Governor Arnold has made some decisions on the abysmal California prison situation:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked the U.S. attorney here Friday to investigate allegations that officials at Folsom State Prison orchestrated a riot two years ago and then conspired to cover it up. Facing a wave of troubles in all corners of California's far-flung penal system — the nation's largest — he moved on several other fronts as well.

The governor said he was reversing an earlier decision to greatly reduce the state's lone correctional watchdog agency and would instead restore its funding and give it new law enforcement powers, including the authority to issue subpoenas and seek search warrants.

In a third move, administration officials announced plans to phase out the use of steel-mesh cages to confine unruly juveniles in the California Youth Authority. The cages, used only in California, were singled out recently as dehumanizing by experts who studied the juvenile system.

A federal appeals court has ruled the DEA cannot prevent the sale of hemp products :

A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco said the Drug Enforcement Administration cannot regulate hemp in food because such "non-psychoactive hemp products" are not included in its list of dangerous drugs.

The ruling is a twist in an ongoing battle between drug regulators and an increasing number of entrepreneurs and farmers producing a growing variety of hemp food products, including bread, granola, waffles, pretzels and chips. The industry marketed the hemp products as one the latest nutritional marvels, rich in protein, vitamin E and two essential fatty acids.

Albany defense lawyer Terry Kindlon writes in:

Let's hope the first thing John Kerry does after he's elected President is appoint Eliot Spitzer of New York his Attorney General, to restore dignity and intelligence to the office. We've all been so distracted by Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitz , Perle and the other Chickenhawks killing thousands of innocent people that John Ashcroft has come close to getting away with murder.

US v Rice, in the District of Virginia, is the latest example: In 2002, Ashcroft had a press conference and personally announced he was going to seek the death penalty against Darrell Rice. In 2004, on the eve of trial, the government has admitted it never had enough reliable evidence to even take Rice to trial, much less give him the needle . The way their press release is worded we're supposed to be impressed that DOJ has acted ethically and appropriately--and their point is well taken--it is impressive that they've acted ethically and appropriately. Case dismissed.

Anyway, DOJ's message seems to be, "Sorry for your trouble, Darrell, now scram." Do you think Ashcroft will be blaming the CIA for his lack of intelligence?

by TChris

Demonstrating the political savvy that comes from a successful career in Washington, John Kerry has "gingerly opened the way to debating a one-year gap in the public record of Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard."

"I don't know what the facts are with respect to the president's service," the decorated veteran said on a Tucson tarmac. "I know issues were raised previously. It's not up to me to talk about them or question them at this point. . . . It's up to the president and the military to answer those questions."

At first glance, this statement might seem bland and evasive. But notice how he drives the story forward without risking a backlash. He makes no accusations, but in the end he puts the ball squarely in Bush's court, saying it is "up to the president" to resolve the matter.

Bush claims that he satisfied his service requirement, but has not produced the documents that would settle the question. Other Democrats have revived the issue, including DNC Chairman Terence McAuliffe, who accused Bush of being "AWOL." But Kerry, whose own war record is a strength, "is uniquely positioned to make this issue stick." The issue could prove to be yet another embarrassment to the President. In any event, the issue invites attention to the respective war records of Bush and Kerry -- a comparison the Bush camp would prefer not to invite.

Update: On Sunday, President Bush defended his military record, criticized Democrats for making an issue of his National Guard service, and promised to release his service records -- "if we still have them." When asked why no evidence supported his claim that he reported to duty in Alabama during the summer and fall of 1972, Bush said: "There may be no evidence, but I did report."

If you've been dying to see Janet Jackson's breast, you can do it here. Ms. Jackson will be discussing the incident with Larry King tonight, 9pm ET.

Update: CBS offered to let Janet present an award at the Grammies after all--if she apologized. She declined. She's apologized enough. We agree with Roger Friedman -- what do they want from her, blood?

Bush's approval rating is down to 48%, its lowest in 3 years, according to a new Newsweek poll. Even better, 50% of those polled don't want Bush to be re-elected.

Howard Dean lost the support of a big union today, as Kerry wins in Washington State and may also win Michigan:

Sen. John Kerry won the Washington caucuses with ease on Saturday, lengthening his lead in the Democratic presidential race while launching a sharp attack against President Bush. The Massachusetts senator also reached for victory in Michigan caucuses, hoping for a two-state sweep.

Howard Dean, shut out in the primary season to date, suffered a fresh blow when the head of a major union decided to withdraw his support. Democratic officials said Gerald McEntee, head of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, delivered the news to the former

by TChris

A review of data conducted by the Associated Press and an analysis appearing in a new law review article provide new evidence that the death penalty is unfairly applied. According to the data, whether a criminal defendant will be subject to the death penalty in California often depends upon where the crime is prosecuted. Some particularly zealous California prosecutors are more likely to seek death and some populations of jurors are more likely to impose death than are their counterparts in other counties.

While the facts of each case and the nature of each offender differ from case to case, those factors alone does not explain the disparity in the willingness of different counties to seek or impose the death penalty.

[P]rosecutorial zeal and the attitudes of jurors also are factors. The bottom line, according to the data, is that the death penalty sometimes depends on where the crime was committed.

Can the death penalty be administered fairly if arbitrary differences in the political or moral philosophies of prosecutors and jurors in different counties determine whether death is an option?

