Legal experts point out Saddam's options with respect to a trial. The first step most likely will be to challenge the authority of whichever body it is that seeks to put him on trial. None of the professors interviewed are optimistic about Saddam's future. But, they point out,

Saddam has nothing to lose by putting on a vigorous defense. He's not likely to win his freedom, but he could save his life.

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One place we're glad we are not going to be on New Year's Eve is New York City. Their security precautions, even if necessary, make it sound more like a prelude to Soylent Green than a festive occasion. From the news article:

As part of the measures, low-flying planes and helicopters will be banned from the area, manhole covers will be welded shut, and garbage cans, newspaper vending machines and mailboxes will be removed from street corners, a police official said. Snipers will be posted on rooftops, heavily armed groups of officers known as Hercules Teams will patrol the area along with thousands of uniformed officers, and hundreds of plainclothes officers will mix with the crowd, officials said.

The police will draw a tight perimeter around the city, with increased truck checkpoints and stepped-up Harbor Unit patrols on waterways. In addition to the Homeland Security air patrols, the Police Department's eight helicopters will be in the air, including a sophisticated new one with a powerful video camera that can give commanders on the ground an eye in the sky, officials said.

The police will use Sanitation Department sand trucks and other vehicles to block off side streets around Times Square. And a special National Guard civil support team, trained to respond to attacks by chemical, biological and radiological weapons, will be in the area, officials said.

Alleged dirty NY drug cops are allegedly cooperating with Internal Affairs after being suspected of stealing money from drug dealers. We don't know about these two cops, but we have plenty of clients who say drug cops stole their money--either outright or by claiming less was taken. It's real hard to prove. So it's real important to publicize it when it comes to light.

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The military is getting very concerned about the army suicide rate:

Since the U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq last spring, 18 soldiers and two Marines have committed suicide, most of them after major combat was declared over May 1, the military said.

The Army is concerned about the deaths. Outside experts have said the rate is alarmingly high compared with the military's average suicide rates. A report by a 12-member team of military and civilian mental health professionals dispatched to Iraq in October to evaluate mental health of soldiers is expected to be released after the holidays, officials said.

The second Rocky Mountain Blog Roundup is up, courtesy of Andrew Olmsted. There's lots of good reading.

Gary Farber of Amydgala is doing Rush this week. Soundbitten has been as well.

Mad Kane has been nominated in two categories of the About.com Political Humor Awards--go over and vote for her.

Juan Cole reports on a member of the Interim Governing Council who says that Saddam's trial might be held in secret.

Oliver Willis is trying something new for 2004. Go over and give him some constructive comments.

Update: Gary Farber could use some money if you've got some extra.

Coming to your tv screen in January--two shows, 60 Minutes and West Wing, will feature the negative side of mandatory minimum sentences. Leaders of FAMM (Families Against Mandatory Minimums) worked closely with producers of both shows. Set your tivos now.

On Jan. 4, 60 Minutes will air Ed Bradley’s investigation of recent attacks on judicial discretion and the effects of mandatory sentencing. FAMM member Brenda Valencia, who served a 10-year federal mandatory minimum sentence, and Eric Sterling, FAMM board member, were interviewed for the segment.

On Jan. 14, The West Wing will show President Bartlett, just before the State of the Union address, deciding whether to veto a popular piece of legislation because it contains an amendment limiting judicial discretion in sentencing (he decries the “war on judges” being waged by some in Congress.) As a signal of the seriousness of his purpose in opposing long mandatory sentencing, he also considers commuting the sentences of a number of drug offenders, as recommended by the Justice Department. We were told that the episode includes a scene in which the President talks to the president of FAMM (portrayed on the show as a man!) whose sister is serving a mandatory minimum drug sentence. Although we feel our Julie Stewart is the real star, we are thrilled that FAMM is part of the show.

[link via Hit and Run]

18 million people watched Michael Jackson's 60 Minutes interview last night. Today, his personal spokesman, Stuart Backerman, resigned, citing "strategic differences."

Update: Mark Geragos, Michael Jackson's lawyer, says Backerman was fired.

"He was terminated by me personally for talking when I told him not to," Geragos said. Backerman responded: "That's untrue. I was the spokesman up until I just resigned. I was not fired."

