Bump and Update: The Judge has taken himself off the case.

Since the hearing, nine people in Omaha asked to meet with Reagan to discuss possible cultural bias in his courtroom. State Sen. Ernie Chambers filed a complaint with the state Commission on Judicial Qualifications, calling the ruling discriminatory.

A great example of Protest in action.

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Original Post 10/14 10:22 pm

In what strikes us as an incredible violation of free speech and parental rights, a court has ordered a father to speak to his daughter in English rather than his native Spanish when he exercises his visitation rights.

Since when does a court have the right to dictate how people converse in the privacy of the home? We hope there is a groundswell of protest lodged against this ruling.

Our hosting company didn't actually have a melt-down this evening but we were down the past five hours. We're back up now, as are Instapundit, Calpundit, Ruminate This and Matt Yglesias. The short explanation: "There was a denial of service attack on our network that caused the sites we host to be unreachable."

Here's the long story--it sounds like it was an intentional attack and security and authorities have been called in.

We knew Hosting Matters would be on top of it. They've been great to us.

Attorney General John Ashcroft spoke out today on what he called "valuable progress" in the CIA Leak Probe. It sounds like Ashcroft is at least paying lip service to the criticisms lodged against him for not having turned the investigation over to a special counsel.

Attorney General Ashcroft should recuse himself immediately, and yet we get continued mistakes and continued mishandling of this case," Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York , said on the Senate floor.

"I have not foreclosed any option in this matter," Ashcroft said when asked about a special counsel.

The "SAFE Act" has been introduced in Congress. From today's Washington Times:

A bipartisan group of lawmakers and advocacy groups have formed a "Coalition of Conscience" to roll back sections of the Patriot Act they say encroach on civil liberties. [link via Patriot Watch].

"This is an amazing coalition. Very seldom do these groups and these senators come together," said Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat. Sen. Larry E. Craig, Idaho Republican, and Mr. Durbin — joined by representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union and American Conservative Union, among others — yesterday introduced the Security and Freedom Ensured (SAFE) Act.

This bill needs your support. A sign-on letter urging support for S. 1709, the Security and Freedom Enhanced (SAFE) Act of 2003 can be found here.

On a related note, the ACLU has documented the Administration's efforts to pass the provisions of Patriot Act II piecemeal. Patriot Act II is formally known as the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003. While a draft circulated in Congress, it was never officially introduced.

Sentencing guru Carmen Hernandez has just sent out the following with respect to the recent federal sentencing guideline amendments. Carmen is the director of the Defender Services Division Training Branch and a board member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL):

The United States Sentencing Commission on October 8, 2003 voted to adopt a number of amendments to implement the directive to the Commission in section 401(m) of the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to end the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003, Pub. L. 108–21 (the "PROTECT Act"). The amendments go into effect, subject to technical and conforming changes, on October 27, 2003. These new amendments apply to all cases; more restrictive rules for downward departures in child-related cases went into effect April 30, 2003.

All changes that make the sentence more onerous for the defendant are subject to the prohibition against retroactive application in the ex post facto clause of the United States Constitution, Art. 1, § 9, cl. 3. For a thorough discussion of this issue, see "The Feeney Amendment: Effective Date and Ex Post Facto Issues," by Peter Goldberger & Felicia Sarner (July 2003 Champion).

Carmen's summary follows:

Eric Alterman's new Nation column, Abrams and Novak and Rove? Oh My!, is out:

In addition to suggesting Elliott Abrams was the leaker, columnist Eric Alterman writes the following about the Joseph Wilson affair: "Part of the reason (it was ignored) is the insider establishment's deep-seated unwillingness to face up to the Nixonian depths of this Administration's moral depravity." "Bob Woodward plays ball...he doesn't bother weighing any competing claims or seeking to determine whether anything he is spoon-fed might actually be true." "The second great fiction of this story is the notion that Robert Novak is a 'journalist.'"

Also in the new Nation:

After purchasing John Ashcroft and George Tenet's social security numbers and home addresses on the Internet, author Jamie Court shows how the Administration is failing to prevent identity theft.

Writer Jamie Pietras explains how states are using financial aid laws to discourage peaceful student protests.

In a web exclusive, Washington editor David Corn learns of a National Security Council staffer who might have played a role in the Joseph Wilson leak scandal. Read why he's decided not to leak this person's identity in his "Capital Games" weblog.

Quote of the day, from Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, confirmed in June as deputy undersecretary of defense--and known for his "penchant" for casting the Iraq War in religious tones:

Islamic extremists hate the United States "because we're a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christians. ... And the enemy is a guy named Satan."