"Capital punishment should not depend on an accident of geography," said defense attorney Robert Sanger, who prepared a lengthy analysis of California's death penalty system in the current issue of Santa Clara Law Review.

The disparaties exist nationwide, not just at a local level, but the data in California is instructive.

by TChris

Darryl Hunt always knew he did not commit the 1984 rape and murder of Deborah Sykes in North Carolina. Evidence of his innocence has been building for years, but it has taken a confession by the true perpetrator to finally exonerate Hunt. On Friday, Superior Court Judge Anderson Cromer granted the joint request of the prosecution and defense to vacate the judgment of conviction and to dismiss Hunt's case with prejudice. The dismissal "with prejudice" assures that Hunt will never face these charges again.

The victory follows a long struggle for justice.

Police arrested Hunt a month after the murder on the strength of two eyewitness identifications. They never had any physical evidence to tie him to the crime, but several eyewitnesses testified that he was at or near the scene. He was convicted in 1985, and after his first conviction was overturned on a technicality, he was convicted again in 1990.

DNA testing ten years ago revealed that Hunt was not the source of the semen recovered from the victim. Hunt expected to be freed at that time, but the court did not consider the compelling new evidence of Hunt's innocence to be an adequate reason to give Hunt a new trial. An appellate court upheld that unfortunate decision. Hunt turned down a plea bargain that would have freed him at the time, saying he "would not plead guilty to a crime he didn't commit."

Last year, DNA testing linked the semen in the murder victim to Willard Brown, a man who had been a suspect in a different rape in 1985 and who resembled Hunt in some respects. Brown confessed after the police confronted him with the DNA evidence. Brown's detailed description of the crime convinced investigators that Brown was telling the truth, and that he had acted alone. Prosecutors then agreed to join the defense in seeking dismissal of the case against Hunt.

Hunt will now apply to the Governor for a pardon. If he is successful, he may be entitled to collect $20,000 per year for each year of his wrongful incarceration. He deserves it.

Hunt is "the 141st man across the country to be cleared by DNA evidence."

by TChris

Mark Geragos, defense attorney for Scott Peterson, is ready to rock. Geragos notified the court and prosecutors that he is ready to begin Peterson's trial immediately. Geragos had been scheduled to begin a murder trial in Pasadena, but an appeal has delayed that case.

Geragos may want to proceed with Peterson's trial now in the hope that he will catch the prosecution unprepared. While delay often benefits the defense in a criminal case, Larry Posner, former president of the National Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers, thinks the request for an immediate trial is good news for Peterson.

"If the defense has announced this (wish to go to trial immediately)," said Posner, "it's a sign of tremendous confidence. The defense is saying (to the prosecution), 'We have weighed everything you have, and it's not there. Let's do it now.' That has to be it. You can't bluff that."

Loyola Law Professor Stan Goldman agrees.

"The longer you wait, the more the prosecution will get its ducks in a row," Goldman said. "You might as well try it now. It's a strategy that worked in the (O.J.) Simpson case successfully.''

And USC Law Professor Erwin Chemerinsky cites a number of factors that may have motivated Geragos to press for a trial:

"There's a perception that the judge will react badly to requests for extensions, there's a client who wants to go forward as soon as possible, and sometimes there's a defense strategy for public relations purposes. Imagine a situation where there have been (public) revelations damaging to the prosecution. The climate for the defense is to go forward now."

A gag order prevents Geragos from commenting upon the reason for his request.

by TChris

A police officer in Garland, Texas who was captured on videotape running up to and tackling a man sitting on a motorcycle has been sentenced to two years' probation, fined $600 and ordered to participate in anger management counseling. He also gave up his license to be a peace officer. The tackle came at the end of a high speed chase.

The officer entered a guilty plea to a misdemeanor assault charge. He was fired earlier this year, as were two other officers who made false reports about the case. The man he was chasing has been charged with a felony for fleeing an officer.

by TChris

In a disappointing decision for opponents of the death penalty, as well as for those who oppose the execution of Kevin Cooper, federal District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel of San Jose, California has ruled that using the drug pancuronium bromide during an execution does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

Defense lawyers argue that the chemical may mask the inmate's suffering. It paralyzes the skeletal muscles but does not affect the brain or nerves. A person injected with it is conscious but cannot move or speak. It is possible, defense lawyers say, that an inmate could remain awake as he suffocates.

Judge Vogel accepted a government expert's opinion that an initial injection of sodium pentothal made it unlikely that an inmate would awaken before suffocating.

Deborah W. Denno, a law professor at Fordham University who published a study of the chemicals in lethal injections in 2002, said Judge Fogel's ruling was open to question. "The drug seems to have no other purpose than to keep a person still," Professor Denno said.

Cooper's lawyers point out that several states ban veterinary use of pancuronium bromide. Use of the drug to facilitate executions has been challenged in nine cases recently. Judge Fogel's decision is the first of those challenges to be resolved on its merits.

Cooper is scheduled to die Tuesday. TalkLeft's recent coverage of Cooper's case can be found here. What may be his last interview can be found here. Go here to read a report of new evidence of Cooper's innocence.

Update: Cooper filed an appeal Friday night in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, asking the court to stay his execution and permit the filing of a second petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Cooper's request alleges "that state prosecutors and investigators used false evidence and suppressed other evidence that could be used to prove Cooper is innocent."