The European Court of Human Rights is holding hearings to determine Poland's complicity in the CIA's extraordinary rendition and torture program. The court is gathering evidence pertaining to the kidnapping, detention and torture of detainees Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. Abu Zubaydah was ultimately determined not to be a member of al Qaida, and al-Nashiri is one of the detainees scheduled to be tried by military commission at Guantanamo.

Here is the Court's fact-sheet on the two cases. In addition to waterboarding, the unauthorized interrogation techniques used by the CIA included the "powerdrill" and "handgun": [More...]

The big 8 Tech Companies have sent a letter to President Obama and Congress urging them to scale back surveillance programs.

The 8 companies are: AOL, Apple, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter, and Yahoo.

You can read their letter on the website they have set up, Reform Government Surveillance.

"We understand that governments have a duty to protect their citizens. But this summer's revelations highlighted the urgent need to reform government surveillance practices worldwide... "The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favor of the state and away from the rights of the individual - rights that are enshrined in our Constitution. "This undermines the freedoms we all cherish. It's time for a change."

[More...]

Amato and Armando Show picks,(disagreements in BOLD): (A) New York Giants +3½, (J) San Diego Chargers -3½, (A) Minnesota Vikings +7, (J) Baltimore Ravens -7, (A) Pittsburgh Steelers -3½, (J) Miami Dolphins -3½, (A) Washington Redskins +3, (J) Kansas City Chiefs -3, (A) San Francisco 49ers -3, (J) Seattle Seahawks +3, Cincinnati Bengals -7 over Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos -13 over Tennessee Titans, (A) Dallas Cowboys PICK, (J) Chicago Bears PICK, New Orleans Saints -3½ over Carolina Panthers, (J) Atlanta Falcons +3, (A) Green Bay Packers -3, (A) St. Louis Rams +6, (J) Arizona Cardinals -6, Tampa Bay Buccaneers -3 over Buffalo Bills, (A) Philadelphia Eagles -3, (J) Detroit Lions +3, New England Patriots -10 over Cleveland Browns,

This week's Amato and Armando Show is here.

The picks: SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - Georgia Dome - Atlanta, GA - Missouri +2 (3 units) over Auburn

PAC 12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - Sun Devil Stadium - Tempe AZ -Stanford +3 over Arizona State

BIG 10 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - Lucas Oil Stadium - Indianapolis, IN - Michigan State +6 (5 units) over Ohio State.

MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - Bulldog Stadium - Fresno, CA -Fresno State -3½ over Utah State.

CONFERENCE USA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - Rice Stadium - Houston, TX - Marshall -5 (3 units) over Rice.

ACC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - Bank America Stadium - Charlotte, NC -Florida State -29 (5 units) over Duke.

Others - Baylor -15 (3 units) over Texas; Rutgers -6 over South Florida; Connecticut Pick over Memphis; Oklahoma State -10 (EVEN) (4 units) over Oklahoma.

This week's Amato and Armando Show - Link.

Still snowing and really cold. I'm busy at work. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio announced that William Bratton will again serve as police commissioner.

He replaces Raymond Kelly, who served since 2002.

Good move by de Blasio. Bill is a strong believer in constitutional rights. I attended his swearing-in ceremony in Los Angeles in 2002 -- here's my report.

We broke a record temperature yesterday -15 degrees at 9 pm. The cold will be here for days. I'll be in court, so here's an open thread, all topics welcome. Stay civil please.

Here is Kim Dotcom's lawyers' new White paper on why the charges against him are untenable:

The U.S. government’s case against Megaupload is grounded in a theory of criminal secondary copyright infringement. In other words, the prosecution seeks to hold Megaupload and its executives criminally responsible for alleged infringement by the company’s third-party cloud storage users.

The problem with the theory, however, is that secondary copyright infringement is not – nor has it ever been – a crime in the United States. The federal courts lack any power to criminalize secondary copyright infringement; the U.S. Congress alone has such authority, and it has not done so.

[More...]

The Hartford Courant is excerpting the just-released 911 tapes from the Sandy Hook school shooting. You can listen to them here.

Also at the Courant: A Chilling Window into Adam Lanza's World. Photos from his bedroom and computer room are here. An analysis of Adam's "chilling" book he called The Big Book of Granny, is here.

The summary report released by police last week is here. No motive has been found. While Lanza had mental health issues, those who knew and/or evaluated him saw no indications of violence.

Rafael Caro-Quintero, freed from prison in Mexico after 28 years when a court in Mexico reversed his conviction (a decision later reversed by a reviewing court) has written a letter to Mexican officials urging them to reject the U.S. demand for his extradition. He is charged in federal court in California with the 1985 murder of DEA Agent Kiki Camarena.

Caro-Quintero's lawyers submitted the letter on his behalf. His current whereabouts are reportedly unknown. [More...]

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's legal team will have some restrictions eased for meeting with him and sharing information. Seems like crumbs to me, considering the exhaustive list of SAMS imposed by the Bureau of Prisons. The SAMS are here, and the Government's concessions are here. The defense motion seeking modifications is here.

Last week the judge denied most of the defense discovery requests (motion to compel disclosure is here, the court's order granting one request and denying the remainder is here.)

Denver is preparing for a big storm tonight, and the coldest temperatures in years. There could be 5 to 9 inches of snow by morning. Here's the latest advisory.

Thanks to readers who emailed me this morning to let me know the site was down.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.