Here's a prior quote from Boykin on a 1993 battle in Somalia:

Discussing a U.S. Army battle against a Muslim warlord in Somalia in 1993, Boykin told one audience, "I knew my god was bigger than his. I knew that my god was a real god and his was an idol."

Rumsfeld and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are thus far defending Boykin. But Rhode Island's Republican Senator Lincoln D. Chafee "...said he had not been aware of Boykin's views as described by the Times, then added, "If that's accurate, to me it's deplorable."

So the war on terrorism can be reduced to "a clash between Judeo-Christian values and Satan?" Where did this guy come from and please, send him back now.

Update: The General apologizes. Well, not really.

The New York Times today reports that Ashcroft's own prosecutors are criticizing him for not appointing special counsel in the CIA leak probe relating to the disclosure of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.

Several senior criminal prosecutors at the Justice Department and top F.B.I. officials have privately criticized Attorney General John Ashcroft for failing to recuse himself or appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the leak of a C.I.A. operative's identity. The criticism reflects the first sign of dissension in the department and the F.B.I. as the inquiry nears a critical phase. The attorney general must decide whether to convene a grand jury, which could compel White House officials to testify.

The criminal justice officials, who spoke on the condition that they not be identified, represent a cross section of experienced criminal prosecutors and include political supporters of Mr. Ashcroft at the department's headquarters here and at United States attorneys' offices around the country. The officials said they feared Mr. Ashcroft could be damaged by continuing accusations that as an attorney general with a long career in Republican partisan politics, he could not credibly lead a criminal investigation that centered on the aides to a Republican president.

[link via Matt Yglesias at Tapped , who also comments about the difference between an independent counsel and a special counsel.]

While we're on this topic, check out the compilation of sources and articles on the Plame-Wilson-CIA leaks story over at Alex Parker's The Parks Department. And Tom McGuire's recommended additions to Alex's list.

Update: CBS News provides this analysis of Ashcroft, the leaks probe and his potential conflicts of interest.

The remaining two defendants in last year's Portland, Oregon terror case have pleaded guilty in federal court and agreed to spend 18 years in federal prison. The two pleaded guilty to conspiring to levy war against the U.S. Other co-defendants ,who had pleaded guilty earlier, agreed to testify against them.

Had the case not been resolved by guilty pleas, a hearing would have been held on the legality of evidence seized under provisions of the Patriot Act. The ACLU and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) filed a Friend of Court brief in the case.

Specifically, the ACLU, joined by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, says the Justice Department's use of a secret court to get authority for electronic eavesdropping violates constitutional protections of privacy and free speech and against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Defense lawyers in the Portland case have challenged the government's use of secret court-approved wiretaps, the collection of e-mail messages and the planting of microphones in the home of one of the suspects. They claim the covert surveillance approved by a special court under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, should not have been granted in the case because the defendants are not agents of foreign powers, spies or terrorists, as defined in the act.

We would have liked to have seen that motion litigated.

As Taegan Goddard of Political Wire says, this is just priceless:

Bush Order To Stop Leaks Is Leaked

"Concerned about the appearance of disarray and feuding within his administration as well as growing resistance to his policies in Iraq, President Bush - living up to his recent declaration that he is in charge - told his top officials to 'stop the leaks' to the media, or else," the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

"News of Bush's order leaked almost immediately."

Bush told top aides that he "didn't want to see any stories" quoting unnamed officials, "and that if he did, there would be consequences," according to a "senior administration official who asked that his name not be used."

Apropos of the sniper case trial, ABC News has an interesting article on Virginia's history of imposing the death penalty.

Virginia follows Texas with the most executions in the U.S. It authorizes the death penalty for those 16 years of age and older. Death can be by electrocution or lethal injection.

The first execution in Virginia was in 1608 at the Jamestown colony, the first exercise of the death penalty in the young colonies. Four years later, Virginia's governor, Sir Thomas Dale, enacted the "Divine, Moral and Martial Laws," where the death penalty could be used to punish such offenses as stealing grapes, killing chickens and trading with Indians.

Speaking at a luncheon yesterday in New York, former President Bill Clinton said that during his "exit interview" with GW, he told Bush that Osama was the biggest threat to our security.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former President Bill Clinton says he warned President George W. Bush before he left office in 2001 that Osama bin Laden was the biggest security threat the United States faced.

Speaking at a luncheon sponsored by the History Channel on Wednesday, Clinton said he discussed security issues with Bush in his "exit interview," a formal and often candid meeting between a sitting president and the president-elect.

"In his campaign, Bush had said he thought the biggest security issue was Iraq and a national missile defence," Clinton said. "I told him that in my opinion, the biggest security problem was Osama bin Laden."