And how big a role will the Nation of Islam play in Michael's defense? For now, it sounds like it's spriritual advice and security assistance:

Two of Jackson's advisers, Charles Koppelman and Alan Whitman, said they remain in charge of his music and finances. Asked about the Nation of Islam's reported role in directing Jackson's affairs, Koppelman said, "It's not the case as to his music, finances and assets. I think it's primarily in security."

The New York Times has more on the role of the Nation of Islam in Michael Jackson's affairs.

Sorry, but this sounds about as reliable to us as the old drug pretext stops--cops would actually go into court and say they stopped a vehicle for a traffic offense but when they saw that the occupants of the car had fast food wrappings in the vehicle, they got suspicious because they knew that drug dealers ate at McDonalds, so they asked for permission to search and lo and behold they got it and found 50 kilos of coke in the car.

Today, instead of drug dealers, they're looking for terrorists--and they want cops to alert on people carrying almanacs:

The FBI is warning police nationwide to be alert for people carrying almanacs, cautioning that the popular reference books covering everything from abbreviations to weather trends could be used for terrorist planning.

In a bulletin sent Christmas Eve to about 18,000 police organizations, the FBI said terrorists may use almanacs "to assist with target selection and pre-operational planning." It urged officers to watch during searches, traffic stops and other investigations for anyone carrying almanacs, especially if the books are annotated in suspicious ways.

If we're stopped for a traffic offense with an almanac in plain view and asked for permission to search the car, the only words we're saying are "Officer, Am I free to leave?"

Via Avedon Carol at Sideshow:

Eric Boehlert was four years old during The greatest week in rock history in the Billboard album charts.... Says Eric: "There's never been another lineup quite like it -- and there will never be again. That's why, for me, Dec. 20, 1969, represents rock's summit."

No. 1, "Abbey Road," the Beatles
No. 2, "Led Zeppelin II," Led Zeppelin
No. 3, "Tom Jones Live in Las Vegas," Tom Jones
No. 4, "Green River," Creedence Clearwater Revival
No. 5, "Let It Bleed," the Rolling Stones
No. 6, "Santana," Santana
No. 7, "Puzzle People," the Temptations
No. 8, "Blood Sweat & Tears," Blood Sweat & Tears
No. 9, "Crosby, Stills & Nash," Crosby, Stills & Nash
No. 10, "Easy Rider" soundtrack (featuring the Byrds, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Steppenwolf)

Wesley Clark's new tv ad features former President Bill Clinton placing the medal of Freedom on Clark. Here's a still photo from the event. Will it help?

Reporter Fox Butterfield reports in the New York Times on the growing numbers of growing numbers of female prisoners:

Nationally, from 1993 through 2002, while overall crime was falling, the number of women arrested rose 14.1 percent, according to the F.B.I.'s Uniform Crime Report. In the same period, the number of men arrested fell 5.9 percent.

Some individual crimes show even more striking disparities. While the number of men arrested on charges of aggravated assault fell 12.3 percent in the decade, the number of women arrested on the same charge rose 24.9 percent. Drug arrests rose 34.5 percent for men in this period, 50 percent for women. And the number of women arrested on embezzlement charges increased 80.5 percent, actually surpassing the number of men arrested on the same charges, the only crime for which that is true.

Similarly, from 1990 through 2002, the number of women in state and federal prisons jumped 121 percent, to 97,491 from 44,065, said Allen J. Beck, the chief prison demographer for the Bureau of Justice Statistics. By comparison, the number of men in state and federal prisons rose 84 percent in that period, to 1,343,164 from 729,840.

What's behind the trend? Butterfield tries to explain.

U.S. courts exonerated 10 death row prisoners in 2003. Since 1973, when capital punishment was reinstated by the Supreme Court, 112 death row inmates have been exonerated in 25 states. It's time to end our flawed system of capital punishment by declaring a national moratorium.

Continuing the work started by former Gov. George Ryan, Illinois legislators passed an extensive death penalty reform package this fall, although a moratorium on executions remains in place. In North Carolina, senators voted to impose a moratorium while examining that state's capital punishment system for flaws, and the bill may come up for a vote in the house next year.

The death penalty also became an issue in Congress this year when the House passed a modified version of the Innocence Protection Act, a measure providing funds for DNA testing and improved legal representation in capital punishment cases. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the Senate may consider the legislation in 2004.

But in the end, the system cannot be fixed. It is inherently flawed. As long as governments continue to put people to death, they run the risk of executing people innocent of murder.

To support a national moratorium, visit the Moratorium Campaign. Donate generously.