 counties around the state has been relieved of duty after it was determined some of the drug samples in his cases were tampered with. The chemist allegedly swapped out some of the prescription pills with over the counter pills. Hundreds of drug convictions are now imperiled.

Head-scratching comment from Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi:

"This situation simply underlines the extent of the problem our country faces with prescription drug abuse."

Really? A police chemist falsifies evidence and the blame lies not with him but with those using the medication?

Last week, Justin Bieber was charged in Miami with driving under the influence, resisting arrest without force, and driving with an expired license. His toxicology report showed virtually no alcohol (.014). According to the results of his urine test, he had no amphetamines, opiates, oxycodone or Ambien (Zolpiderm)in his system. He tested positive for pot and Xanax, a prescription anxiety medication. These are not the results of someone with a drug problem. As to the drag racing allegation by police, that didn't happen either, according to the GPS data of the vehicle Justin was driving. The cops estimation of his speed in the police report was way off.

After a sojourn in Panama, he flew to Toronto where he had a pending misdemeanor-type charge for allegedly hitting a limo driver who was driving him and some friends around. He is represented in that case by the excellent Los Angeles attorney Howard Weitzman, and it sounds like that case will be tough to prove as well. [More...]

Best news yesterday: Obama is searching for inmates who could use a sentence commutation. Deputy AG James Cole said during a speech:

It is the department's goal to find additional candidates, who are similarly situated to the eight granted clemency last year, and recommend them to the president for clemency consideration,"

Candidates for clemency would include inmates who have had clean records in prison, do not present a threat to public safety and are facing excessive sentences, according to the speech.

[More...]

The media is full of praise for the Senate Judiciary Committee which yesterday passed a sentencing reform bill addressing mandatory minimum sentencing laws on drug offenses.

Not so fast. Here is S.1410, the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2013, as originally introduced by Senators Durbin, Leahy, and Whitehouse.

The version that passed the Judiciary Committee is a watered down, amended version of Durbin's bill. Durbin introduced a "Manager's Amendment" weakening the safety valve reform provision. Then the Committee approved amendments by Republican Charles Grassley that turned the bill into an enhanced crime bill, upping sentences and introducing more mandatory minimums for some non-drug crimes.

On mandatory minimums, the bill is an improvement, but far less than what is needed and certainly not historic. It reduces the mandatory minimum terms for drug offenses from 20, 10 and 5 years to 10, 5 and 2 years, respectively, and allows the 2010 crack cocaine sentencing reductions to apply retroactively to some classes of inmates, in the discretion of the judge. [More...]

An Italian court has convicted Amanda Knox of murder at a retrial, sentencing her to 28 1/2 years in prison. Knox, who lives in Seattle, says she won't return to Italy.

The judge has 90 days to issue a written ruling, and the defense can appeal it.

It's unlikely she would be extradited.

It is unlikely that Knox, who lives in Seattle, Washington, will return to Italy to serve additional prison time because U.S. law dictates that a person cannot be tried twice on the same charge, a legal expert told CNN. He believes that if Italy were to ask for extradition, U.S. officials would deny the request.

Her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito was also convicted and sentenced to 25 years. He attended portions of the trial and testified at one point. He is an Italian citizen and remains in Italy. It's likely Italy will revoke his passport but he is not expected to be arrested before the judge issues his written ruling.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

The United States will seek the death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. It filed a notice today (available on PACER) listing the statutory aggravating factors and non-statutory aggravating factors. Among the non-statutory factors:

1. Betrayal of the United States. DZHOKHAR TSARNAEV received asylum from the United States; obtained citizenship and enjoyed the freedoms of a United States citizen; and then betrayed his allegiance to the United States by killing and maiming people in the United States.

2. Encouragement of Others to Commit Acts of Violence and Terrorism. In conjunction with committing acts of violence and terrorism, DZHOKHAR TASARNAEV made statements suggesting that others would be justified in committing additional acts of violence and terrorism against the United States.

[More....]

20 journalists who work for the al-Jazeera news organization have been charged in Egypt with aiding terrorism and/or joining a terrorist group. Among them are at least three who work for the al Jazeera English network, including "acting bureau chief Mohammed Fahmy, a Canadian-Egyptian, award-winning correspondent Peter Greste of Australia and producer Baher Mohamed, an Egyptian."

The Egyptian journalists are charged with joining a terrorist group, while the foreign journalists are charged with aiding a terrorist group.Egypt enacted the law under which they are charged last month. The three mentioned above were arrested on Dec. 29 and remain in custody. [More...]

President Obama delivers his State of the Union Address. Here's a place for your thoughts.

R.I.P. Pete Seeger, who has died at age 94.

Yesterday's Supreme Court unanimous decision in Burrage is here. The Court ruled that the enhanced penalty for someone who provided drugs to a person who later died after ingesting multiple drugs only applies if the Government proves that but for the particular drug the charged person provided, the person would not have died. In other words, a "but for" test, not a contributing factor test. While this case is about a drug dealer, I think it could also affect some pain doctor cases. [More...]

President Obama's State of the Union speech is tonight. He's expected to lay out a strategy for getting around Congress to implement some of his goals.

Obama will make clear in his 9 p.m. (0200 GMT Wednesday) address that he is willing to bypass U.S. lawmakers and go it alone in some areas by announcing a series of executive actions that do not require congressional approval.

..."What you'll hear in the speech tonight is very concrete, realistic proposals as it relates to wages, as it relates to education, as it relates to training, high-tech manufacturing, retirement security, those are the things that he's focused on," White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said on NBC's "Today Show."

He will mostly focus on economic issues and once again ask Congress to act on immigration reform, and of course, he'll plug ObamaCare. [More...]